Copy of a letter from a French Lady at Paris. Giving a particular Account of the Manner in which Prince Edward was arrested

London: Printed for W. Webb, 1749. 15pp, [1]. Uncut in later gilt-ruled straight-grain red morocco. Rubbed, spine sunned. Margins dust-soiled, scattered foxing. Armorial bookplate to FEP of the Earls of Orford, a title (created on three separate occasions) held by such luminaries as Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745) and Horatio Walpole (1723-1809), Whig politician and godfather of Horatio Nelson. The first edition in English of an anonymous eyewitness account of the seizure by French forces of Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788), 'the Young Pretender', Jacobite claimant to the English, Scottish, and Irish thrones. In July 1748 Charles objected to the proposed terms of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that would inevitably conclude with his expulsion from France, where he had sought refuge following the failure of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. The French authorities had negotiated that be sent to Switzerland, but Charles indignantly refused. As a result, on 10th December Charles was taken outside the Palais Royal on his way to the opera, and bound. He was not released before agreeing in writing that he depart the country. He was expelled from France on the 23rd. Many French citizens of note were appalled at his treatment - one suspects British readers of the present pamphlet would not have been so sympathetic. In the same year publisher William Webb issued an edition with the original French text printed parallel to the English. ESTC T166119.. 8vo.