Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States: with a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies and States, before the Adoption of the Constitution
Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1833. Half Leather. near Very Good binding. Item #10428
Octavo. xliii, [1], 736 pp. First edition thus. Rebound in modern calf-backed boards. The binding is sharp without wear; the textblock has early dampstaining with tideline, heavier to the preliminary pages after which the tidelines are intermittent and generally minor; foxing and pencil marginalia throughout.
Issued the same year as the 3-volume first edition, this is an abridged version of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice's most important and enduring work on the history of constitutional law in America. In his "Legal Bibliography," J. G. Marvin describes Story's credentials as its author thus, "The judicial station of the author, his opportunities for hearing constitutional questions mooted and settled, for the last quarter of a century, his habits of patient and thorough investigation, give a weight and value to Judge Story's writings upon Constitutional Law, which few similar works can claim." Further, he describes Commentaries as an essential work for the student of constitutional history, "written with great candour, and characterized by extended research, and careful examination of the vital principles upon which our government reposes" (p. 669). Early editions of Story's Commentaries are fairly uncommon in the trade. Marvin, p 669. Howes S-1047; Sabin 92292; Oxford American National Biography.
Price: $600.00