Read and Circulate! / Hon. A.H. Stephens, of GA., on Know-Nothingism. / [caption title, followed by two pages of dense text, printed in three columns]

Broadsheet, 18 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, the caption title in two lines, the first bold. Separate printing of a long letter by Stephens (first published in Augusta's "Chronicle and Sentinel" in, May 1855), from his home in Crawfordville, Georgia, to Col. Thomas W. Thomas of Eatonton, in response to Thomas's concerns that he might not run for Congress in upcoming elections and questions concerning Know-Nothingism. In this expansive reply (more than 8000 words), Stephens eviscerates the newly formed political party, on the basis of both its structure, especially the secrecy that enveloped its inner workings, and its policies, especially its anti-Catholicism and anti-immigration stands. While many of his fellow southern Whigs joined the Know-Nothing movement, Stephens became a Democrat and continued his career in Congress. Not in De Renne Catalogue. Hummel 417 (Emory). OCLC locates two copies (Georgia, Virginia). Folded; some foxing, two small holes in margin (not affecting text). Very good.