A Commentary on the Bankrupt Law of 1841, Showing its Operation and...
A Rare Guide to the 1841 Bankruptcy Act: OCLC Locates no Complete Copies [Bankruptcy]. [Bicknell, George Augustus]. A Commentary on the Bankrupt Law of 1841, Showing its Operation and Effect. By a Member of the Bar of New-York. To Which is Annexed, An Authentic Copy of the Bankrupt Act. New York: H. Anstice, Stationer, 1841. 47; 11 pp. Two parts, each with title page and individual pagination. Second part titled: The Bankrupt Law of the United States. A Law to Establish A Uniform System of Bankruptcy Throughout the United States, Passed August 1841. Octavo (8" x 5"; 20.3 x 12. 7 cm). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlets, first and second parts divided, light toning, negligible light soiling to exterior, small inkstain to verso of final leaf. $650. * First edition of one of the earliest legal commentaries published on the short-lived Bankruptcy Act of 1841.America's relationship with federal bankruptcy law was fraught throughout the nineteenth century. The nation's first Federal bankruptcy act, enacted in 1800, sought to provide a uniform system to supersede the chaotic patchwork of state debtor laws and encourage commercial risk-taking. However, it was widely unpopular and swiftly repealed in 1803. For nearly four decades, the United States operated without a federal mechanism for insolvency. The catastrophic Panic of 1837 and the grueling five-year depression that followed fundamentally shifted the political landscape. With thousands of merchants ruined and facing lifetime debt, pressure mounted on Congress. The resulting General Bankrupt Law of 1841 was a landmark legislative shift: for the first time in American history, it permitted voluntary bankruptcy, allowing debtors-rather than just creditors-to initiate proceedings and seek a clean slate.Yet, the law was immediately met with fierce political backlash from creditors and states' rights advocates. It proved to be almost as short-lived as its 1800 predecessor, lasting a mere eighteen months before its repeal in 1843. Bicknell's sophisticated pamphlet was rushed to press immediately following the law's passage in August 1841 to guide desperate New York merchants and lawyers through the new legal terrain. A second edition, which finally credited Bicknell on the title page, was published the following year. Both editions are exceptionally rare on the market and in.
Price: $650.00
Book number 72446