California | The first printing of the California Constitution

California

Constitution of the State of California. San Francisco: Printed at the Office of the Alta California, 1849

8vo (245 x 147 mm, untrimmed). 16 pages; scattered foxing and browning, small accession number stamped in margin of upper cover, without "An Address to the People of California," not issued in all copies. Printed wrapper title; disbound. Housed in a blue cloth slipcase with folding chemise. 

First printing of the California Constitution.

The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining statehood in 1850, "The first appearance of the Constitution in book form and one of the earliest works printed in San Francisco" (Cowan).

REFERENCE

Cowan, p. 140; Graff 539; Sabin 9998; Wagner, California Imprints, 37