CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. - Lot 23

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  3. CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. - Lot 23
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Lot n° 23
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CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. - Lot 23
CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. À Philadelphie ; et se trouve à Paris, chez Ph.-D. Pierres, Pissot, père fils, 1783. In-4, (4 of which the last is blank)-540-(2) pp, copy with very wide margins (24.9 x 19.6 cm), tortoiseshell calf, ribbed spine with dark green title, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, filleted edges, gilt edges; the table of contents leaf with a copy of the resolution of the Congress of December 29, 1780 has been bound here at the end of the volume, binding a little rubbed with faded spine and small epidermis on the boards, some paper staining, angular soiling to 2 leaves (period binding). Volume preserved in modern cardboard slipcase. First edition of the French translation, printed for Benjamin Franklin. The English original was published in Philadelphia by order of the Continental Congress in 1781. One of 100 copies reprinted in in-4 format on wove paper. The printer Philippe-Denis Pierres printed a total of 600 copies on his presses, including 500 in-8 copies and 100 in-4 copies on wove paper from two competing sources, the Johannot factory in Annonay and, as here, the Réveillon factory in Courtalin. Unlike the in-8 copies, the in-4 edition also has a title page. Now very rare in private hands, most of these in-4 copies were presented to foreign sovereigns and ministers, and are now kept in public repositories. The first complete collective collection of the individual Constitutions of the thirteen founding states of the United States, with their bills of rights - the Federal Constitution was not signed until 1787 -, including the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation (in force until 1789, when the Federal Constitution of 1787 was implemented), and the treaties with France. In addition to these texts present in the 1781 American edition, the treaties of friendship and commerce signed by the United States with the Netherlands in 1782 and with Sweden in April 1783 have been added here. A partial edition, initiated without Benjamin Franklin's advice but accepted by him, had appeared in 1778. A work of truth and propaganda intended by Benjamin Franklin, this compendium was translated at his request by his friend the Duc Louis-Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld d'Enville, an aristocrat in favor of the new ideas and an ardent supporter of the American cause. Benjamin Franklin wanted to give an accurate picture of American institutional reality, to dispel certain misconceptions circulating in Europe, and he decided to publish the American Constitutions, in the lingua franca of the time, with commentaries largely from his pen. The royal censors were reluctant, as peace negotiations with England had entered their final stage - the Peace of Paris would be signed in September 1783. However, in March 1783, Benjamin Franklin sought the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Count de Vergennes, who, with the agreement of the Keeper of the Seals, the Marquis de Miromesnil (April), allowed the printing to begin. This was quickly completed, with Vergennes giving his final approval in May, and distribution began in June 1783: Benjamin Franklin had two copies sent to each European Court, to be given to the sovereign and his Minister of Foreign Affairs. Reading the American Constitutions (and not just the Federal Constitution of 1787) played a major role in the thinking of the drafters of the French Constitution of 1791. The first illustration of the United States seal in a printed work: woodcut, it is here embossed on the title. The seal had been conceived by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and three committees, and adopted by the Continental Congress in June 1782 on presentation by Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Congress. Benjamin Franklin, keenly aware of the visual effectiveness of a symbol to represent the reality of a nation, was the first to have it depicted, in the present French edition of the American Constitutions.
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