[CONSTITUTIONS].

Constitutions des Treize Etats-Unis de L'Amerique.

Item #77296

[CONSTITUTIONS]. Constitutions des Treize Etats-Unis de L'Amerique. Nouvelle edition. Paris. 1792. Two volumes bound in one. [4],324; 317pp. Contemporary French mottled calf, spine richly gilt with red gilt morocco label, marbled endpapers. Boards slightly bowed, minor wear to joints, gouge to lower front cover. Leaves expertly washed. Very good. The first French edition of the 1787 Federal Constitution, printed with the second French edition of the constitutions of the thirteen states. The original French edition of the state constitutions was inspired by Franklin and appeared in 1783. Franklin was then ambassador to the French Court and had just completed negotiations with Great Britain for the independence of the United States. The work was translated by the Duc de la Rochefoucauld, at Franklin's suggestion, and includes over fifty footnote annotations explicating the text. This edition, publishing the Federal Constitution for the first time, also includes the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the treaties between the United States and France, the Low Countries, and Sweden. This 1792 edition in two volumes is significant for including the text of the Federal Constitution as well as the Bill of Rights (using the twelve amendments proposed to the first Congress, only ten of which were passed). The date of this edition of the American constitutions is significant, coming in the midst of the French Revolution, and at a point when the French revolutionaries were drafting their own constitution. This edition was probably created to aid in that project. HOWES C716. SABIN 16120. COHEN 3033 (note).

Price: $5,000.00