The Constitution of the United States of America with an Alphabetical Analysis, Published by W. Hickey, Seventh Edition, 1855

The Constitution of the United States of America, with an Alphabetical Analysis: The Declaration of Independence; The Articles of Confederation; The Prominent Political Acts of George Washington; Electoral Votes for All the Presidents and Vice-Presidents; The High Authorities and Civil Officers of Government, From March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1847; Chronological Narrative of the Several States; and Other Interesting Matter; with a Descriptive Account of the State Papers, Public Documents, and Other Sources of Political and Statistical Information at the Seat of Government. Philadelphia: W. Hickey, 1855. Seventh Edition. Octavo. Rebacked, saving the original brown cloth, with blind embossing to front, spine, and back. Gilt embossed titles on the front and spine. New archival brown cloth slipcase. 

Presented is a seventh edition of The Constitution of the United States of America, with an Alphabetical Analysis published in Philadelphia by William Hickey. It was stereotyped by L. Johnson & Co., Philadelphia and printed by T. K & P. K. Collins. Although dated as 1854, this printing was issued in 1855. It is archivally rebacked, with the original brown cloth boards saved, with blind embossed decoration to the front, spine, and back covers and a gilt embossed title on the front and spine.

This seventh edition of The Constitution of the United States of America, with an Alphabetical Analysis reflects a mid-19th century effort to establish an authoritative, accurately printed text of the nation’s founding document. As Henry Bain explains in “Errors in the Constitution— Typographical and Congressional,” published in Prologue Magazine in 2012, the federal government had long failed to disseminate an official printed edition of the Constitution, leaving 18th and 19th century printers to rely on whatever copies they could obtain. Early inconsistencies consequently proliferated, as “a casual attitude to details of punctuation and orthography” allowed errors to multiply. William Hickey, a member of the Senate’s clerical staff, recognized the problem while preparing a new text for publication in the late 1840s. Examining an existing copy that was considered correct, he discovered that it contained “several errors in the words, and sixty-five in the punctuation.” Determined to remedy these deficiencies, Hickey published his first edition of this book in 1847, placing a carefully corrected Constitution at the beginning of his comprehensive manual. 

Hickey’s undertaking established a dependable standard for reproducing the Constitution. His printings carried a printed certificate from Secretary of State James Buchanan, who confirmed that the text had been compared with the engrossed, signed original of 1787, currently in the custody of the Department of State and found “correct, in text, letter, & punctuation.” This seventh edition continues Hickey’s original project, presenting the Constitution and its twelve amendments alongside an alphabetical analysis, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the prominent political acts of George Washington, presidential and vice-presidential electoral votes, and extensive records of government officials and public documents. Through successive editions, Hickey expanded his manual from its original 225 pages to 521, expanding its usefulness as a reference to the structure and history of the American government. Even after Hickey’s death in January of 1866, the “administrator of his estate published new editions in 1878 and 1879, with a certification by another secretary of state (Hamilton Fish) attesting to the accuracy of a Constitution that now included the three Civil War amendments.” Hickey’s careful attention to the true text of the Constitution and his successful efforts at wide dissemination of his publication helped secure an official printing of the Constitution, so that the general public could read and know the text as it was originally written.  

CONDITION: 

Very good+ condition. Seventh edition. Octavo. Archivally rebacked, saving original brown cloth. Cloth is blind embossed on the front, spine, and back. Gilt embossed title on the front and spine. Bumping to boards at top and bottom of spine, light stains to boards. Previous ownership in pencil on front flyleaf, water stains on front pages, scattered foxing. Illustrated throughout. With new archival brown cloth slipcase with front inlay. 

Book Dimensions: 7 5/8" H x 5" W x 1 3/8" D. Slipcase Dimensions: 8" H x 5 1/2" W x 1 7/8" D.

REFERENCES:

Bain, Henry, "Errors in the Constitution—Typographical and Congressional", Prologue Magazine, Fall 2012, Vol. 44, No. 2.