AMERICANA 44 AMERICANA “Congress Shall Make No Law”: 1791 Constitutions, First Collected Printing Of The U.S. Constitution And 12 Proposed Amendments, The Declaration Of Independence And 14 State Constitutions First edition to assemble a printing of the 1787 U.S. Constitution together with 12 proposed amendments, the first collected printing of the Vermont constitution and those of the 13 original states, including that of Massachusetts—”the oldest functioning written constitution in the world.” Writing from Paris in December 1787, Thomas Jefferson responded to a letter from Madison that outlined the newly constructed federal Constitution. Though unhappy with its “omission of a bill of rights,” Jefferson approved of this “government which should go on of itself peaceably” (LOA, Constitution I:210). Londoners had earlier hailed a 1781 collection of state constitutions (issued six years before the framing of the U.S. Constitution) as “the Magna Charta of the American States” (Monthly Review). Includes the 1780 Massachusetts constitution authored by John Adams—”one of the great, enduring documents of the American Revolution… the oldest functioning written constitution in the world” (McCullough), as well as the 12 constitutional amendments proposed by Congress in 1789. Text fresh and clean. A handsome copy of this important work, in extremely good condition. 51(CONSTITUTION) UNITED STATES CONGRESS. The Constitutions of the United States... Philadelphia: 1791. 12mo, period-style full brown sheep, custom box. $16,000
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