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First Edition (SD). This book was written by a former Maryland politician (also former Sec. of the Navy). It may have been owned by another politician, Charles Marsh, who was a Federalist. It's not clear. Charles P. Marsh signed the first front end paper and the title page (C.P. Marsh). His son George Perkins Marsh was, like Kennedy, a Whig politician. But I'm not seeing any references to a middle name or middle initial when I read about Charles Marsh. The Whigs and the Federalists shared the ideology of a strong central government and favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution. You can see the marbled and leather covers in the photos. They are in pretty decent shape considering when the book was published. There is a scuff off the bottom edge of the front cover. The leather has mild scuffing in a few places, also small losses of the top layer of the leather on the spine (the two last letters in the word 'Defence' and the 'e' in 'The' are missing. The edges have only what I would describe as mild rubbing (there's one very small bit of rub-through at the front top edge). The corners have only very light rubbing. You've heard the saying 'hanging by a thread '--- that literally describes the front cover. Only one of the bindings is in place. It has withstood my numerous openings and closings of the book, but you have to imagine it's only a matter of time. If you look at the book from the side you'll notice a bit of a curving, but that's predominantly just the front cover which curves a bit in the middle. There's a thin crack at the bottom and at the top between the rear cover and the rear end paper (you can see through looking from the side), but a large part of the middle is bound well, so there really isn't much of a binding issue with the rear cover. As I said there's a signature of a Charles P. Marsh on the first front end paper and he signed it again (C. P. Marsh) on the title page (see photo). There is no other writing to be found anywhere in the book. The pages are in very solid shape. There is little to no creasing. They have a fairly supple feeling. However, there is a water stain on all of the pages. It begins about a quarter of the way down from the top edge and continues I believe down to the bottom of the page. The only thing that's conspicuous is the outline of the stain at its top. If you didn't see that you probably wouldn't even know there was one because all it does is create a very slightly darker hue. I'll provide a photograph so you can get a sense of what it looks like. There's a very small loss at the top and bottom corners of the title page. There's a teeny tiny loss at the top corner of the last page, 152. I didn't see any other losses on any of the other pages, nor any tears on any of the pages. There are no markings and no attachments. Page 152 is followed by a numbered 28 page section titled Valuable Works published by Harper & Brothers, New York. The books are separated into sections: History, Biography, Voyages Travels, and a good number of others. 'John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) was an American novelist, lawyer and Whig politician who served as United States Secretary of the Navy from July 26, 1852 to March 4, 1853, during the administration of President Millard Fillmore, and as a U.S. Representative from Maryland's 4th congressional district, during which he encouraged the United States government's study, adoption and implementation of the telegraph. A lawyer who became a lobbyist for and director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Kennedy also served several different terms in the Maryland General Assembly, and became its Speaker in 1847. Kennedy later helped lead the effort to end slavery in Maryland, which, as a non-Confederate state, was not affected by the Emancipation Proclamation and required a state law to free slaves within its borders and to outlaw the furtherance of the practice. Kennedy also advocated religious tolerance, and furthered studies of Maryland history.'. Seller Inventory # 003653
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