an anonymous manuscript treatise calling for free trade between Britain and the American colonies, the encouragement of American manufacturing, the better understanding of the needs and desires of American settlers ("...We do not enough consider, that the first care & concern an American Setler [sic] has, is to clear his land, to get Bread to eat from it, and to support himself and Family by the produce of it..."), the limitation of taxation and, among other legislative reforms, the abolition of the Act reserving white pines for the crown, fair copy in a single hand, text on rectos only, with occasional additions on the facing versos, complete in four numbered 4to notebooks, c.110 pages, plus blanks, with five slips of paper with contemporary notes in another hand loosely inserted, marbled paper wrappers, probably late 1760s

[with:] Thomas Howard, autograph letter signed, to "My Lord" [Thomas, 1st Earl of Clarendon], on British difficulties in the War of Independence ("...The country is so very strong, and the general enmity so very prevalent against us, that we find infinite difficulties whenever we are separated for any length of time from our shipping...") and advising on military policy, 8 pages, folio, Philadelphia, 30 November 1777

This is one of 22 lots that have been removed from Holywell House, Hampshire, the home of the Villiers family, Earls of Clarendon. They chiefly relate to the life and careers of two contemporaries: Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury (1710-53), and Thomas Villiers (1709-86), created successively Baron Hyde of Hindon (1756) and Earl of Clarendon (1776).

Cornbury was the last heir to the Earldom of Clarendon that had been created for the statesman and historian Edward Hyde (1609-1674). Cornbury had Jacobite sympathies but was MP for the University of Oxford – with which his family had powerful connections – from 1732 until 1751. He became disillusioned with politics in the later 1740s and spent his final years in France. Cornbury counted Pope and Swift amongst his friends, and was himself the author of pamphlets and at least two plays (see lots 6 and 7). He died, unmarried, in Paris in 1753. Most of Cornbury’s property was inherited by his niece, Charlotte (née Capel). Thomas Villiers, second son of the Earl of Jersey, was her husband. Villiers had spent the 1730s and ‘40s as a diplomat mostly in the German-speaking world (none of his diplomatic papers are included in this offering) and, following his retirement from the diplomatic service, he entered government in the 1760s. As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1771-82 and 1783-86), Clarendon was in Cabinet during🅺 the American War of Independence (see lots 14-19).

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"...Independence is the natural inheritance of the Mind of Man..."

A SEEMINGLY UNKNOWN TREATISE ADVISING ON BRITISH POL🗹ICY TOWARDS THE AMERཧICAN COLONIES.