THE CONSTITUTION: ORIGINATING IN COMPROMISE, IT CAN ONLY BE PRESERVED BY ADHERING TO ITS SPIRIT, AND OBSERVING ITS EVERY OBLIGATION. An Address Delivered by James W. Wall, Esq., at the City Hall, Burlington, February 20, 1862, by Invitation of the Common Council of the City.
Philadelphia: King & Baird, Printers, 1862. Original Wrappers. Very Good binding. Item #6183
Octavo. 60, [4 (blank)] pp. As issued, stitched with printed wrappers. A very nice copy with limited wear to the wrappers; a contemporary ink note at the top of the front wrapper along with a later note in pencil and a stamped star; gentle vertical fold to the pamphlet; contents are clean.
A practicing attorney in (and former mayor of) Burlington, NJ, Wall served very briefly as a U.S. Senator, elected by the legislature to fill vacancy left by the deceased John Renshaw Thomson. September 11, 1861 The New York Times reported, "There is great excitement here, in consequence of a rumor that Col. JAS. WALL, of Burlington, has been arrested and taken to Fort Lafayette, charged with secession proclivities. The arrest engrosses the discussion of squads throughout the city." While this present address is far from "secession proclivities" it does espouse a more common feeling in the North calling for a compromise with the South in lieu of war. Uncommon in the trade, there are scarcely more than a dozen institutional holdings. There is another edition issued from Burlington in 1862, equally scarce. We've been unable to assign priority but given the proximity of that printer to the address one might surmise it is the first issue of Wall's address and that this Philadelphia issue is the second. OCLC 7128009.
Price: $150.00