Rebels no Saints
London: Printed for W. Gilbert, 1661. Period-style full polished calf.
An exceptional Restoration-era execution narrative with woodcut plate — newly & finely bound
Title:
Rebels No Saints: Or, a Collection of the Speeches, Private Passages, Letters, and Prayers of those Persons lately Executed.
Together with Observations on the same.
London: Printed by W. Gilbert, Winter-Hall, 1661.
With the classic woodcut plate depicting the regicides’ procession and execution scenes (“Going to Execution,” “Drawn upon the Sledge,” “The Traitors Reanimated,” etc.).
A handsome and recent period-style full polished calf, panel-tooled in blind, with gilt red morocco spine labels (“REBELS NO SAINTS” and “1661”). Tight, fresh, and very well executed, clearly done by a professional binder.
Generally clean, with light toning, scattered foxing
Small 8vo. (6.75"x4.5")
Small 8vo. (6.75"x4.5")
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Description
A notorious and highly charged Restoration publication, issued in 1661 shortly after the public executions of several of the men involved in the trial and death of King Charles I. Part propaganda, part moral instruction, and part sensational reporting, Rebels No Saints sought to undermine any sympathetic or “martyr” narratives surrounding the executed Parliamentarian officers and regicides.
The work offers:
Last speeches delivered on the scaffold
Prayers and spiritual reflections from prison
Letters and private passages (some authentic, some embellished for effect)
Commentary (“Observations”) attacking their “pretended sanctity”
A dramatic woodcut scene showing the executions and processions — one of the most recognizable regicide-related images of the 17th century.
Individuals covered include Major General Harrison, John Carew, Thomas Scot, Gregory Clement, Adrian Scroop, Francis Hacker, Hugh Peters, Daniel Axtell, and others. These men were central actors in the Civil War and Interregnum, and their 1660–1661 trials were among the most publicized events of the Restoration.
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Historical Importance
This 1661 edition is one of the earliest and most influential Restoration attempts to shape public memory of the English Civil War. It belongs to the genre of Scaffold Literature — a political theater of repentance, defiance, and state messaging.
A few key features of note:
1. Restoration Propaganda
The Crown used books like this to delegitimize the executed Commonwealth figures, portraying them not as martyrs but as deluded fanatics. The title Rebels No Saints itself is polemical.
2. Eye-catching Execution Plate
The woodcut is a major reason collectors seek these early editions. It typically depicts:
The condemned drawn on sledges
Crowds around the gallows
The execution moment
The grisly post-mortem treatment of regicides
Many copies lack this plate; having it present is significant.
3. Firsthand (or purported firsthand) accounts
Although many passages were edited or framed for political purposes, the book remains one of the principal surviving sources for the last words of these men.
First editions and early Restoration issues of Rebels No Saints are increasingly scarce on the market, especially with the plate intact. Many institutional copies are incomplete or heavily repaired.
This is one of the most evocative printed survivals of the immediate reaction to the Restoration, capturing the cultural and political shift with vivid immediacy.
A powerful and rare 1661 Restoration scaffold narrative attacking the executed regicides, containing last speeches, prison letters, and the famous woodcut of the executions. A core primary source for the political and religious propaganda that followed the return of Charles II. Beautifully bound and complete with the plate.
Price: $2,000.00
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