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"(CONSTITUTION) UNITED STATES CONGRESS. Journal, Acts and Proceedings of the Convention… which Formed the Constitution of the United States. Boston: Thomas B. Wait, 1819. Octavo, contemporary brown sheep, rebacked with original spine laid down, red morocco spine label. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $10,500.First edition of the Journals, Acts and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention, held May 14 to September 17, 1787, one of only 1000 copies, printed by order of Congress, breaking the "seal of secrecy" and revealing publicly for the first time "the Secret Journals of the Acts and Proceedings, and the Foreign Correspondence," the first and earliest obtainable account of the Constitutional Convention. This exceedingly rare association copy contains the owner signature on the title page of Caesar Augustus Rodney, the nephew and namesake of Caesar Rodney, signer of the Declaration of Independence and prominent leader of the Stamp Act Congress, an exceptional copy in contemporary sheep, housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box."The Congress of the Confederation had empowered the Philadelphia Convention to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation, not to write a constitution for the nation. The Convention decided, however, to discard the Articles and to devise an entirely new government. When the framers were done they bypassed the Congress and submitted the new Constitution directly to the states, which were called upon to organize popular conventions to ratify their actions and adopt the Constitution. The framers appealed to the people directly, rather than to the state legislatures, to ensure that the new Constitution would be regarded as a higher law, more fundamental than normal legislation… The framers believed that only the people themselves could compact together to ordain the Constitution" (Lutz & Warren,A Covenanted People 47). Sixty-five delegates had been chosen by the legislatures of 12 of the original 13 states. George Washington was elected president of the Convention, which also included Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. The Constitution was adopted and signed by the Convention on September 17, 1787 and submitted to the Continental Congress on September 28, 1787, with the suggestion that it should be submitted to the individual states for their assent and ratification (which was accomplished before the close of 1791). The Convention itself had worked in absolute secrecy by vote of a majority of its members. No official records were kept. Sentries were posted around the building and windows and doors were shut up tight. This secrecy was so well enforced that even personal correspondence between the closest friends could not reveal anything of the nature of the debates. We now know about these debates only through a handful of documents that were preserved by the Convention and deposited by President Washington at the Department of State in 1796, before he left office, as well as Madison's journal.This publication, the first and earliest obtainable account of the Constitutional Convention, was published by order of Congress in 1818. Edited by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the Journal is based on those State Department documents and the now-famous "secret" journal of James Madison, as well as material obtained from other members of the Convention. This account of the Constitutional Convention gives us extraordinary access to the creation of our nation's founding document and has had immense influence on our modern understanding of the framers' original intent. In 1820 a four-volume edition, also published by Wait, was issued to further record the events of the 1787 Convention. Farrand's Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Ford 85. Harvard Law Catalogue II:805. Sabin 15557. Shaw & Shoemaker 49802. This is the personal copy of Caesar Augustus Rodney (1772-1824), with his signature, dated 1822, on the title page. A prominent statesman who served as Attorney. Seller Inventory # 125074
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