Arnold, or the Treason of West Point: A Tragedy, in Five Acts

Hubbell, Horatio. Arnold, or the Treason of West Point: A Tragedy, in Five Acts. Philadelphia (no pub.), 1847, 1st edition. Sml. 8vo, 3/4 maroon morocco over marbled boards, spine gilt, t.e.g., by Bradstreet's of London. 76pp. Rubbed along edges, 2 bookplates, but a very nice copy and an interesting specimen of an obscure American imprint bound by a venerable English firm. Despite the title, this wordy dramatization of events that occurred during the American War of Independence centers less on Benedict Arnold than on the romantic, unlucky Major Andre and concludes with his soliloquies. the play is thoroughly Shakespearean in its language, use of iambic pentameter, and frequent extended soliloquies. Little seems to be recorded of its author, who also produced a pamphlet on the state of affairs at Yale University in 1855 and an annotated edition of Euclid in 1861. One of the bookplates is that of Thomas Addis Emmet (1828-1919), an eminent American gynecologist, surgeon and physician, collector of American prints and autographs, and advocate of Irish home rule. (For Emmet, see DAB.).