In 1964, there was political opposition to the erection of Paine’s statue outside King’s House in Thetford, UK which was a gift from the American Thomas Paine Foundation. The controversy led to the foundation of the Thomas Paine Society UK with a goal of promoting a better understanding of the man and his work. The Thomas Paine Society UK became the premier Thomas Paine historical society in the UK. In 2025, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association merged with the Thomas Paine Society UK to form the internationally-focused Thomas Paine Historical Association. This is the archive of the Thomas Paine Society UK Bulletin from 1965 to 2013.
Paine had been a member of the National Convention; and it is pleasant to know, as an Englishman, that on the trial of Louis XVI, he voted for the King’s being pardoned. He was imprisoned during the time of terror, and narrowly escaped with his life.
Thomas Muir was one of the seven Scottish martyrs sentenced to Botany Bay in 1793 for sedition. The charges included circulating Rights of Man. He met Thomas Paine in Paris.
Although described as being in poor condition, the fact of it having been published in Canada intrigued me, for while I have seen many editions of this famous work originating from many lands, I had never seen a Canadian edition of Paine’s The Age of Reason.
The First Canadian Edition Of The Age Of Reason? Read Post »
Paine’s genius though, transcends continents and races just as it does centuries. Man whose rights he champions is undifferentiated. The message is as relevant and pressing today in Africa as it was in 1791 in Europe and America. That is truly heroic.
Although the second-rank Girondins who remained alive were restored, like him, to their seats in the Convention in 1794, and were influential in producing the directorial constitution of the Year III, that attempt to get back to the principles of 1789 was no more successful than the first revolutionary constitution
Listening to speeches at the Sunday Observer 200th Anniversary of their foundation and of the publication of Rights of Man, my mind wandered as Princess Anne was giving the Thomas Paine Lecture, to his thoughts on titles. ‘Titles baffle even the powers of fancy and are chimerical nonsense’, he wrote.
Some Observations On The Present Day British Monarchy And Titles Read Post »
The author of Rights of Man suffered the condescension of posterity in many ways. He had known virtually every leading contemporary political figure in America, France and England, and yet not one of them publicly praised him after his death.
In 1792, Rickman met Thomas Paine with whom he had frequently corresponded. They soon became firm friends and Paine benefited from Rickman’s knowledge of languages and classical education. Paine lived with Rickman and his second wife and whilst there he completed the second part of Rights of Man.
Thomas “Clio” Rickman, Poet, Bookseller And Radical Publisher Read Post »
TPS member, Alan Rosenburg, has had a play written by him on Thomas Paine broadcast at peak listening time on French State Radio. Broadcast in several installments, the play seems to have been extremely well received.
The book is certainly a very stimulating read, tending to present a sophisticated new view of Paine. It has a good chronology and bibliography, good insights into how the repression of the 1790s was and the sad course of the French Revolution, combined to defeat the Paineite movement.
BOOK REVIEW: Thomas Paine, Political And Social Thought Read Post »
I decided to visit the United States as it was the month Paine had set out to go there in 1774, the first of his five journeys across the Atlantic. My visit would coincide with the Annual General Meeting of the Thomas Paine-Huguenot Historical Society.
In point of elegance and beauty it far exceeded my expectations and is certainly beyond anything I ever saw. My model and myself had may visitors while I was at the works.
Some Of The Letters Paine Wrote To Jefferson During 1788–1789 Concerning The Iron Bridge Read Post »
