[ROBINS, Benjamin.]

Observations on the present convention with Spain.

London, printed for T. Cooper, 1739. 8vo (195 x 120 mm), pp. [iv], 60; half-title present; recent wrappers. First edition. A tract criticising Walpole’s management of relations with Spain in the years preceding the War of Jenkins’s Ear. In it, the author rejects the idea that a peace is possible and instead calls for forceful retaliation against the abuses of Spanish guarda costas.Robins published numerous polemics on parliamentary issues, including ‘three pamphlets that severely criticized the administration of Walpole, especially over its relations with Spain: Observations on the Present Convention with Spain, A narrative of what passed in the common hall of the citizens of London assembled for the election of a lord mayor, and An address to the electors and other free subjects of Great Britain occasioned by the late secession; in which is contained a particular account of all our negociations with Spain and their treatment of us for above ten years past. Such works helped pressure Walpole into declaring war on Spain in 1739. It also secured tory patronage for Robins after that prime minister’s fall from power in 1741. He served as a secretary for a secret committee investigating Walpole’s prior conduct. Robins’s zeal in that position proved to be a liability, however, when his application to teach at the new Royal Military Academy at Woolwich failed’ (Oxford DNB). A mathematician and military engineer by profession, he was probably also responsible for having seen Anson’s A voyage round the world through the press.Alden 739/257; Goldsmiths 7688; Kress 4464; Sabin 56550.

• GBP 325.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: T2722

• bookseller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)