PBA Galleries

[1-3] 4-19 [1, blank], [i-iii] iv-xvi, [1] 2-348, [1] 2-4, 345-386 pp (text complete). (8vo), 23.2 x15 cm (9x6"), contemporary blind-rolled sheep, gilt-lettered spine labels. First Edition.

Documentation of one of the most spectacular frauds ever attempted on the spoliation claims fund. George A. Gardiner and John H. Mears presented a claim for a silver mine destroyed during the war in San Luis Potosí, for which they wanted nearly $600,000 compensation, which was originally allowed. During a second investigation, Congress, apparently alarmed at the size of the claim, sent a delegation to San Luis Potosí to examine the destroyed mine. Gardiner was invited to join the commission but declined by various stratagems. Of course, the delegation found nothing and in their report noted that all the submitted documents were forged and that Gardiner was not even a citizen of the United States. Gardiner was convicted of fraud and committed suicide in 1854. Mears fled to Mexico. Some of the money was recovered.