. JEFFERSON (Thomas). Manuel du droit parlementaire, ou Préc - Lot 36

. JEFFERSON (Thomas). Manuel du droit parlementaire, ou Précis des règles suivies dans le Parlement d'Angleterre et dans le Congrès des États-Unis, pour l'introduction, la discussion et la décision des affaires ; compilé à l'usage du Sénat des États-Unis. Paris: H. Nicolle, 1814. Small in-8, 233-(one blank) pp. emerald-green half-maroquin, smooth spine punctuated with gilt and cold-stamped fillets; a few leaves browned (binding circa 1840). Second edition of the French translation, published the same year as the first, by Louis-André Pichon, who added comments in footnotes. A diplomat and State Councillor, Baron Pichon, father of the famous bibliophile, served in the United States from 1791 to 1795 as Legation Secretary, in 1800 as French Consul General, and from 1801 to 1804 as French Ambassador. "DE L'IMPORTANCE DES REGLES". As Vice-President of the United States, a position he held from 1797 to 1801 before being elected President, Thomas Jefferson's primary duty was to preside over the Senate. His predecessor John Adams had been criticized for his often arbitrary procedural practices, so he decided to draw up a manual for his own use and that of his successors. Partly based on English texts relating to the House of Commons, including the Lex parlementaria of 1690, this manual, which sets out general principles, was published in 1801, and reissued in 1813, complete with the Senate's own rules and orders. The quality of Thomas Jefferson's work led the House of Representatives to adopt it as well, and the Manual is still regarded today as the procedural foundation common to the Senate and the House of Representatives, despite the many variations in detail that have since been introduced between the two institutions.