8vo (196 x 133 mm). (Lacking pp.1-16, 71-96, including title-page; spotting). 19th century quarter calf (rubbing to covers and spine, lower portion of rear spine peeled back partially affecting front, damp stains to front free endpaper and preliminary leaves). Provenance: John Wesley Stewart (1822-1899), American lawyer and politician and early Wisconsin pioneer (ownership signatures, name stamped on spine).

THE FIRST ALMANAC PRINTED IN WISCONSIN. A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY, OWNED BY ONE OF THE FRAMERS OF THE WISCONSIN STATE CONSTITUTION.

John Wesley Stewart served as a Whig in the 5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly and took part in framing the Wisconsin State Constitution prior to Wisconsin's admission to the Union in 1848. Following the organization of the Republican Party in 1854, Stewart joined the new party and, in 1859, was elected to the Wisconsin Senate. During the Civil War, he devoted considerable time to visiting Wisconsin regiments in the field and assisting soldiers in sending their pay home to their families.

The printer, Rufus King, was among the earliest printers in Wisconsin, and the grandson of the Founding Father and Constitutional Convention delegate of the same name. RARE: We trace no copies at auction. Howes H-806 ("aa"); Sabin 33878; Wisconsin Imprints 1855-1858, 1.

BOUND WITH 43 CIVIL WAR-ERA IMPRINTS, INCLUDING:

1) GOODLOE, Daniel R. Federalism Unmasked; or, the Rights of the States, the Congress, the Executive, and the People, Vindicated Against the Encroachments of the Judiciary... Washington, D.C.: Duell & Blanchard, 1860. RARE: We trace no copies at auction since 1914. Sabin 27861.

2) SUMNER, Charles. The Barbarism of Slavery. Speech of...on the Bill for the Admission of Kansas as a Free State. Washington, D.C.: Duell & Blanchard, 1860.

3) DOUGLAS, Stephen A. On the State of the Union. Washington. D.C.: [Government Printing Office], 1861.

4) HARLAN, James. State of the Union. Speech of Hon. Jas. Harlan of Iowa in the Senate, January 11, 1861. Washington, D.C.: H. Polkinhorn's Steam Job Press, 1861. James Harlan was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln's whose daughter, Mary, wed Robert Todd Lincoln in 1868. Henry Polkinhorn famously printed the broadside for the April 14, 1865 performance of Our American Cousin at which Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. RARE: We trace no copies at auction.

5) GARFIELD, James A. Speech of...in Reply to the Speech of Hon. Alexander Long in Favor of Abandoning the War and Recognizing the Southern Confederacy. [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1864].

6) BALDWIN, John D. State Sovereignty and Treason. Washington, D.C.: H. Polkinhorn, 1864.

7) JOHNSON, Andrew. Message of the President of the United States Communicating...[the Condition of the South]. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865.

8) HOWE, Timothy O. Impeachment of the President. Opinion of Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin... [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868].

9) Financial Issues of the Campaign. [Chicago: The Chicago Tribune], 1868.

10) PAINE, Albert E. Purchase of Alaska. Washington, D.C.: F. & J. Rives & Geo. A. Bailey, 1868.

And 33 others. Together, 44 works in one volume. A REMARKABLE CIVIL WAR-ERA POLITICAL SAMMELBAND, CENTERED ON THE RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE GREAT NATIONAL QUESTIONS OF SLAVERY, SECESSION, UNION, WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION.