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Volume II (of 2) only. vi, 384 pp. (12mo in 6s) 18.8x11.3 cm. (7½x4½"), original paper boards. First Edition.

Superb untrimmed and unopened copy, in the original boards, of Volume II of The Federalist, the seminal work on American political theory and a cornerstone of American constitutional governance, called by Wright Howes "the most famous and influential American political work." Only 500 copies of the first edition were printed, the last eight essays are here printed for the first time. The importance of the Federalist to the early development of the great political experiment that was the United States cannot be overstated. The complete work comprised 85 political essays, all but the last 8 of which were first published in newspapers in New York, in an effort to convince New York to approve the Federalist Constitution. Alexander Hamilton wrote 51 of the essays, James Madison 14, and John Jay 5; the authorship of 15 of the essays is in dispute between Hamilton and Madison. They were all published under the pseudonym "Publius." Of the 85 essays, the present volume contains nos. XXXVIII to LXXXV. In this copy, "NUMBER LXX" is incorrectly printed as "NUMBER LXXX" on page 240. At the end of the work is printed  the new Constitution of the United States. Church 1230; Evans 21127; Grolier, 100 American, 19; Howes H114; Printing and the Mind of Man 234; Sabin 23979; Streeter 1049. Blue inkstamp at bottom of the verso of the title-page.