Curran and His Contemporaries. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. 1851. Fourth Edition. Pp vii, 595. Frontispiece portrait. Original half calf, marbled boards. Spine ruled in gilt, russet letterpiece, covers lightly worn, contents age-toned, otherwise a good copy.

John Philpot Curran (1750-1817) was an Irish orator, politician and wit, born in Newmarket, County Cork. A liberal Protestant whose politics were similar to Henry Grattan, he employed all his eloquence to oppose the illiberal policy of the Government, and also the Union with Britain. He defended several of the United Irishmen in prominent high treason cases in the 1790s. Among them were the Revd. William Jackson, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Wolfe Tone, Napper Tandy, The Sheares Brothers, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, William Orr and William Drennan.