(WATTERSON, George)

The Lawyer, or Man as He Ought Not to Be. A Tale

First edition. Small octavo. Contemporary quarter sheep and marbled paper over boards, gilt rules and lettering, untrimmed. Frontispiece. Modest foxing to the text, edges a little rubbed, and the spine lettering worn, but mostly readable, a handsome, very good or better copy of this very uncommon American novel. The first book by Watterson (1783-1854), a tale with strong gothic elements about a crooked lawyer who has committed a series of reprehensible crimes. As near as we can determine this is the first American work of fiction to feature a lawyer as the main character. No matter how one feels about the profession and its practitioners, it is perhaps not surprising to find the protagonist so reviled. In addition to his career as a journalist and author, Watterson served as the first full-time Librarian of Congress, a post which he held from 1815 to 1829. Wright I, 2684; American Bibliography 16672; Peters, The Early American Novel, pp. 324-325. Although held at several institutions, all four of Watterson's novels are rare in the trade, and lacking from many significant libraries and private collections.

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