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Presentation Copy of the Constitution of the United States...with the Amendments Thereto, Signed by Millard Fillmo...
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Description
Presentation Copy of the Constitution of the United States...with the Amendments Thereto, Signed by Millard Fillmore, All Seven Members of His Cabinet, and Members of Both Houses of the Thirty-Second Congress of the United States. Washington: Robert Armstrong, 1852. This book, "Printed for the Use of the House of Representatives," contains the entirety of the U.S. Constitution and all Amendments up to that point with the "standing rules and orders for conducting business in the House of Representatives of the United States and the rules of the Senate." This copy contains over three hundred signatures, each of which appear on blank pages spread throughout. While the vast majority are undated, those which are span the months January through July 1853.President Millard Fillmore has signed his name on a blank page between the title and half title pages. With the president's signature are the signatures of all seven members of his cabinet, including Secretary of State Edward Everett, Secretary of War Charles M. Conrad, Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Corwin, Attorney General John J. Crittenden, Secretary of the Interior Alexander H.H. Stuart, Secretary of the Navy John P. Kennedy, and Postmaster General Samuel D. Hubbard.
Accompanying the signatures of the president and his cabinet are the signatures of members of both houses of the thirty-second Congress including Hannibal Hamlin, who later served as President Lincoln's first vice president; Charles Sumner, best-remembered as an outspoken opponent of slavery who was beaten on the floor of the Senate in 1856 after his famous "Crimes Against Kansas" speech; Hamilton Fish, who served President Grant as his secretary of state;William H. Seward, secretary of state to both Presidents Lincoln and Johnson; Salmon P. Chase, who served as secretary of the treasury under President Lincoln and, later, as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; Stephen A. Douglas, Democratic candidate for president in 1860 who lost the election to Abraham Lincoln; Lewis Cass, secretary of state under President Buchanan; Sam Houston, best-remembered for his role as general of the Texian Army during the Texas Revolution, the only man to serve as governor of two states, and two-time president of the Republic of Texas; Thomas Bocock, who served as speaker of the Confederate House of Representatives; Alexander H. Stephens, vice president of the Confederate States of America; Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's second vice president and seventeenth president after Lincoln's assassination; et al. Also found are the signatures of the clerk, sergeant-at-arms, doorkeeper, and pages of the House of Representatives.
The signature of former owner Kate Scurry appears on the front free endpaper. Scurry was the daughter of Richardson Scurry (1811-1862), a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto (during the Texas Revolution) and member of both the Republic of Texas Supreme Court and Republic of Texas House of Representatives, in which he served for a time as speaker. In 1851, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas. He was an outgoing representative in 1853 and it is likely that this signed copy was presented to him upon his departure. In 1869, Kate Scurry married Edwin R. Terrell and had three sons, one of whom was Dr. Scurry Latimer Terrell who acted as the personal physician to Theodore Roosevelt during his 1912 presidential campaign.
The book itself is bound in leather with decorative borders in gilt on the front and rear covers and titles in gilt on the front. Seven grommets line the right edge of the front cover with four additional grommets near the upper and lower right corners (two each). The book is housed in a cloth over board slipcase.
With the book are four Confederate Texas Treasury Warrants, dated April 14, May 7, and June 19 (two), 1862, issued to four men for military service in the amount of one dollar; a two dollar and fifty cent Confederate Texas Treasury Warrant issued on June 20, 1862; and a Confederate ten dollar bank note.
Condition: In the original fine binding with gentle wear. The corners of the front and rear free endpapers are clipped at an angle. Water staining is evident along the right edge of the pages which are also moderately foxed. The treasury warrants and bank note are fragile with areas of staining and chipping at the edges.
Auction Info
2016 April 5 Historical Manuscripts Grand Format Auction - New York #6154 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
April, 2016
5th
Tuesday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 8
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,763
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25% on the first $200,000 (minimum $14), plus 20% of any amount between $200,000 and $2,000,000, plus 12% of any amount over $2,000,000 per lot.
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