Beschreibung:

The Articles of ConfederationThe Articles of Confederation; The Declaration of Rights; The Constitution of this Commonwealth, and the Articles of the Definitive Treaty Between Great-Britain and the United States of America. Published by Order of the General Assembly. Richmond: Printed by Dixon and Holt, [1784 or 1785] 8vo in half-sheets (192 x 123 mm, uncut and unopened). Fore-edge margin of title a trifle soiled where it extends beyond front wrapper. Stab-sewn in original blue floral wallpaper wrappers. Blue cloth slipcase, chemise. A superb, as-issued copy of a scarce edition of the Articles of Confederation, printed with three other foundational government documents of Virginia and the United States. Printed in an edition of 1800 copies by order of the Virginia General Assembly for distribution throughout the state, the pamphlet includes, in addition to the first Virginia printing of the Articles of Confederation as ratified, the Virginia Declaration of Rights (the first American Bill of Rights and a major inspiration for Jefferson's Declaration of Independence as well as the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution); the Virginia Constitution (adopted 29 June 1776 and the first permanent state constitution); and the first Virginia printing of the Treaty of Paris. This is perhaps the earliest available printing of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, largely the work of George Mason All 1776 printings, whether official publications by the Virginia Convention or contemporary broadside and newspaper versions, are extraordinarily rare. And oddly, despite its great influence—particularly on later state constitutions—the Declaration of Rights was not often reprinted in the eighteenth-century. "Because the Convention adopted and published the Declaration of Rights separately from the Virginia constitution, even though the delegates intended the declaration as a foreword to the constitution, subsequent compilations often overlooked the former" (John E. Selby, The Revolution in Virginia, pp. 103-04). PROVENANCESkinner, 30 October 2016, lot 381 (undesignated consignor) REFERENCECelebration of My Country 102; ESTC W38296; Evans 19349, 18818; Revolutionary Hundred 49; Sabin 10039; Swem 7430