(8 1/4 x 5 inches). Complete as issued. Vol. I: [X1] [A]-4C4. [2] [i]-iv [5]-152 151-573 [1]. pp.578. 11 engraved portraits and the desirable Plan of the Town of Boston with the Attack on Bunkers-Hill in the Peninsula of Charlestown, the 17th of June 1775. George III Frontispiece, Title, Letter to the King, Chapters I-IX, A Virginia Charter. With Plan of Town of Boston at p.430. Vol. II: [X1] [A]-4C4 [X1]. [2] [3]-576 [2]. pp. 578. 12 plates of engraved portraits. General Gates Frontispiece, Title, Chapters X-XIV, Articles, Publisher's Acknowledgement. With Generals Montgomery and Gage plates, uncalled for in Adams. Contemporary full calf, spines with five raised bands forming six compartments, red lettering pieces in second compartments with gilt volume numbers in third A not-so-impartial Revolutionary War history by an English writer who blamed the conflict on Parliament, illustrated with an impressive array of American partriot portraits, including those of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock. Murray's history was the first general narrative of the Revolution beyond what appeared in the periodical press. Sabin notes: "The author's political principles were democratic in sentiment, and it is a little doubtful whether his history is 'impartial.'" The portraits are of particular interest, with subjects including Generals Washington, Lee, Arnold, Burgoyne, and Howe; Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, King George III, Benedict Arnold, Frederick Lord North, and others. Volume I examines the disputes over taxation that led to the Revolution; provides background on the early settlement, history, and government of the colonies; and depicts early battles through the siege of Quebec in the Winter of 1775-6. Volume II describes the events of 1776-8, including the Declaration of Independence; the failure of the British to split the colonies by capturing the Hudson; and the entry of the French into the war. Throughout the text Murray supports his account with extensive quotations from letters, news reports, and official documents. The present copy includes the important Plan of the Town of Boston with the Attack on Bunkers-Hill in the Peninsula of Charlestown, the 17th of June 1775. The fold-out map portrays the famous battle at its height, with Charlestown in flames. The plan draws on the inset to Sayer and Bennet's The Seat of War in New England, which had been published in September 1775, shortly after the battle. These two volumes are complete as issued. There was a later volume, some versions of which have additional plates, but the publisher's note in the second volume of this set speak of them as forthcoming, and therefore not called for in this issue. Murray's War is a scarce and bibliographically complicated work rarely found with the complete set of plates. "The bibliography of this work is somewhat complicated." [Sabin] Howes and Adams indicate that Volume I of the first edition has a London imprint, while Sabin calls for all volumes to have a Newcastle-upon-Tyne imprint. "Subscribers to this work received it in 31 parts between 1778 and 1781. The parts were to be bound in three volumes. Sets are to be found made up of all combinations." [Adams] Murray died on January 29, 1782, and the work was continued "by another hand," but ended with issue 31. Adams, American Controversy 78-73c. ESTC 73299. Gephart 1016. Howes M916. Library of Thomas Bewick 15. Maytas, Declaration of Independence 78. Reese, Revolutionary Hundred 54. Rich, pp.262-263. Sabin 51505-7. Winsor II, p.663.
