"THE OLDEST FUNCTIONING WRITTEN CONSTITUTION IN THE WORLD"
(ADAMS, John). Constitution or Frame of Government… Massachusetts-Bay. Boston, 1780.
First edition of the landmark 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, "one of the great, enduring documents of the American Revolution." Chiefly authored by Founding Father John Adams, this "ideal of a 'perfect constitution'" (Wood) notably contains the Massachusetts' constitutional convention's revision of his initial wording—that all men are "born equally free and independent"—to "All men are born free and equal," reflecting Jefferson's timeless phrase in the Declaration. Handsomely housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. $14,500.
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