(Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay)

The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, written in Favour of the New Constitution, September 17, 1787. New York: Printed and sold by J[ohn] and A[ndrew] M'Lean, 1788



2 volumes, 12mo (7 1/4 x  4 1/2 in.; 185 x 120 mm). Vol. 1: dampstained throughout, a2 remargined, L2–L5 partly loose, quire Q browned, short tear to bottom margin of R6, occasionally spotting, most pronounced in quire T. Vol. 2: dampstaining in quires a–A and Ff, one or two short marginal tears. Contemporary boards, manuscript volume number on paper spines; boards dampstained, skillful repairs to spines,  Blue cloth chemises, blue cloth slipcase, blue morocco spine lettered gilt.  

Charles Nuhuck (contemporary signature on front free endpaper and A1 recto)

Bernstein, pp. 239–242; Church 1230; Evans 21127; Grolier/American 19; PMM 234; Sabin 23979; Streeter sale 2:1049

A fine as-issued copy of the first edition of one of the most important American contributions to political theory and "a classic exposition of the principles of republican government" (Bernstein). Although written as expedient political propaganda for the purpose of supporting New York State's ratification of the Constitution of the United States, the essays of The Federalist were soon recognized for their brilliant commentary on the new republican charter.

Alexander Hamilton was the principal force behind the entry of "Publius" into the ratification pamphlet wars. ("Publius" was the pen name shared by all three authors, after Valerius Publius, who established the republican foundations of government in 509 B.C.)  He also enlisted fellow New Yorker John Jay and Viriginian James Madison as coauthors. Each was assigned an area congruous to his expertise. Jay, minister to Spain and France before and after the war, naturally handled foreign relations. Madison, conversant with the history of republics and confederacies, focused on that area. "As author of the Virginia Plan, he also undertook to explain the general anatomy of the new government" (Chernow, Hamilton, p. 248). Hamilton concentrated on the executive and judicial branches of government; he targeted military matters and taxation as well.

The first essay appeared in the 27 October 1787 issue of The Independent Journal, and all or some of the subsequent numbers were also printed in The New-York Packet, The Daily Advertiser, and The New-York Journal. While the individual responsibility for each essay cannot with certain, Bernstein states that it is generally agreed that Jay wrote essays 2-5 and 64; Madison, essays 10, 14, 18-20, 37-58, 62, 63; and Hamilton, the remaining numbers. With the first of the ratifying conventions to begin in November, the three wrote under the staggering pressure of a tight deadline, churning out four essays per week at roughly three-day intervals (Chernow, p. 249).

The project's magnitude grew exponentially, as indicated by the printer, Archibald McClean. "When I engaged to do the work," he complained to Robert Troup, "it was to consist of twenty numbers, or at the most twenty-five." Instead, the first thirty-six Federalist essays were collected and published by the McClean brothers in March 1788, and the final forty-nine—together with the text of the Constitution and a roster of its signers—in a second volume in May; in fact the final eight essays were printed in book form before they appeared serially in newspapers.

In 1825 Thomas Jefferson urged the adoption of The Federalist as a required text at the University of Virginia, describing it as "an authority to which appeal is habitually made by all ... as evidence of the general opinion of those who framed, and of those who accepted the Constitution of the United States, on questions as to its genuine meaning." The use of The Federalist as a tool for interpreting the Constitution began before the Constitution was officially ratified and remains unchallenged. Since its publication in 1788, it has been quoted no fewer than 291 times in Supreme Court opinions (Chernow, p. 260). Constitutional scholar Michael I. Meyerson's new study also states that "The Federalist not only serves as the single most important resource for interpreting the Constitution, it provides a wise and sophisticated explanation for the uses and abuses of governmental power from Washington to Baghdad (Liberty's Blueprint: How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World, 2009, p. ix).

Copies of The Federalist are rarely found in unsophisticated condition. Only six complete copies in boards have appeared at auction in the past thirty-five years; volume 1 is particularly scarce.