TREATIES

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Their Judgment:  FARCICAL Process, But Enforceable Policy

•  The official, signed report of the Presidential Committee appointed to investigate the just-concluded "treaty of peace, commerce and navigation" with Great Britain. The report observes: "The present treaty is, letter for letter, the same as that concluded in 1837 in Lima by the Proctor of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, and the same, also, bearing the date of 30 May 1838 that the Extraordinary Bolivian Congress (meeting in Cochabamba) approved" (our translation). With five members dissenting, the committee decides that the method of congressional approval, though "farcical," was legal and binding.

Bearing signatures, among others, of Pedro Buitrago, Narciso Dulón, Eusebio Gutiérrez, M. de la Cruz Méndez, José M. Dalence, and Manuel Sagarnaga.

•  Very good condition. Two small tears at folds, not affecting text.

FranceSadly Disappointed Him . . .

Harper, Robert Goodloe.

•  Denunciation of France's aggressive stance, written by a politician who had been one of that country's most vocal American supporters during the Revolution. Harper, a prominent Federalist who served as a representative from South Carolina and later as a senator from Maryland, admits in this address his former pro-French sympathies before going on to critique the French assertions regarding various American actions and the U.S. treaty with Great Britain—in fact, he goes so far as to call for war. This much-discussed tract was reprinted numerous times throughout the United States and Great Britain, both in English and in French, immediately following its initial appearance in 1797.

•  ESTC T110138; Sabin 30433. On Harper, see: Dictionary of American Biography, VIII, 285–86. Recent quarter blue morocco with blue cloth sides, spine gilt-stamped with title within gilt-ruled raised bands and with trefoils at head and foot. Half-title lacking; one page (not the title) stamped by a now-defunct institution. Faint traces of waterstaining to lower outer margins of most leaves. A handsome copy of an important document.

The VIENNA Treaties

•  Concerns the Vienna treaties.

•  Modern boards; some staining and age-toning.

Russia & the U.S. — Navigation & Commerce

•  Uncommon. Contains Jackson’s transmittal letter and a copy of the treaty (printed in double columns), concluded at St. Petersburg on 6/18 December 1832, and the ratifications which were exchanged in the city on 11 May 1833. The text is provided in English and French. Click the image for an enlargement.

This is the first printing of the first treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Russia; the only prior convention between the two nations was the convention of 1824 concerning the Pacific Northwest. This treaty establishes and confirms reciprocal trade, and commercial and navigation rights to vessels of both countries, and also applies the same rights to thekingdom of Poland.

Government document: 23d Congress, 1st Session. Doc. No. 415. Ho. of Reps. Executive.

•  Recent paper wrappers. Title-page with inked numeral in upper margin. Light spotting.

LISBONCelebrates the Peace

•  Account of the celebrations in Lisbon surrounding the announcement of the peace which ended the Seven Years War, including some discussion of the fireworks used, an address to the King of Great Britain, and a list of the newly appointed ambassadors between the former belligerents.

Rare.  No copies were traced in the U.S. via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, or RLIN.

•  Plain brown wrappers, shallowly chipped; small paper label on front with rubber-stamped numeral thereon. Small hole in title-page without loss of print. Paper repairs in top margins of pp. 10 and 11. Light soiling. Pencilled notations on title-page and front wrapper.

The Smolensk War IsOver

•  Uncommon Spanish report on the end of the Smolensk War and the peace treaty between Poland and Russia, in which Vladislaus IV, King of Poland, renounced his claim to the Muscovite throne.
Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Palau 60707; not in Almirante. Removed from a nonce volume. Creased, with holes along creases causing loss of some letters; lower inner margins waterstained. Leaves trimmed closely, second leaf with first line lost and second line partially shaved.

This also appears in the HISPANIC
                      MISCELLANY — click here.

FearingFrance . . .

[Manwaring, Arthur].

•  Uncut copy of the first (or possibly second) edition of what the Henry Stevens Company described in its 1927 Catalogue of Rare Americana (#671) as a “secretly printed” pamphlet in which the anonymous writer (Arthur Manwaring) studies what he sees as the problem of the growing power and influence of France in Europe and the New World (Canada, the West Indies, and potentially much of the Spanish empire). Such concern sprang from the Peace of Utrecht ending the War of the Spanish Succession, by which the French House of Bourbon assumed the Spanish throne following the death of the last of the Hapsburgs and a decade-long war.

There were two editions printed: This, with the pagination as above and with the title-page sporting a double-rule around the text area, and another with only 32 pp. and no border on the title-page. Precedence apparently not established.

•  Alden & Landis, European Americana, 711/177; Goldsmiths’ 4837; Kress 2743; ESTC 46891. Not in Sabin. Uncut, some chipping of edges. Recent, slate-grey light boards. Some cockling and staining. Six-digit number stamped on half-title. A good+ copy.

The U.S. Colombia & Panama

•  In this open letter—dated 24 October 1857—to the people of Colombia, a past and future president of the nation explains the terms of a treaty that his son-in-law, Pedro Alcántara Herrán (another past and future president), has signed with the U.S. The treaty concerns Panama: "Se reduce el tratado a una convencion que establece el modo de arreglar todas las reclamaciones pendientes de ciudadanos contra la Nueva Granada, desde 1818, sobre corsarios colombianos hasta los de 1856 en Panamá, con motivo del desgradiaco acontecimiento del 15 de Abril. . . . " Mosquera then has much to say about U.S. interests, transit through Panama, the sale and lease of Colombian territory in and near Panama for refueling stations, and imposition of duties on travellers and trans-shipments. This important document concerning U.S.-Colombian relations is very scarce: We fail to locate any exemplars in NUC Pre-1956 or on RLIN.

•  Not in Palau. Recent wrappers. Number in old ink on first page and another stamped in margin of another. Good condition.

(ALL) Perfectly Legal — (Much of It) Perfectly Shocking

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  First edition of this updated collection, compiled at the direction of C.A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Included are the 1814 articles of agreement and capitulation made between "major general Andrew Jackson" and the Creek nation, the 1828 provision of "a permanent home" for the Cherokees consisting of seven million acres located west of the Arkansas border, and the Mohawk relinquishment of any and all claims to territory in New York State.

•  Not in American Imprints. Recent black moiré cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels. Title-page, preface, and first contents page with outer margins repaired; some subsequent leaves with short edge tears or nicks; last few leaves with outer edges chewed, some repaired. Light waterstaining to lower outer portions; mild foxing. (21115)

Detailing Damages, Maritime

•  Detailed listing of monies paid under art. 21 of the treaty with Spain, for damage to or capture of American coastal vessels.

•  Evans 38779. Removed from a library-style pamphlet binding and in new wrappers.

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