PAINE, THOMAS

born Jan. 29, 1737, Thetford, Norfolk, Eng. died June 8, 1809, New York, N.Y., U.S. Thomas Paine, detail of a portrait by John Wesley Jarvis; in the Thomas Paine Memorial House, New English-American writer and political pamphleteer whose Common Sense and Crisis papers were important influences on the American Revolution. Other works that contributed to his reputation as one of the greatest political propagandists in history were Rights of Man, a defense of the French Revolution and of republican principles; and The Age of Reason, an exposition of the place of religion in society. Additional reading The first comprehensive edition of Paine's works is that of Moncure D. Conway, The Writings of Thomas Paine, 4 vol. (189496). This has been replaced by Philip S. Foner, The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, 2 vol. (1945). Several later discoveries of Paine's writings are in A.O. Aldridge, Some Writings of Thomas Paine in Pennsylvania Newspapers, American Historical Review, 56:832838 (1951). Richard Gimbel, Thomas Paine Fights for Freedom in Three Worlds (1961), offers an annotated bibliography of Paine's works. The first worthwhile biography, though entirely uncritical, was Moncure D. Conway, The Life of Thomas Paine, 2 vol. (1892). A.D. Aldridge, Man of Reason (1959), is an insightful, scholarly biography with chapter notes. David Freeman Hawke, Rebel! (1974), includes an invaluable bibliography.