“THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE STUDY OF AMERICAN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS,” HANDSOMELY BOUND

BRYCE, James. The American Commonwealth. London and New York: Macmillan, 1888. Three volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, uncut, top edges gilt. $3000.

First edition of this detailed examination of American social and governmental institutions, with folding map of the United States, handsomely bound by Wood.

"Bryce was an ardent Liberal in politics, and in 1880 he was elected to parliament… In 1907 he was appointed British ambassador at Washington… His great work The American Commonwealth was the first in which the institutions of the United States had been thoroughly discussed from the point of view of a historian and a constitutional lawyer, and it at once became a classic" (Britannica). It is "the most authoritative study of American social and political institutions" (Howes B906), with critical reviews and an examination not only of social institutions, but both federal and state governments, and the party system. This first edition includes a chapter on "the Tweed Ring," suppressed in later editions. Howes B906. Bookplates of Henry Waters Taft, noted anti-trust lawyer and brother of William Howard Taft.

Fine condition.