Description
Book SynopsisThe patent for coining copper money granted by King George I to the English manufacturer William Wood aroused nationwide protest in Ireland. It led to the publication of Jonathan Swift’s «Drapier’s Letters», in which the Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, attacked both the patent and England’s Irish policy. But this is not the whole story. This annotated edition contains more than 100 pamphlets, declarations, poems, and songs that were published during the dispute. Most of the reproduced texts are extremely rare and have hitherto lain dormant in various libraries. They illustrate that the protest was in fact carried on by the Irish population at large, who regarded the coinage scheme as a severe intrusion into the nation’s circulating cash which threatened to ruin the country’s economy.
Trade Review«
Jonathan Swift's Allies belongs in all research libraries: it is an indispensable resource for all researching 18C Irish history & literature.»
(J.E. May, The Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer Vol.32, No.1 2018)
Table of ContentsThe Pamphlets and Broadsides against Wood’s Halfpence – Glossary – Biographical Index – Select Bibliography of Critical Studies
