Washington City: Roger C. Weightman, 1813. 8vo. With a clipped signature of Madison's (signed, "James Madison"), excised from a partially-printed document (ca. 1803), tipped onto transmittal leaf; 1 3/4 x 4 in. (44 x 102 mm). Disbound and inserted into a faux leather wallet-style binding; some spotting and toning; a few leaves separating from original stitching. Not in Sabin

Issued just weeks before the outbreak of the War of 1812, President James Madison's message to Congress enclosed critical British government documents surrounding the British Order in Council which restricted American trade and maritime rights. These policies, particularly the British practice of impressment and interference with neutral commerce, had long inflamed tensions between the two nations. Madison’s transmission of these papers served to highlight ongoing British provocations and to justify the United States’s growing calls for war. Less than two months later, on June 18, 1812, the United States formally declared war on Great Britain—citing such violations as a primary cause.

Exceedingly rare. We were unable to locate any copies at auction in the past century.