About this Item
Rare early folio edition of the first official publication of the acts of the first Congress, including the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; bound with the first official printing of the acts of the second session of Congress and an early printing of the acts of the third session of Congress (issued the same year as the first official printing). Folio, three volumes bound into one in full contemporary blind-tooled calf with raised bands to the spine, burgundy morocco spine label lettered in gilt. A reprint of Childs and Swaineâ s first official printing, which was issued in New York in 1789, this issue appeared in Philadelphia after the nationâ s capital was moved there. In addition to the Constitution, this publication contains an early printing of the original twelve articles of the Bill of Rights, only ten of which were ratified, and all of the acts passed by the first Congress including those which: established the Departments of State, War and Treasury; placed a duty on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United States; provided for government of the territory northwest of the Ohio River; established salaries and compensation for the President, Vice President, members of the Senate and the House, judges of the Supreme Court, and executive officers of government; established judicial courts; provided expenses and commissioners for the negotiation of treaties with Indian tribes; and charged the Department of State with the safekeeping of acts, records, and seals of the United States, ordering that every law, order, resolution, and vote be published in at least three newspapers, one printed copy be delivered to each senator and representative, and two printed copies be delivered to the executive authorities of each state. The acts in the second session of Congress include the establishment of the countryâ s temporary and permanent capitals, treaties with North American Indian tribes, and the â Definitive treaty of peace between the United States and his Britannic Majesty.â The third session includes acts admitting the states of Vermont and Kentucky (Evans 23842). In very good condition. Housed in a custom velvet-lined full morocco clamshell box. Early official folio printings of the acts of Congress are scarce, those of the first three sessions together exceptionally so. On May 28, 1789, in the first month of the United States government, Congress passed a resolution directing the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House to secure the printing contracts for â 600 copies of the Acts of each session. to be distributed to the members and to the executive, judiciary, and heads of the departments of the United States government, as well as the executive, legislative and judicial branches of every state. This would practically exhaust the 600 copies. in official distribution, and leave none for public purchase.â (Powell, The Books of a New Nation, 85). This undated printing was issued in New York in 1789 after the nationâ s capital was moved to Philadelphia and Childs and Swain began preparing government printings there as well. â The bound volumes of the Acts of Congress, issued at the end of each session by Childs & Swaine were sometimes reprinted. in the first few years of the new government. But soon the appeal of them to commercial printers ceased. Bound Acts came to be very hard to get. They were always in short supply. Six hundred copies barely covered the official distribution, left few for the general public, few for the Congressmen themselves. Senators could never find copies of the printings for their own use, neither could cabinet officers nor lesser departmental officials. When he set up office in Philadelphia the clerk of the State Department had only one single copy of the Acts for 1790â (Powell, 92).Item #125641. Seller Inventory # 125641
Contact seller
Report this item
