Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the Proposed Amendment First Edition - Charles Sumner - Bauman Rare Books

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Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the Proposed Amendment

Charles SUMNER

Item#: 124555 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the Proposed Amendment

FIRST EDITION OF SENATOR CHARLES SUMNER'S "NO COMPROMISE OF HUMAN RIGHTS. NO ADMISSION IN THE CONSTITUTION OF INQUALITY OF RIGHTS, OR DISFRANCHISEMENT ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR" SPEECH OF MARCH 7, 1866

SUMNER, Charles. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the Proposed Amendment of the Constitution Fixing the Basis of Representation; Delivered in the Senate of the United States, March 7, 1866. Washington: Congressional Globe Office, 1866. Slim octavo, unbound, original printed self-wrappers, uncut and unopened; pp. 21.

First edition of this important Reconstruction-era Senate speech attacking the proposed language of the 14th Amendment and demanding that its proposed provision of rights for Black Americans include true equality as well as the right to vote.

In 1866, the Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner, an outspoken abolitionist and civil rights activist, gave two important speeches in the Senate. This, the second of those speeches, was focused on the proposed 14th Amendment. While the amendment promised to correct historical injustices against Black Americans by ensuring equal protection and allowing for citizenship, not everyone agreed with the extent of the rights promised or the weak language used to guarantee them. Sumner attacked the proposed amendment, arguing that it did not protect the voting rights of Black Americans sufficiently. With this type of inequality made a permanent part of the Constitution, Sumner asserted that Black Americans would be fundamentally unequal and would be subject to the very injustice that sparked the American idea in the first place: taxation without representation. While Sumner ultimately voted in favor of the amendment, voting rights remained a central focus of his political career and he continued to fight for the equality of Black Americans under the law.

Split to spine but still holding, light wear, toning, and a few spots of foxing to extremities including page edges. An extremely good copy. Scarce.

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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.
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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).
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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.