AMERICANA 46 59BEVERLEY, Robert. The History And Present State of Virginia, In Four Parts… By a Native and Inhabitant of the Place. London, 1705. Octavo, period-style speckled brown calf gilt. $16,000 First edition of Beverley’s history of Virginia, wonderfully illustrated with engraved armorial frontispiece and 14 full-page “fine engravings” (Sabin). Robert Beverley’s History of Virginia is “the first published history of a British colony by a native of North America.” Beverley, who lived in Jamestown, was prominent in the colony’s government. “Following the fire that destroyed the statehouse in Jamestown on October 20, 1698, [his half-brother] Peter and Robert Beverley salvaged and arranged the valuable surviving public papers. Beverley… was subsequently elected to represent Jamestown in the House of Burgesses” (Ruggles, Encyclopedia Virginia). His History is “after John Smith, the first account of this colony, the first one penned by a native and the best contemporary record of its aboriginal tribes and of the life of its early settlers” (Howes B410). “An unmatched source for the Virginia of its time” (Ruggles). Text and plates fresh and fine. A wonderful copy. One Of The Most Important Works Ever Written On The American Constitution 60STORY, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Boston, 1833. Three volumes. Octavo, modern full brown sheep. $14,000 First edition of this influential three-volume treatise, one of the most important works ever written on the American Constitution, second in significance only to The Federalist. Comparing Story’s Commentaries to The Federalist, James Kent wrote, “It is written in the same free and liberal spirit, with equal exactness and soundness of doctrine, and with great beauty and eloquence of composition” (American Law I: 241). Alexis de Tocqueville, in his work on American democracy, drew heavily on Story’s Commentaries, which when translated into French and German earned Story an international reputation. “Taking The Federalist as the basis of his Commentaries, he advocates a liberal construction of the palladium of our liberties, in order to attain a proper exercise of the functions of the government” (Marvin, 669). Occasional notations— generally underlining—in pencil. Scattered light foxing. Handsomely bound. “The First Published History Of A British Colony By A Native Of North America”
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