A Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America
Philadelphia: Kimber and Sharpless, 1827. Hard Cover. Good+ binding. Item #10522
Octavo. 180 pp. First edition. In modern cloth with leather title label in gilt on the spine. Binding is quite sharp and clean; textblock is moderately to heavily toned with early dampstaining to the first couple dozen leaves. A reasonable copy of an uncommon title in the first edition.
Stroud was admitted to the PA bar in 1819, and surely the furor surrounding the Missouri Compromise of 1820 contributed to the necessity of this work. It is one of the earliest treatises on the laws of slavery and among best ante-bellum treatments of the subject. Stroud focuses on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri; with some passing mention of other states. A second revised edition was issued in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. An important contribution by the Pennsylvania District Court judge. An appendix "Of the Laws of the United States Relating to Slavery" from pp. 150-177. American Imprints 30732; Sabin 93097; Library Company, Afro-Americana 9946; Dumond, p. 106.
Price: $400.00