“UNQUESTIONABLY THE GREATEST OF AMERICAN ORATORS”

WEBSTER, Daniel. The Works. WITH: The Private Correspondence. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown; Little, Brown and Co., 1851, 1857. Eight volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown calf, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, green and blue morocco spine labels, marbled boards, endpapers and edges. $3200.

First collected edition, subscriber’s copy, of the towering statesman’s speeches, legal arguments, papers and correspondence, signed by Webster on the subscription page, together with the first collected edition of his private correspondence, handsomely bound.

One of the most important statesmen in American history and "unquestionably the greatest of American orators" (Cambridge Biographical Dictionary), Webster served as congressman, senator, secretary of state and presidential nominee. His arguments before the Supreme Court in such cases as McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden, Dartmouth College v. Woodward shaped fundamental principles of American constitutional law. "Webster's remarkable political, diplomatic and legal careers were aided by his intellectual brilliance and personal magnetism. He contributed significantly to the concept of American nationality, to the idea of a perpetual Union, to perspectives on economic growth, to a modern legal system and to the rising importance of the United States in foreign relations" (ANB). This set of Webster's works includes his congressional speeches and public addresses, legal arguments, diplomatic and official papers and miscellaneous letters, as well as a biographical memoir by Edward Everett. Works with two engravings in Volume I; Correspondence with engraved frontispiece in both volumes. Moser 90, 101.

Interior fine, with only light marginal dampstaining to first few leaves of Volume I, mild foxing to plates in the Correspondence; handsome binding with light wear to extremities, mild fading to spine labels. A near-fine signed copy.