Constitution of the United States of America, Published by Nathaniel Dayton, circa 1850

Constitution of the United States of America. Boston: Nathaniel L. Dayton, undated [c.1850.] 16mo. Brown cloth, with blind embossed covers to front and back. Gilt embossed title on the front.

Presented is a compact printing of the Constitution of the United States of America, published in Boston by Nathaniel L. Dayton. This printing is undated, but is estimated to be from the early 1850s, due to the publisher’s listed address at “20 Washington Street, Boston” and the imprint name, published before Dayton joined the firm of Higgins, Bradley & Dayton in 1857. It is presented in the original brown cloth boards, with blind embossed decoration to the front and back covers and a gilt embossed title on the front.

This nineteenth century printing presents the Constitution as arranged in the 1850s, beginning with Articles I through VII, and followed by thirteen Amendments. Of particular note is the inclusion of the rare thirteenth amendment, the so-called lost 13th Amendment or “Titles of Nobility Amendment,” rather than the later and familiar 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, ratified in 1865. Institutional holdings for this edition are extremely limited, with WorldCat recording only one copy at the American Antiquarian Society.

The Titles of Nobility Amendment grew out of early American anxieties over foreign influence. While the Constitution already prohibited members of Congress from holding other federal offices, this proposed amendment went a step further, seeking to bar any citizen from accepting any present, office, or title from a foreign power, under penalty of losing citizenship. It passed the Senate on April 26, 1810, by a vote of 19 to 5, and the House shortly thereafter on May 1 by a margin of 87 to 3, sending it to the states for ratification. Twelve states are universally acknowledged to have ratified it, while three states rejected it. The historical controversy centers on ratification by Virginia and South Carolina, each of which acted on the amendment in one legislative chamber but not the other. Amid the disruptions of the War of 1812 and the destruction of federal records when Washington was burned in 1814, uncertainty over the amendment’s status persisted. Official investigation by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams in the late 1810s concluded that it had fallen one state short of adoption, yet a handful of state and nineteenth century printings of the Constitution, including Virginia’s 1819 laws, continued to reproduce the “lost” amendment. The presence of the amendment in this circa 1850 printing demonstrates that period confusion and makes this a compelling record of constitutional history. 

CONDITION: 

Very good + condition. 16mo. Brown cloth, with blind embossed covers to front and back. Gilt embossed title on the front. Bumping to boards at top and bottom of spine, light stains to boards. With new front paste down. Stains at top through page 12. Scattered foxing.

Book dimensions: 4 15/16" H x 3 1/4" W x 1/4" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.