"IT IS EXPEDIENT AND PROPER FOR THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THIS COMMONWEALTH TO CHOOSE A CONVENTION…": THE PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1789-90—VERY RARE IN ALL THREE PARTS, WITH PENNSYLVANIA PROVENANCE

(PENNSYLVANIA). Minutes of the Convention of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which Commenced at Philadelphia, on Tuesday the twenty-fourth Day of November. Philadelphia: Printed by Zachariah Poulson, 1789. WITH: Minutes of the Second Session of the Convention. [Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson], 1790. WITH: Minutes of the Grand Committee of the Whole Convention of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Printed by Zachariah Poulson, [1790]. Folio, period-style full speckled calf gilt, red morocco spine label, marbled endpapers. $8500.

First editions of the minutes of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention that met at Philadelphia in 1789-90, which created a bicameral legislature and vested strong executive power in the governor, while providing for a separation of powers modeled on the Federal Constitution. Quite rare complete in all three parts. An association copy, this was the copy of Pennsylvania lawmaker William Beale, the son of legislator Thomas Beale, who was a delegate to this convention.

On September 15, 1789, it was resolved "That, in the opinion of this house, it is expedient and proper for the good people of this commonwealth to choose a convention, for the purpose of reviewing, and, if they see occasion, altering and amending the constitution of this state"; and that "it would be expedient, just and reasonable, that the convention should publish their amendments and alterations for the consideration of the people" (p. 5). Following the adoption of the Federal Constitution and Bill of Rights, Pennsylvania decided to amend its own frame of government, first established with their radical constitution of 1776. Often considered a conservative reaction against perceived "excesses" of democracy incorporated into the earlier 1776 constitution, this revised constitution created a bicameral legislature, vested strong executive power in the governor, and provided for a separation of powers modeled on the Federal Constitution. With this dramatic revision—ratified in 1790—Pennsylvania went from the most egalitarian state government to the most reactionary.

Revolutionary America, 9090. Sabin, 60258. Evans, 22764-66. Among the delegates to the Convention of 1789-90 were Thomas McKean, James Wilson, Thomas Mifflin, Timothy Pickering, Abraham Lincoln (an ancestor to the President of the same name), and Thomas Beale of Mifflin County—whose son William (1762-1820), who also served in the Pennsylvania legislature, owned this copy, with his owner signature on the title page and two preliminary blanks, as well as his inscription: "Wm. Beale by him bought in sheets at Philadelphia and got it bound at Lancaster in 1804." William Beale was the son of Judge Thomas and Mary Tod Hunter Beale; William's father Thomas represented Mifflin County at this convention and his name is mentioned and his vote is counted throughout these pages. An "Old School Jefferson Man" (PA State Senate), William Beale served in the state House of Representatives, 1799-1801 and again in 1804-1805, and the state Senate, 1812-1816.

Some foxing and mild embrowning to text, minor dampstaining to the first few leaves, binding fine and quite handsome. A desirable copy with a nice Pennsylvania provenance.