A very handsome volume containing the entire 12 issues of The Scots Magazine for 1771, 

Includes one of the very first printings of the account of the death of George Whitefield and a full transcript of his last will and testament. Extensive.

Also, substantial content related to a landmark event in the history of the Freedom of the Press, i.e. the Printers' Case, a constitutional crisis over whether printers could publish debates of Parliament. The House of Commons had long asserted the privilege of keeping its proceedings secret. In 1771, several London printers were arrested for reporting parliamentary speeches. This pitted the city of London, led by the radical Lord Mayor Brass Crosby and Alderman John Wilkes, against the Parliament as they refused to surrender the printers for arrest. The confrontation resulted in the effective establishment of the right to report parliamentary debates. The Scots Magazine followed this battle closely month by month, covering the speeches, petitions, legal arguments, and ultimate outcome. Extensive content throughout. 

We also have in these pages evidences of the early stirrings of the American Revolution. Coverage included accounts of American petitions and disputes with royal governors, ongoing tensions over parliamentary taxation, and reports from Boston, New York, Virginia, and other colonies. The magazine published letters and addresses from colonial assemblies asserting their rights, alongside British responses. The terms "colonies," "liberty," "taxation," and "Boston" appear with notable frequency in this volume.

Further contents include: Military Operations between the Russians and Turks; Affairs in America; on the Dispute between Great Britain and Spain; Account of Mr. George Whitefield; Mr. Adie's Trial in the Church Courts; Account of the Happenings in the Falkland Islands; On the Relation between Comets and Rain; Six's Account of the Comet; The Spanish Declaration; Justification of the Publication of the Speeches of Parliament; Golden Rod as a Cure for the Gravel; Strange Appearance in the late Transit of Venus; Filial Piety and Resignation; Adultery Reprehended; Remarks on the Bills of Mortality; News-Papers and Privilege; On the Fracas about the Printers; A Filched Snuff Box Restored; A Violent Headache and a Cure; In what Parish Fornicators should make Satisfaction; The Letter to the Quakers from the Last Yearly Meeting at London; A Husband Advertised For; A Letter from Mr. George Whitefield to Mr. Smith; A Barbarous Murder; Private Distillers Prosecuted; Technical Terms in Painting Explained; Scots Emigrants to America; Proceedings in the Massachusetts Bay Assembly; On the Use of Mercury for Convulsive Disorders; Thoughts on Religious Liberty [significant context for the phrase as understood by the founders]; On the Making of Artificial Ass's Milk; An Account of the Famine in Bengal; Modern Chastity; A Criminal Slave Adjudged to be Sold for Behoof of the Master; Discoveries in the South Seas; Cure for Rheumatism; On John Wesley and His Speedy Cure for Gout; The King and the Astrologer; The Master and the Slave; Urine as a Valuable Manure; Fidelity to the Marriage Bed Rewarded by King Charles II; Cure of the Bit of a Mad Dog by Mercury; etc.

The Scots Magazine. MDCCLXXI. Edinburgh. Printed by Murray and Cochran. 1771. 706pp + indices.

A good example in original 18th century calf, rubbed with losses as shown. Contents and binding generally clean, solid, and complete.