DEFOE, Daniel
The Secret History of the White-Staff, Being An Account of Affairs under the Conduct of some late Ministers, and of what might probably have happened is Her Majesty had not Died. Part I, Part II.
London, Printed for J. Baker at the Black-Boy in Pater-Noster-Row, 1714
2 parts in 1 vol., small 8vo, modern half leather binding, title to spine, marbled endpapers, title page slightly soiled with erasable light pencil markings, 47 p.; good condition.
Part I and Part II in one volume. No edition stated. Despite being most widely recognized now for writing Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote countless pieces of nonfiction that were often highly political. After being thrown in prison in 1703 for writing ‘The Shortest Way with Dissenters’, a piece satirizing the high church Tories, Defoe agreed to write for Tory politician Robert Harley, who posted bail for Defoe. Defoe wrote numerous pieces and pamphlets for Harley, the then Speaker of the House of Commons, expressing ideas supporting the Tory politician that often conflicted with his own personal beliefs. In response to general discontent during the year Harley resigned from the office of Lord High Treasurer days before the death of Queen Anne, Defoe anonymously wrote ‘The Secret History of the White-Staff’, the White-Staff referring to the emblem of the office of Lord High Treasurer, to provide the public with what he framed as a more complete account of Harley’s actions in office. He released the piece in three instalments in 1714.
