“THE GAZE OF MAJOR BURR FASTENED UPON THE FAIR STRANGER WITH EVIDENT ADMIRATION”

(BURR, Aaron) BURDETT, Charles. Margaret Moncrieffe; the First Love of Aaron Burr. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860. 12mo, mid-20th century three-quarter red morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edge gilt. $800.

First edition of Burdett’s “romance of the Revolution,” handsomely bound by Macdonald.

Burdett's "remarkable historical novel," which dramatizes a romance between a British officer's daughter and the young Aaron Burr, enjoyed "a rapid and wide circulation" (Publishers Weekly). The author was Burr's second adopted son, and this "quasi-biographical account of Burr's life… [contributed] to the romantic mythology that surrounded his stepfather's private conduct" (Isenberg, 397). With folding frontispiece facsimile of "Aaron Burr's Celebrated Cipher Letter & Key." Also with appendix of historical letters and other documentary material supporting the author's claim "that he has woven a fiction founded entirely on facts" (page xiii). Faded owner inscription to title page.

Occasional light foxing. Joints expertly repaired.