Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of
Item #84972
ADAMS, John. A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of AMERICA. Philadelphia: Printed for Hall and Sellers..., 1787. xx,[3]-390pp. 12mo. Bound in full period-style spotted leather, morocco spine label, spine ruled in gilt. Minor foxing and browning. Overall very good. Howes A-60. Sabin 233. Evans 20176. NAIP w020113. DAB I, p.76. Reese, The Federal Hundred, 11. The present work, here in the influential first American edition, published the same year as the London first edition, is one of the most important and widely read writings of John Adams. 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. This first American edition, issued in Philadelphia as the Federal Constitutional Convention was assembling, is particularly notable, as members of the convention must have devoured it. According to the DAB, "its timeliness gave it vogue." Later, Adams' detractors sought to find in it a hidden desire for a monarchy. In 1788, Adams extended this work by publishing two additional volumes in London. A most important exposition of American democratic first principles. A most important exposition of American democratic first principles.
Price: $12,500.00