Minutes of Evidence, Taken Before the Committee of the Whole House..
- 1809
1809. An Inside Look at One of Georgian England's Great Scandals [House of Commons]. [Frederick Augustus, Prince, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827)]. Minutes of Evidence, Taken Before the Committee of the Whole House, Upon the Conduct of His Royal Highness the Commander in Chief. [London]: Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be printed, 1809. [iv], 180, [2], 221-372, [2], 385-480 pp. Text in 12 parts, as issued, pagination irregular in places. Parts 5 and 9 lack appendices. Folio (12-3/4" x 8"; 32.3 x 20.4 cm). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, rebacked retaining backstrip with gilt-edged raised bands and gilt titles, endpapers retained. Moderate rubbing, some wear to board edges and corners, which are bumped. Light toning to interior, negligible light foxing and soiling in a few places. Early owner signature of William Windham to head of front free endpaper, early underlining and annotations in the same hand to Parts 1-4 (last annotation on p. 118). An interesting and appealing volume. $1,250. * Only edition, issued by the House of Commons for internal use between February 1 and February 22, 1809. In 1806, it was discovered that Mary Anne Clarke, the mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, commander-in-chief and the second son of King George III, was selling commissions for personal profit (presumably with Frederick's cooperation). Investigated by Parliament, Frederick was exonerated, but he resigned his post after a large minority voted against him. He was reinstated two years later. This set of Parliamentary papers contains the testimony provided by witnesses to the House of Commons investigating committee. Windham [1750-1810], a notable Whig politician, was a contemporary of Edmund Burke, Charles James Fox and Samuel Johnson, among other important statesmen and thinkers. He was renowned as an orator. Secretary at War from 1794-1801 and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1806-1807, he clearly had an interest in military matters like the Duke of York scandal. Parliamentary papers like these were printed exclusively for the use of Members and are often scarce. OCLC locates 11 copies of this set, 1 in a North American law library (Georgetown). Hansard's Catalogue and Breviate of Parliamentary Papers, 1696-1834 189.