Vol. V only. 8vo (239 x 138mm). (Some discoloration to endpapers, slight spotting to title-page). Contemporary sheep (rebacked, repairs to corners); slipcase.

 

JAMES BUCHANAN’S COPY, SIGNED on the title-page (“James Buchanan”). 

 

Born in 1791 near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and educated at Dickinson College, Buchanan studied law and passed the bar in Lancaster, which would be his home for the rest of his life. Establishing a very successful legal practice, he soon became involved in politics.  After serving briefly in the military during the War of 1812, he served two years in the Pennsylvania legislature after his election in 1814.  
 
Elected five times to the United States House of Representatives, Buchanan was a gifted debater and well versed in the law. After an interlude as minister to Russia, he served for a decade in the United States Senate. He became President Polk's secretary of state and President Pierce's minister to Great Britain.  Buchanan made three unsuccessful bids for the presidency, but in 1856, his absence from the country during the turmoil over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his reputation as a compromiser made him a more acceptable Democratic candidate than either Franklin Pierce or Stephen A. Douglas.