![[CONSTITUTIONAL LAW] WILSON, BIRD, Esq. The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, L.L.D., Late One of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Professor of Law in the College of Philadelphia.](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/445/1452445.jpg?itok=e_4xJgLy)
Lot Details
Lot 35
[CONSTITUTIONAL LAW] WILSON, BIRD, Esq. The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, L.L.D., Late One of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Professor of Law in the College of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia: at the Lorenzo Press, printed for Bronson and Chauncey, 1804. First edition. Three volumes, brown period sheep rather crudely rebacked retaining original labels, housed in a green cloth clamshell case. 8 1/4 x 5 inches (21 x 12.75 cm); portrait frontispiece, xvi, 467, [1] pp.; vi, 497, [1] pp.; iv, 439, [1--errata] pp. Bindings worn, boards restored, the text-block not properly aligned with the fore-edge, staining and toning throughout.
A desirable work and apparently rather rare in commerce--we note only one copy at auction, and one presently at retail. Wilson was one of the half-dozen founding fathers who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He helped draft the Preamble and influencing the structure of the presidency, the electoral college, the judiciary, and the Three-Fifths Compromise and much else; indeed, he was one of the most influential delegates to the Federal Constitutional Convention. He was also one of the principal authors of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
One of the justices of the first U.S. Supreme Court, he was appointed by George Washington. The lectures in these volumes were delivered in 1790-1791 at the College of Philadelphia, and they included important speeches given at the Federal Convention. The ANB rates his importance to the Convention as second only to James Madison. He was, however, a staunch opponent of the constitution of Pennsylvania in 1776, widely seen at the time as too liberal. Though institutionally common, the book appears to be almost startlingly rare in the trade and at auction. Reese Federal 100 97; Sabin 104632.
C Private Collection of Barbara and Ira Lipman
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