Description
The first edition of The Official Correspondence on the Claims of the United States in respect to the ‘Alabama,’ edited by Prime Minister Lord John Russell. From the private collection of his son, John Russell, Viscount Amberley.
Octavo, [8], 279pp. Publisher’s brown cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. Bookplate of T.A. Walker, LLD, F.S.A. on the front pastedown. Booksellers label on front pastedown. Sunning to spine, some fraying at head of spine. Front hinge starting, but a stable text block. Brown endpapers. (Sabin 74344)
This copy is signed “Amberley” and dated the month of publication, by John Russell, Viscount Amberley, the son of Prime Minister Lord John Russell and the father of British philosopher, Bertrand Russell.
This work includes the correspondence between the British Foreign Secretary (Lord John Russell) and the United States Ambassador Charles Francis Adams, concerning the building and equipping of the Confederate Cruiser “Alabama.” The Prime Minister felt it necessary to publish his correspondence to buffer claims that the British were offering provisions to the Confederate Navy, and thereby open up the British government to claims of losses from the raiding parties.
