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Washington’s Personal Secretary
Tobias Lear’s Copy of History of Russia
[TOBIAS LEAR],
Signed book. William Tooke, History of Russia. London, Strahan, 1800. Two volumes, 8vo, full leather, some repair to binding, fine overall. All four plates present. The folding map is foxed, but complete without major tears. Both volumes are signed “Tobias Lear Malta, Oct 13th, 1804” in ornate, formal hand. Provenance: Tobias Lear; to Benjamin Lincoln Lear, with Benjamin’s bookplate.
Item #22021.02, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Adams Defends U.S. Constitution, First French Edition
[CONSTITUTION]. JOHN ADAMS,
Défense des Constitutions américaines, ou, de la nécessité d’une balance dans les pouvoirs d’un gouvernement libre. Paris: Chez Buisson, 1792. 2 volumes, 8vo (197 x 124 mm). Half-titles; a fresh, bright copy. Contemporary French paste paper boards, vellum-tipped corners, smooth mottled calf spines gilt, red and green lettering and numbering pieces; some worm damage to joints.
First French edition, issued at a crucial moment in that country’s history, as the Revolution was becoming more radical. In 1792 the French Assembly stripped Louis XVI of his power and declared him a prisoner of the nation. They called together the Convention, in order to draft a new constitution to replace that of the prior year. Adams’s treatise explaining and defending the principles of the constitution of the government of the United States would have been a timely and informative work for the emerging French government.
Item #26600.99, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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