Defence of the Constitutions of the Government of the United States
Item #78844
ADAMS, John. A Defence of the Constitutions of the Government of the United States of America, against the Attack of M. Turgot in His Letter to Dr. Price, Dated the Twenty-Second Day of March, 1778. London: Printed for John Stockdale, 1794. New ed. 3 vols. 8,xxxii,[3]-392;451,[1, binder's directions];528,[36, index]pp. Portrait frontis. Contemporary tree calf, bordered in gilt, rebacked in period-style calf spines, ruled in blind, maroon morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers, gilt-chamfered edges. Some faint scattered foxing, bookplates in all vols., else very good or better. HOWES A-60, "aa." Sabin 233. DAB I, p.76. Reese, Federal Hundred 11 (ref.). Actually the second complete edition, which appeared three years before the American edition. The definitive final edition, after its first appearance in London in 1787. One of the most important and widely read of the many writings of the important Revolutionary figure and second president of the United States. The second and third volumes, originally issued later than the first, contain descriptions of the Italian republics of the Middle Ages as well as a lengthy analysis of "the Right Constitution of a Commonwealth." At the time Adams wrote this work he was serving as the first United States ambassador in England, an uncomfortable position for a recent rebel, but he was ever ready to argue the American point of view. Here he forcibly states the principles on which he perceived the United States to be founded. The book was popular and went through numerous editions. Its issuance as the Federal Constitutional Convention was assembling added to its popularity and resulted in several American reprintings, and according to the DAB, "its timeliness gave it vogue." Later Adams' detractors sought to find in it a hidden desire for a monarchy.
Price: $7,500.00