Junius. STAT NOMINUS UMBRA (LETTERS OF JUNIUS). Bensley, London, 1799. 2 volumes, tall 8vo., calf, with old rebacking, 274 & 319pp., title pages dated 1797, 21 portraits engraved by Bewick, plus engraved head- and tail-pieces. Shelf wear to bottoms of boards, else a most attractive copy. The "Junius" letters, which appeared anonymously in The Public Advertiser between 1769 and 1792, comprise a series of attacks on prominent figures of the Government. One, which attacks George III, provoked an unsuccessful libel action against the publisher. Though authorship of the letters has never been firmly established, most think they were written by Sir Philip Francis (1740-1818). Francis was a diplomat prominent in the governing of India, accused Governor Hastings of corruption, duelled with him and was wounded, and assisted Burke in the efforts to impeach him.
