AMERICANA 40 “Liberty And The Laws Depend Entirely On A Separation Of [Powers]” 52ADAMS, John. A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America. Philadelphia, 1797. Three volumes. Octavo, original marbled boards and paper spines, custom slipcase. $9500 First American edition of Adams’ three-volume work in defense of a strong executive, a system of checks and balances, and a bicameral legislature. While serving as America’s minister in Great Britain, Adams “felt an urgency like that of 1776. Great events were taking place at home… By early January 1787, Adams had rushed the first installment of his effort to a London printer. Titled A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America” (McCullough, 374). The first volume was published in London in 1787; in 1788 Adams wrote Volumes II and III. Though “Third Edition” appears on the title page, this is the first American printing of the complete work. Closed tear to leaf Q in Volume I. Old ink stain to last two leaves of Volume III; occasional foxing. Joints tender, cords still firm. An extremely good copy in original boards. Second English Edition Of Benjamin Franklin’s Works, 1793 51FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Works of the late Doctor Benjamin Franklin. London, 1793. Two volumes. Small octavo, early 20th-century threequarter dark blue morocco gilt. $4500 Second English edition, printed in the same year as the first and including three additional essays, of this leading popular collection of Franklin’s Works, including Franklin’s autobiography, major essays such as his thoughts “On the Slave Trade” and his powerful speech at the close of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Hailed as the “first great American” by historian Frederick Jackson Turner, America’s “first philosopher” by David Hume and “one of the most sensible men that ever lived” by Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, in both his life and writings, “held true to a fundamental ideal with unwavering and at times heroic fortitude: a faith in the wisdom of the common citizen” (Isaacson, 478-93). Title pages trimmed at side margins; remaining text leaves quite widemargined, often untrimmed. Occasional spotting to a some early leaves; faint dampstain to last few leaves of Volume II. Morocco-gilt bindings handsome and fine.
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