The first official printing of the Bill of Rights - photo 1
The first official printing of the Bill of Rights - photo 2
The first official printing of the Bill of Rights - photo 3
The first official printing of the Bill of Rights - photo 4

The first official printing of the Bill of Rights

Lot 141
27.06.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 120 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1236372
Lot 141 | The first official printing of the Bill of Rights
Estimate value
$ 120 000 – 180 000
UNITED STATES CONGRESS. Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America, . . . the city of New York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, in the year M,DCC,LXXXIX. . . . New York: Francis Childs and John Swaine, Printers to the United States, [1789].

The first edition of the acts of the First United States Congress including the first official printing of the Bill of Rights and the first in book form. The official record of the first United States Congress, made available to legislators and the public alike, ushered in a new era in the history of government. “The importance of the First Federal Congress cannot be exaggerated. It played a critical role as the body which began to implement and interpret the new Constitution of the United States. The conception of the government occurred at the Federal Convention, but it was not until the First Federal Congress began to make decisions and pass enabling legislation that life was breathed into that government” (First Federal Congress Project). The First Congress “was a virtual second sitting of the Federal Convention, fleshing out the governmental structure outlined in the Constitution and addressing the difficult issues left unresolved by the Constitution” (Documentary History of the First Federal Congress).

The first official printing of The Bill of Rights, the fundamental American document guaranteeing individual liberties. On 8 June 1789, James Madison called on Congress to propose a series of amendments, a Bill of Rights, for ratification by the States. Madison’s “proposals covered all the articles eventually included in the Bill of Rights . . . based directly on the recommended amendments of the various state ratifying conventions, particularly on those submitted by Madison’s own state, Virginia” (Schwartz, The Great Rights of Mankind). On September 26, 1789, Congress settled on the final wording of the amendments and resolved that the President should transmit “engrossed” (handwritten) copies to the states for ratification. Published on 5 October 1789, just three days after the handwritten parchment copies were sent to the states for ratification, this volume contains the first official printing of the twelve original amendments to the Constitution in their final forms as recommended and sent to the states by Congress. This printing of the Bill of Rights is preceded only by newspaper printings; the document was first published separately about two weeks later. This official folio printing of the Acts was followed in 1789 by two reprints in smaller format.

Scarce. Very few copies have ever come to market and most that have appeared featured associations with prominent founders including Washington's own copy (sold in these rooms, 22 June 2012, lot 1, $9,826,500). Evans 22189; Sabin 15493.

Folio (333 x 209mm). IUntrimmed, includes the index pages xcvi-cv (partly-erased library stamp on title, some pages lightly toned with occasional scattered spots). Contemporary marbled wrappers bearing manuscript title, "Laws passed 1st Session" (sympathetically rebacked). Cloth clamshell box.
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.06.2024 – 27.06.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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