The Federalist - The Society has had in its possession since 1867, two copies of The Federalist, one of the defining documents of American nationhood. The third—and finest—copy, part of the first complete edition in book form, arrived as part of the collection of American, hand-bound books of the seventeenth through mid-nineteenth centuries assembled over many years by Michael Papantonio. He was co-proprietor of New York’s Seven Gables Book Shop. By Papantonio’s gift and bequest nearly five hundred volumes from his collection of superb examples of American bindings came to the Society, but the generous gift did not include a handful of costly bindings of which the Society was given first refusal for purchase. Among them was his copy of The Federalist, printed in 1788 on superfine paper and bound in an elegant Federalist style in two volumes by J. and A. McLean in Hanover Square. The copy was inscribed by its first owner: Joseph Dixon, Whitehaven. Purchased at New York October 1st. 1789. The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed Upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787 (New York: Printed and sold by J. and A. M’Lean, [1788]). Gift of Marion Stoddard Fletcher. [record]
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The Amerian Antiquarian Society, 1812-2012 - A View at the Bicentennial