CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. À Ph - Lot 20

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. À Philadelphie ; et se trouve à Paris, chez Ph.-D. Pierres, Pissot, père & fils, 1783. Fort in-8, (4 of which the second is blank)-540 pp. in paperback with handwritten label on spine; volume placed in modern gray cloth slipcase with brown title-piece on spine; cover a little worn, marginal wetness, slipcase with some soiling and wetness. FIRST EDITION OF THE FRENCH TRANSLATION, PRINTED FOR BENJAMIN FRANKLIN by Philippe-Denis Pierres. 600 copies were printed, 100 in-4 on Johannot d'Annonay vellum, and 500 in-8 as here. The English original had been published in Philadelphia by order of the Continental Congress in 1781. FIRST COMPLETE COLLECTIVE COLLECTION OF THE PARTICULAR CONSTITUTIONS OF THE THIRTEEN FOUNDING STATES OF THE UNITED STATES, with their declarations of rights - the Federal Constitution would not be signed until 1787 -, also including the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation (in force until 1789 when the Federal Constitution of 1787 was implemented), as well as treaties with France. In addition to these texts present in the 1781 American edition, the treaties of friendship and commerce signed by the United States with the Netherlands in 1782 and with Sweden in April 1783 have been added here. A partial edition, initiated without Benjamin Franklin's advice but accepted by him, had appeared in 1778 (see no. 53 below). A WORK OF TRUTH AND PROPAGANDA WANTED BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, this collection was translated at his request by his friend the Duc Louis-Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld d'Enville, an aristocrat with a taste for new ideas and an ardent supporter of the American cause. Benjamin Franklin wanted to give an accurate picture of American institutional reality, to dispel certain misconceptions circulating in Europe, and he decided to publish the American Constitutions, in the lingua franca of the time, with commentaries largely from his pen. The royal censors were reluctant, as peace negotiations with England had entered their final stage - the Peace of Paris would be signed in September 1783. However, in March 1783 Benjamin Franklin enlisted the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Count de Vergennes, who, with the approval of the Keeper of the Seals, the Marquis de Miromesnil (April), allowed the printing to begin. This was quickly completed, with Vergennes giving his final approval in May, and distribution began in June 1783: Benjamin Franklin had two copies sent to each European Court, to be given to the sovereign and his Minister of Foreign Affairs. READING THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS (and not just the Federal Constitution of 1787) PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THE REFLECTIONS OF THE 1791 FRENCH CONSTITUTION'S DRAFTERS. FIRST FIGURATION OF THE UNITED STATES SEAL IN A PRINTED WORK: woodcut, here embossed on the title. The seal was the result of work by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and three committees, and was adopted by the Continental Congress in June 1782 upon presentation by Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Congress. Benjamin Franklin, keenly aware of the visual effectiveness of a symbol to represent the reality of a nation, was the first to have it depicted, in the present French edition of the American Constitutions. Paperback as issued. THIS EXEMPLAIR APPEARED IN THE EXHIBITION BENJAMIN FRANKLIN : UN AMERICAIN A PARIS, 1776-1785, HELD AT THE MUSEE CARNAVALET in Paris from December 5, 2007 to March 9, 2008. Provenance: "F. Taupin" (handwritten bookplate on one of the first endpapers). CONSTITUTIONS. - Recueil des loix constitutives des colonies angloises, confédérées sous la dénomination d'États-Unis de l'Amérique-septentrionale. 1778. See n° 53 below. FEDERAL CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 1787. Printed as an appendix to John STEVENS, Examen du Gouvernement d'Angleterre, comparé aux Constitutions des États-Unis, 1789. See no. 56 below.