U.S Government Rare Books and First Editions

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AN EXTRAORDINARY AMERICAN RARITY—JEFFERSON’S PERSONAL ANNOTATED COPY OF THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, (1803, 1805) FROM JEFFERSON’S LIBRARY

(JEFFERSON, Thomas) UNITED STATES CONGRESS. Laws of the United States. Vols. VI-VII. Washington City, 1803, 1805. One volume.

Thomas Jefferson's personal copy of Volumes VI and VII of the Laws of the United States, together in one most rare and remarkable volume from his library, containing Jefferson's characteristic and distinctive ownership marks, together with his annotations and marginala in his manuscript hand, featuring the Acts of the 7th and 8th Congresses, and early printings of key laws passed from 1802-1805 (while Jefferson was President), notably containing a printing of the text of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty that is said to have been Jefferson's primary source for the treaty, also with printings of laws resulting from the Treaty, and major legislation establishing a governmental structure for the newly-acquired territory, in contemporary calf. $245,000.

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"I AM SINCERELY CONCERNED FOR THE DEATH OF JUPITER, WHICH I AM PERSUADED MIGHT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED COULD I HAVE PREVAILED ON HIM TO GIVE UP GOING WITH ME TO FREDERICKSBURG"

JEFFERSON, Thomas. Autograph letter signed. Philadelphia, February 10, 1800. Fascinating 1800 autograph letter signed by Thomas Jefferson to Monticello overseer Richard Richardson concerning the death of Jupiter (1743-1800), Jefferson's longtime servant and friend. Jefferson also gives instructions to Richardson as to several management issues, asking that two of the nephews of Sally Hemings stay in the main house in order to guard it from intruders; recommending tasks for several other slaves, as well as proposing an efficient means of communication while he attended to his Vice Presidential duties in Philadelphia; and also forwards a bag of "a particular kind of nut, called the Paccan," asking that they be planted in the nursery. $150,000.

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"I GIVE YOU THIS HINT IN CONFIDENCE TO ENABLE YOU THE BETTER TO FORM AN ESTIMATE OF THE TRUE NATURE OF THE OFFICE"

HAMILTON, Alexander. Autograph letter signed. Philadelphia, March 20, 1791.

Excellent, unpublished Alexander Hamilton autograph letter signed, with extraordinary content, written to his friend, confidant, and long-time correspondent Edward Carrington regarding his recent appointment to Supervisor of the Revenue for the District of Virginia, newly discovered after 200 years, having been bound into a book sometime in the 1870s. $58,000.

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"YOU MUST EITHER HAVE BEEN MISINFORMED… OR YOU MUST HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD"

WASHINGTON, George. Letter signed. Head Quarters, New Windsor, 11th May 1781.

Important 1781 letter signed by George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, accomplished in the hand of aide Tench Tilghman and written to the German Major General Baron de Riedesel regarding the sensitive matter of prisoner exchanges, mentioning his senior aide, Alexander Hamilton, as well as British General John Burgoyne. Boldly signed, beautifully framed with a portrait of Washington. $55,000.

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"TO PROHIBIT US FROM THE BENEFIT OF FOREIGN LIGHT, IS TO CONSIGN US TO LONG DARKNESS"

JEFFERSON, Thomas. Letter signed. Monticello, Virginia, September 28, 1821.

Fantastic Thomas Jefferson signed letter, with four corrections also in his hand, a circular letter addressed to Dr. Samuel Brown, the first professor of medicine west of the Alleghenies at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, with wonderful content regarding the effect of high import tariffs on books on American education and scholars. "Science is more important in a republican than in any other government… Of many important books of reference there is not perhaps a single copy in the United States; of others but a few, and these too distant often to be accessible to scholars generally." $40,000.

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“POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE… IS INTERESTING TO US IN A HIGH DEGREE”

(FOREIGN SERVICE ACT). Foreign Service Act. Act providing the Means of Intercourse between the United States. [New York], [1790].

First edition, association copy of the pivotal Foreign Service Act, an exceptional broadside printing of the first law to formally establish diplomatic offices overseas, passed during the Second Session of the First Congress, initiated by Secretary of State Jefferson and signed into law by Washington on July 1, 1790. From the library of Stephen Row Bradley, the influential U.S. senator from Vermont and “a strong supporter of both Jefferson and Madison.” $32,000.

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EXCEPTIONAL ASSOCIATION COPY OF THE 1794 CARRIAGE ACT, RARE FIRST PRINTING OF THE FIRST AMERICAN LAW WHOSE CONSTITUTIONALITY WAS CHALLENGED AND THE FIRST TO TEST THE CONCEPT OF “JUDICIAL REVIEW”

(UNITED STATES CONGRESS). Carriage Act. Act Laying Duties Upon Carriages for the Conveyance of Persons. [Philadelphia, 1794].

First edition of Hamilton’s 1794 Carriage Act, the very first law to involve “judicial review,” defended by Alexander Hamilton in his only appearance before the Court in a momentous decision that “represented the first time the Supreme Court ever ruled on the constitutionality of an act of Congress,” a rare association copy from the library of early U.S. Senator Stephen Row Bradley, the drafter of the 12th amendment. $28,500.

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“THE WESTERN WORLD HAS BEEN FREED OF EVIL FORCES”

TRUMAN, Harry. Proclamation. Washington, D.C. May 8, 1945.

Large elaborate signed three-color broadside of President Truman’s proclamation upon the Nazi surrender to the allied forces, praising the armed forces and designating a day of prayer to offer “joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will… guide us into the ways of peace.” Handsomely set in Gothic type and boldly signed in ink “Harry Truman.” $25,000.

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RARE SHIP’S PAPERS SIGNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM SEWARD

LINCOLN, Abraham. Document signed (ship's papers). Washington, DC, December 7, 1863.

A remarkable ship’s passport signed by President Lincoln and his Secretary of State William Seward, authorizing passage for the ship Martha, "lying at present in the port of New Bedford bound for Pacific Ocean, and laden with provisions, stores, and utensils for a whaling voyage." A fine signed document dating from the Civil War. $25,000.

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"THE ENORMOUS ENGINE FABRICATED BY THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT FOR BATTERING DOWN ALL THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF AMERICA, I MEAN THE STAMP ACT" (JOHN ADAMS)

(STAMP ACT) (PARLIAMENT). Stamp Act. London, 1765.

Very rare folio first printing of the 1765 Stamp Act, turning the course toward Revolution with a signal that "the only way for the American colonists to solve their differences with Great Britain was to tear away from it completely" (Hayes), less than 1100 copies printed. An exceptionally important document in American history, quite rare. $24,000.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.
Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
Endpapers Extra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block. The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.
Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text.
Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
Flyleaves Additional blank leaves following or preceding the endpapers.
Folio Book composed of sheets that are folded once and printed on both sides, making two leaves and four pages. Typically above 14 inches tall. Oblong folios are produced the same way but bound at the short edge, producing a book typically more than 14 inches deep.
Fore-Edge Edge of the book furthest from the spine. Occasionally the text of a book will be put into a specialized book press and painted, often with a scene from the book or a landscape, so that the painting is invisible when the book is closed but visible when somebody bends the text and fans the pages—known as a fore-edge painting.
Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.
Frontispiece An illustration facing the title page of a book.
Gathering Single sheet of paper that has been printed and folded to form the pages required by the book’s format. A single gathering of a quarto book, then, would be a sheet folded twice, containing four leaves, eight pages of text.. Gatherings are identified by a letter, symbol or number in the lower margin of the first page (the “signature”) to make it easy for the printer to stack them in proper order for sewing.
Gilt Edges The three exposed edges of a book have been smoothed and gilded.
Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.
Illuminated Decorated by hand. Typically early printed books and especially manuscripts.
Imprint Satement of place, publisher and date of publication on a book’s title page.
Incunable From the cradle of printing, i.e., any book printed before 1501.
Issue A group of books issued by the publisher as a discrete unit. At times, issue refers to timing, such as the “first issue” being offered to the public at an earlier date than the “second issue.” At other times, it refers to specially planned different batches, such as the “trade issue” (widely available) in opposition to a “signed limited issue” (limited to a small amount of copies differing somehow from the trade issue and not widely available).
Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
Mispaginated Printer’s error in pagination, typically skipping, transposing or repeating page numbers. Not uncommon in older, larger books, it is not considered a defect, so long as all integral leaves are present.
Modern Recently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well.
Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).
Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page.
Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.
Plate Full-page illustration printed separately from but bound with the text.
Point Variation in text, illustration, design or format that allows a bibliographer to distinguish between different editions and different printings of the same edition, or between different states or issues of the same printing.
Presentation Copy Book given as a gift by its author, illustrator or publisher. Sometimes refers to a volume given by a notable donor.
Provenance History of a particular copy of a book.
Raised Bands Horizontal protruding strips found on the spine of a book.
Reback To supply a worn binding with a new spine, usually made of the same material as the rest of the binding and decorated to match. When feasible the binder may preserve the original spine and affix it to the new material, described as “rebacked with the original spine laid down.”
Recase To reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers.
Recto The front side of a leaf. The back side is known as the “verso.”
Trade Edition Printing or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription).
Uncut When the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well.
Unopened When the folds of the sheets of paper making up the text block have not been trimmed away or opened with a paper-knife. While this makes it impossible to read all of the pages, it also indicates a probability that the text block has not been altered since leaving the printer.
Vellum Binding material made from specially treated calfskin—durable, with a distinctive ivory color and smooth appearance. Can be tooled in gilt or blind. So-called Japan vellum (or Japon) is a type of thick paper that has been polished smooth and given a glossy finish to resemble vellum.
Verso The back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”)
Woodcut Illustration or textual decoration made by cutting away from the surface of a block of wood until the reverse of the image is left in relief; this is then inked and pressed to the paper to leave the image. The woodblock, or multiple blocks, can be fit into the page along with the type, allowing text and illustrations to be printed in the same print run and share the same page (not possible with engravings, which require thicker, damp paper and much more force; nor with lithographs, which require a different printing process altogether). Woodcuts preceded moveable type and are the earliest known printing technology.
Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
Wrappers Paper coverings—plain, marbled or printed—attached by stitches, staples or glue to a text block to identify it and afford it some protection (though much more fragile than a binding in plain, cloth or leather-covered boards). More typical of slim and/or inexpensive volumes such as pamphlets. “Self wrappers” are leaves, blank or printed, that are integral to the text block, conjugate with other leaves and from the same stock. “Original wrappers,” those attached at the time of issue, are scarce and extremely desirable to most collectors.

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