Beschreibung:

An Account of the Proceedings of the Ilinois [sic] and Ouabache Land Companies, In pursuance of their purchases made of the Independent Natives, July 5th, 1773, and 18th October, 1775.
Philadelphia: William Young 1796. [16], 55 pp. [Bound following:] Memorial of the Illinois and Wabash Land Company . Philadelphia: Richard Folwell, n.d. [but 1797]. 26 pp. Two volumes in one, 8vo (205 x 120 mm). Contemporary blue paper wrappers. Housed in a morocco-backed clamshell box. Condition : restoration at the upper corners of each leaf without loss to text, dampstaining to the endpapers; restoration at the upper corners of the wrappers, upper portion of spine persished. rare first issue of the illinois and wabash company account of their land purchases from the indians, bound with their memorial to congress . These pamphlets issued by the Company were intended as petitions to Congress, then in Philadelphia, to validate their claims to land in Illinois. The Account, largely written by Smith and included in his Papers, begins with an Introduction that details the history of the original purchases by both companies. “Dr. Smith was one of the gentlemen appointed by the Illinois and Wabash Land Companies to manage their affairs in Congress … The historical introduction of 13 pages gives a sketch of the purchase of lands on the east side of the Mississipi River, from the Kaskaskia, Peoria, and Cahoquia tribes of the Illinois Indians, by William Murray and others for the Illinois Company, in July, 1773; and of the purchase of lands on both sides of the Wabash River, from the Piankashaw Indians, by Lewis Viviat and others for the Wabash Land Company, in October, 1775” (Sabin). The introduction also includes the text of the 1780 articles of union [see the preceding lot]. A printing of the two Indian deeds follows, as well as a lengthy legal argument on their validity, signed in print by Smith, James Wilson and John Shee. The Account concludes with reports from Senate and House committees on the claims. The Memorial, here bound preceding the Account, was submitted to the House on 13 January 1797, and includes an introduction by James Wilson and three statements submitted to Congress on behalf of the company. Those statements were originally published separately and in early issues are found with separate pagination, as well as differing type. The present copy of the Memorial is the second issue, in uniform type and continuously paginated. These petitions of the company to Congress were rejected, as were further memorials from 1802 [see below], 1810 and 1816. The matter was eventually resolved by the Supreme Court with their 1823 ruling in Johnson v McIntosh, which found the claims of the Illinois and Wabash Land Company invalid and asserted that private citizens could not purchase land from Native Americans. The “Discovery Doctrine” that resulted would be used as the legal basis to remove Native Americans from their lands and transfer them westward onto reservations. very rare . The last copy containing both the Account and Memorial to appear at auction was at the Thomas Streeter sale, selling for $625 in 1969. Evans 30618 and 32977; Graff 3867 (Account only) Howes S684 and S694; Robertson, Conquest by Law: How the Discovery of America Dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of their Lands (Oxford: 2005); Sabin 84577; Siebert Sale 322 (Account only); Streeter Sale 4025; Vail 1089 and 1129. [With:] Memorial of the Illinois and Ouabache Land Companies to the Honourable Congress of the United States . [Washington?]: 1802. 20 pp., 8vo (200 x 127 mm). Modern wrappers. Condition : title page defective with losses, staining and tears throughout, restoration at the corners. Sabin 34295; Streeter Sale 4028.