Beschreibung:

Title: The Irish Rebellion: or An History of the Beginnings and first Progresse of the Generall Rebellion raised within the kingdom of Ireland, upon the three and twentieth day of October…1641. Together with the Barbarous Cruelties and Bloody Massacres which ensued thereupon… Author: Temple, Sir John, Knight Place: London Publisher: Printed by R. White for Samuel Gellibrand, at the Brazen Serpent in Pauls Church-Yard Date: 1646 Description: [xvi], 136, 55 pp. 8vo. Later blue wrappers with front cover titled in ink, bound in modern plain black cloth. First Edition. Sir John Temple (1600-1677) was serving as the Master of the Rolls and a Privy Councillor in Dublin when the rebellion broke out in October 1641. It is recorded that he performed great services in provisioning the city during the outbreak. In 1646 this account of the event was published. DNB states, "the book made an immediate and great sensation." Written from the point of view of an eyewitness and a man of authority, his statements were universally accepted at the time, and his many anecdotes of Irish brutality toward the English and the Protestants caused great indignation and led to harsh measures against the Irish by Oliver Cromwell and others. In the perspective of time Temple's book has come to be regarded more as a partisan pamphlet than an authentic history. Temple allegedly resisted its reprinting and in 1689 the Irish Parliament ordered that the book be burnt by the common hangman. According to Temple the uprising was the result of a Catholic plot fomented by Jesuits and other foreign priests. The horrible atrocities he describes are typical of any propagandistic work, but his book remains influential. Wing T627. Lot Amendments Condition: Wrappers soiled and chipped at corners; text block trimmed close at fore-edge; intermittent browning of leaves; other general wear; a fair to good copy of this scarce first edition, of which numerous editions followed. Item number: 185655