Philadelphia: Printed by William and Thomas Bradford, 1774. First edition. 8vo. (iv), 144 pp., with half-title. Title-page with woodcut of the seal of Congress. Bound to style in 18th century three-quarter russia over period marbled paper-covered boards, spine decorated in gilt; all edges trimmed; light spotting to text; in full blue morocco fall-down-back box and chemise. Evans 13738; Howes J-263; Hildeburn 3036; Adams, American Controversy 74-84b; Reese, The Revolutionary Hundred 20

Rare first edition of the journals of the first Continental Congress, one of the most fundamental documents relating to the American Revolution--in the preferred issue with 144 pages, with “The Petition to the King” and "General Gage's Letter to the Honourable Peyton Randolph".

In response to the the Intolerable Acts passed by Parliament in the wake of the Boston Tea Party, the various Committees of Correspondence in the North American colonies resolved to hold a Continental Congress in June of 1774. Delegates from twelve colonies (none from Georgia) gathered in Philadelphia in the fall. It included many of the most distinguished men in America: Samuel and John Adams, Roger Sherman, John Jay, Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Edmund Pendleton, and Henry Middleton, among others. The Congress succeeded in taking numerous important steps. On October 14 they adopted a Declaration of Rights, and agreed to an Association governing imports and exports and boycotting British goods. They also drafted and sent an Address to the People of Great Britain and another Address to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec.

This issue of the Journals adds twelve highly important pages of text, consisting of the address to King George III (“The Petition to the King”) arguing the American position, asking for redress, and promising loyalty if the status quo of 1764 was restored. This text was agreed upon and voted in executive session on October 1, 1774, and probably reached England in early November. This text does not appear in the 132 pp. issue, probably published in November, because it was still secret. The Petition certainly reached Lord North, but it is unclear if the King ever saw it. By mid-January 1775, as the flow of events progressed and it seemed unlikely there would be a response (there never was), it was published in this issue of the Journals, said to be issued on January 17-18, 1775.