View source for Debates Relative to the Affairs of Ireland in the Years 1763 and 1764

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Debates Relative to the Affairs of Ireland in the Years 1763 and 1764''}}
===by Sir James Caldwell===
__NOTOC__
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|shorttitle=Debates Relative to the Affairs of Ireland in the Years 1763 and 1764
|vol=volume two
|author=[[:Category:James Caldwell|Sir James Caldwell]]
|lang=[[:Category:English|English]]
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|year=1766
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}}Sir James Caldwell (c. 1720-1784), was deeply involved in the economic and political affairs of Ireland. "He maintained a wide correspondence with a great variety of public figures in Ireland and Britain and wrote some twenty-five pamphlets on aspects of the political, economic and military affairs of Ireland."<ref>Mervyn Busteed, "Sir James Caldwell, c.1720-84: An Anglo-Irish Landlord in the Age of Improvement," ''Irish Studies Review'' 9, no. 3 (2001): 320.</ref> ''Debates Relative to the Affairs of Ireland in the Year 1763 and 1764'' is a prime example of Caldwell's "considerable ability" as an author.<ref>David O'Donoghue, ''The Geographical Distribution of Irish Ability'' (Dublin: O'Donoghue and Co., 1906), 142.</ref> He kept excellent records due in part to "his unrelenting, but unsuccessful pursuit of an Irish peerage":<ref>Busteed, "Sir James Caldwell," 321.</ref>

<blockquote>"...I now suffer the anguish of disappointment and stand exposed as the Dupe of Sport or artifice, an insignificant retainer of state, cajoled and neglected, flattering myself with importance like the fly upon the wheel, officiously busy to render service that is despised and ridiculously elated with the hope of reward that never was intended to be conferred..."<ref>J.B. Cunningham, ''Castle Caldwell and its Families'' (Belleek: Water Gate Press, 1980), 81.</ref></blockquote/>

Caldwell was posthumously recognized for his widely acclaimed work on the debates of the Irish House of Commons. It is considered an important book on the primacy of parliamentary literature, in part because it was written from Caldwell's memory of his attendance of the sessions.<ref>John Almon, ''Biographical, Literary and Political Anecdotes of Several of the Most Eminent Persons of the Present Age'' (London: Printed for T.N. Longman, and L.B. Seeley ..., 1797), 1:20.</ref>  

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Ordered by Wythe from John Norton & Sons in a [[Wythe to John Norton, 3 August 1769|letter]] dated August 3, 1769. Records indicate the order was fulfilled.<ref>Frances Norton Mason, ed., ''John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia: Being the Papers from their Counting House for the Years 1750 to 1795'' (Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press, 1937), 101. The letter is endorsed "Virga. Aug. 3d 1769/ George Wythe / recd. Octo. 18<sup>th</sup> pr. Brilliant / Ans. the March 1770 / pr. ''Brilliant''."</ref> Also listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "'Irish Debates. 2.v. 8vo." and given by [[Thomas Jefferson]] to his son-in-law, [[Thomas Mann Randolph]]. Later appears on Randolph's 1832 estate inventory as "'[Irish] Debates' (2 vols., $1.00 value)." In her 1958 [[http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports\RR0216.xml|work] on the George Wythe House, Mary R. M. Goodwin merely lists the title ''Debates of the Parliament of Ireland'' without providing supporting bibliographical information.<ref>Mary R. M. Goodwin, [https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/DigitalLibrary/view/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports\RR0216.xml ''The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings''] (Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), XLVII.</ref> [[Dean Bibliography|Dean's Memo]]<ref>[[Dean Bibliography|Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean]], Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 7 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).</ref> suggests the 1689 publication, ''A True Account of the Whole Proceedings of the Parliament in Ireland, beginning March 25, 1689''. The other two [[George Wythe Collection|Wythe Collection]] sources, Brown's Bibliography<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on June 28, 2013.</ref> on LibraryThing, include the 1766 publication by Sir James Caldwell, ''Debates Relative to the Affairs of Ireland in the Years 1763 and 1764'', as the probable title owned by Wythe. The Wolf Law Library concurred with their identification and purchased a copy of this set.

==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in original calf with title in gilt on spine. Purchased from Kennys Bookshop and Art Galleries, Ltd. Bookseller obtained the set from the library of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Dominic_Murnaghan,_Jr. Judge Francis Murnaghan].

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157637876216184 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991017606739703196 William & Mary's online catalog.]

==See also==
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*[[Wythe's Library]]

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
Read volume one of this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=BDM2AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover Google Books].

[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:James Caldwell]]
[[Category:Thomas Mann Randolph's Books]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

[[Category:English]]
[[Category:London]]
[[Category:Octavos]]