“WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES”: SCARCE 1790 EDITION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, FEATURING AN EARLY PRINTING OF THE CONSTITUTION AND MADISON’S TWELVE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS, THE BASIS FOR THE BILL OF RIGHTS

(CONGRESS). Constitution and Laws of the United States. Portsmouth, NH: George Jerry Osborne Jr, 1790. Octavo, contemporary full speckled brown pigskin. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

Scarce 1790 New Hampshire edition, first printing, published the same year the state voted to accept all but one of Madison’s 12 proposed amendments that would become the Bill of Rights, later ratified in late 1791, this important edition containing the acts and laws passed at the First Session of the First Congress, along with Madison’s 12 amendments and an early printing of the Constitution, very scarce in contemporary sheep.

This volume was published the same year the state voted on January 25, 1790 to accept all but the second of Madison's 12 proposed amendments to the Constitution, which ultimately became the Bill of Rights. In many ways New Hampshire's long and often bitter debate over ratification of the Constitution both exemplifies and clarifies "one of the greatest and most probing public debates in American history… the story of how 'We the People' decided whether or not to ordain and establish the Constitution of the United States." It was a battle over philosophies, states' rights, regional conflicts, slavery, and economic principles that ultimately "had everything to do with making the United States what George Washington called a 'respectable nation'" (Maier, ix). Osborne, the publisher of this volume, was at the center of that firestorm, given his key role as publisher of Osbornes' New-Hampshire Spy, the official newspaper and "personal organ of General John Sullivan," who fought in the Revolution, served as New Hampshire's governor, and spearheaded the state's ratification of the U.S. Constitution (Provincial Papers XX:571).

After the Constitutional Convention formally released to the public its proposed Constitution on September 27, 1787, many in New Hampshire were fiercely divided: "contemporary observers agreed that probably a majority of the New Hampshire voters were opposed to the new Constitution at the beginning of the debate over ratification" (Jensen, et al., Documentary History, 769). While "there was strong support for the Constitution in Portsmouth," where publisher Osborne has his offices, many inland distrusted merchants in the cities, "and once they read the Constitution they saw a lot they didn't like" (McDonald, We the People, 38). Given a major objection to the new Constitution was directed at the absence of a Bill of Rights, Madison introduced his twelve proposed amendments at the opening of the First Session. When New Hampshire became the ninth—and pivotal—state to ratify the Constitution in June 21, 1788, it did so on the condition of recommending three of its own amendments, whose principals were echoed in many of the proposed amendments of other states.

Contained in this volume is a printing of the Constitution, (5-23), the proposed amendments that became the Bill of Rights (154-157), and legislation passed at the First Session of the First Congress, which met in New York from March 4 to September 29, 1789. Included are laws covering the presidency, the federal judiciary, the departments of State, War and the Treasury, the Post Office, duties and tariffs on imports, which were the government's primary source of revenue for decades, the Ohio Territory, and other fundamentals of government. First printing, with Samuel A. Otis identified as "Speaker of the Senate" on the final page, and the last line of text on page 112 incorrectly formatted. The Constitution was first printed only one year earlier, in 1789 (extremely rare). Publisher Osborne began publishing Osborne's New-Hampshire Spy in 1786. In March 1789, following his partnership with John Osborne, the newspaper was retitled, Osbornes' New-Hampshire Spy. Evans 22951. ESTC W11919. Not in Sabin or Howes. Trace of bookplate removal.

Interior fine, light rubbing and wear to contemporary binding, with remnants of handwritten contemporary spine label. A nearly fine copy of this rare edition.