Books and Manuscripts

The Constitutions of the United States According to the Latest Amendments: To Which are Annexed, the Declaration of Independence; and the Federal Constitution; With the Amendments Thereto
Philadelphia: From the Press of Carey, Stewart, and Co., 1791. First edition. 12mo. (iv), 176 pp. Full contemporary brown sheep, rebacked, red morocco spine label, stamped in gilt, boards and extremities rubbed and scratched; all edges trimmed; repair in top corner of title-page affecting several letters, likely from the excision of a previous owner's signature; ownership signature on Contents page, "Wm. Green 1865"; minor spotting to text. Evans 23887; Howes C-716; Sabin 16097; Reese, The Federal Hundred 36 

Scarce 1791 edition of the Constitutions of the United States. This is the first collection of state constitutions printed following the ratification of the Federal Constitution, and is the first to assemble a printing of the Federal Constitution along with the twelve amendments that were proposed by Congress in 1789 (a printed note at the end, dated August 1791, tells of the failure of the first two to be ratified). This volume is also notable for being the first edition to include the constitution of the state of Vermont (admitted to the Union in early 1791), as well printing those of the original 13 states, including the colonial charters of Rhode Island (1662) and Connecticut (1663); the 1776 constitutions of Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, New Hampshire, Maryland, and North Carolina; the 1777 constitution of New York; the 1789 constitution of Georgia; the 1790 constitutions of Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and the 1780 constitution of Massachusetts.