[SLAVERY & ABOLITION -- COMPROMISE OF 1850]. A pair of pamphlets related to the expansion of enslavement, including a pro-Martin van Buren and Free Soil Party publication, comprising:

GARDINER, O[liver] C[romwell]. The Great Issue: or, The Three Presidential Candidates; Being A Brief Historical Sketch of the Free Soil Question in the United States fro the Congresses of 1774 and '87 to the Present Time. New York and Boston: Wm. C. Bryant & Co. and B.B. Mussey & Co., 1848.

8vo (134 x 212 mm). (Occasional spotting, small dampstain to left edge affecting some pages.) Late 20th century black boards, brown calf spine label gilt-lettered.

FIRST EDITION of a lengthy pamphlet issued during the election of 1848 in support of Martin van Buren representing the Free Soil Party, a third party focused on preventing the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired western territories. Sabin 26626.

[With:] CLAYTON, John M. (1896-1856). Speech of the Hon. John M. Clayton, Delivered at a Public Dinner Given to Him...by the Whigs of Delaware. [Wilmington, DE?]: N.p., [1850?]. 8vo. Original wrappers. FIRST EDITION of a speech by Clayton, a long-serving Senator from Delaware who had recently served as Secretary of State under Zachary Taylor. He was elected again the United States Senate in 1853, notably opposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. RARE: OCLC locates only 1 copy at the Huntington Library.

Collection of Tom Charles Huston