Complete Works. Hamilton Alexander
volumes / Vol. I or Vol. II / New York: / Printed and sold by J. and A. McLean, / No. 41, Hanover-Square. / M.DCC.LXXXVIII.”
This first edition is now very rare, and copies, especially if they are in good condition, command a high price.
II. The second edition was a French translation, published in 1792, with the following titles:
“Le Fédéraliste, / ou / Collection de quelques Écrits en faveur de / la Constitution proposée aux États-Unis / de l’Amérique, par la Convention convoquée / en 1787; Publiés dans les États-Unis de l’Amérique par / MM. Hamilton, Madisson e Gay, / Citoyens de l’Etat de New York. / Tome Premier. (or Tome Second.) / A Paris / Chez Buisson, Libraire, rue Hautefuille, / No. 20. / 1792.” The translator was M. Trudaine de la Sabliére, who added a few explanatory notes, an introduction of about eighteen pages, and a translation of the Constitution. This edition was reissued by the same publisher in the same year. The second issue was identical with the first, except that the introduction was omitted, probably for political reasons. Neither Brunet (Manuel du Libraire) nor Graesse (Trésor des Livres rares) mentions the Federalist. Barbier (Dictionnaire des Anonymes) mentions this edition of 1792, but not the second French edition of 1795. Both issues of this first French edition are of the utmost rarity. I have heard of but one example of the first issue, the imperfect copy in the library of Harvard College, referred to by Mr. Dawson. The second issue is almost equally rare. There is one copy in the New York State Library (mentioned by Mr. Dawson), another in the library of Yale College, and a third was sold at auction not long since, in Boston, for twenty-five dollars a volume. I am indebted to Mr. Addison Van Name of Yale College for proof of the identity of these two issues of 1792, which Mr. Dawson correctly conjectured to be the case. I am also indebted to Mr. Henry A. Homes, State Librarian of New York, in addition to many other kind suggestions, for much exact information as to the French editions.
III. A second French edition was published in 1795. It was identical with the second issue of 1792, omitting, like that, the introduction. There were three slight changes in the title-page: “Seconde Edition” is inserted before “Tome Premier,” Jay’s name is spelled correctly, and at the bottom, instead of the usual date, appears “An 3e de la République.” This edition also is of the utmost rarity.
IV. All that Mr. Dawson could say of the fourth edition of the Federalist was that “it is said that in the year 1799 a new edition of the Federalist was published in New York.” Mr. Dawson, after the most exhaustive search, failed to find a copy, and only heard of one, or what appeared to be one, in the collection of Mr. Force, while his own volume was passing through the press, and he was therefore compelled to leave the existence of such an edition largely a matter of conjecture. This gap can now be filled. There is a copy of this edition, probably unique, for the Force copy seems to have disappeared, in the possession of the Long Island Historical Society, and I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. George Hannah, the librarian of the Society, for my knowledge of its existence and for the following copy of its title-page:
“The / Federalist / A Collection of / Essays / Written in favour of the / New Constitution / As agreed upon by the / Federal Convention / September 17, 1787 / In two volumes / Vol. I / Vol. II / New York / Printed and sold by John Tiebout / No. 358 Pearl St. / 1799.” It was simply a reprint of the edition of 1788.
V. The fifth edition of the Federalist was published, in two volumes, by George Hopkins, of New York, in 1802. In this edition many changes, nearly all verbal, were made in the text. As has been stated above (“Authorship of the Federalist,“ p.xix.) the reviser of this edition was probably William Coleman, the editor of the New York Evening Post. It was represented at the time and afterwards that this edition had the benefit of Hamilton’s supervision. The one certain fact is that Hamilton in the strongest terms forbade any alterations. The result, due perhaps to this prohibition, was that the changes and omissions were, with one marked exception already alluded to, quite immaterial. It seems probable that Hamilton saw the proof-sheets, but whether he thoroughly approved the changes must remain a matter of conjecture. This edition of 1802 is not rare.
VI. The sixth edition was published in 1810 by Williams and Whiting of New York, and formed the second and third volumes of the Writings of Hamilton. It was edited by John Wells, a distinguished member of the New York bar, and one of Hamilton’s personal friends. With but few and unimportant changes it followed the Hopkins edition of 1802, although the text was said to have had the benefit of the marginal notes made by Hamilton in his own copy. The principal and the only new feature of this edition was that the names of the respective authors were appended to each essay. This assignment of authorship corresponds with the Benson list, except that No. 54, as well as No. 64, is given to Hamilton. It is not a rare edition.
VII. The seventh edition of the Federalist was a single octavo volume of some 477 pages, published by Benjamin Warner of Philadelphia and William Greer of Harrisburg, and is now not often met with. It was a simple reproduction of the Williams and Whiting edition of 1810.
VIII. The eighth edition, in one volume, was issued in 1818 by Benjamin Warner of Philadelphia, the publisher of the seventh, with which it was identical, the only new feature being an appendix containing the articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States with the amendments. This edition is rare.
IX. The ninth edition was a large octavo of 671 pages, and was published in 1818 by Jacob Gideon, in Washington. It was claimed that this edition had the sanction and approval of Madison. It certainly had the benefit of the notes made by him on his own essays, and it contained his assignment of the authorship of the various numbers. The text is that of the Williams and Whiting edition of 1810, and the changes in Madison’s essays are verbal and unimportant. It contained, besides the Federalist, prefatory remarks, and in the appendix, Hamilton’s “Letters of Pacificus,” Madison’s “Letters of Helvidius,” the articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States. Copies of this edition are not common.
X. The tenth edition was published by Jacob Gideon at Washington in 1821. It is a reprint of his edition of 1818.
XI. The eleventh edition was the first of a series of editions published at Hallowell, Maine, by Glazier & Co., and their successors, who purchased the Gideon copyright. Some of these editions are now very rare, while others are not infrequently to be met with. The first appeared in 1826. It is a single volume octavo, of 582 pages, and is identical with the Gideon editions of 1818 and 1821.
XII. The twelfth edition has no existence that Mr. Dawson could discover, except in the pages of the catalogue of the New York State Library. If it existed, it was a Hallowell edition, and identical with that of the preceding year. Mr. Homes, the librarian, suggested to Mr. Dawson that the entry was a misprint for 1837, the date of an undoubted Hallowell edition which was in the New York Library. Mr. Homes writes me that no edition of 1827 has since been found, and that the question stands as it did in 1863, when Mr. Dawson discussed it. It seems improbable that any such edition of 1827 ever existed.
XIII. The thirteenth was another Hallowell edition, identical with the Gideon edition and with that of 1826. Mr. Dawson mentions the existence of this edition, but had never seen or heard of a copy. Mr. Hannah informs me that there is a copy in the possession of the Long Island Historical Society, and I have heard of one other. It was published in 1831 by Glazier, Masters, & Co., and is apparently as rare as one of the French editions.
XIV. The fourteenth edition was published in a single volume, duodecimo, at Washington, in 1831. Except for a few trifling changes and the addition of an alphabetical index by Philip R. Fendall, a member of the Washington bar, this edition was an exact reprint of the Gideon edition, and was considered by the Hallowell publishers a violation of their copyright.
XV. The fifteenth edition was published in one volume, at Hallowell, by Glazier, Masters, & Smith, in 1837. It was a reprint of the Gideon edition of 1818.
XVI. The sixteenth edition was a Portuguese translation published by J. Villeneuve & Co. at Rio de Janeiro in 1840. No copy is known to exist in this country. The title-page, which is given by Sabin, is as follows: “O Federalista, publicado eminglez por Hamilton, Madisson e Jay cidadaos de Nova-York, e traduzido