Remarks on the Bankrupt Law; To Which are Added the Proposed...
Handsomely Bound Copy of an 1819 Argument for a Federal Bankruptcy Law Civis. [Webster, Daniel (1782-1852)]. [Hopkinson, Joseph (1770-1842)]. Remarks on the Bankrupt Law; To Which are Added, The Proposed Amendments of Hopkinson and Webster. New York: Published by Haly and Thomas, 1819. 71 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5"; 21.5 x 12.5 cm) Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into a period-style binding by Philip Dusel, quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands, lettering piece and blind and gilt fillets to spine. Light fading to spine, moderate toning to interior, light foxing to title page and a few other leaves. A very good copy in a handsome binding. $750. A tight, clean, and very good copy in an exceptionally handsome presentation. $750. * Only Edition. This rare pamphlet captures a pivotal, transitional moment in American economic history. The nation's first Federal Bankruptcy Act, narrowly enacted in February 1800, was designed to protect commercial risk-takers and bring order to a chaotic, state-by-state patchwork of debtor laws. However, it faced immediate, fierce populist backlash from critics who viewed it as a corrupt shield for the financially irresponsible. The law was swiftly repealed in November 1803, returning the young republic to the harsh realities of debtors' prisons and state-level insolvency crises. Published on the heels of the devastating Panic of 1819-America's first major peacetime financial crisis-this tract represents the crucial opening salvo by pro-business Federalists to resurrect federal protections. Writing under the pseudonym "Civis," the author provides a sophisticated economic defense of bankruptcy, arguing that its absence directly choked American commercial growth and maritime trade. Crucially, the second half of the pamphlet contains "A Sketch of the Principal Features of the Bankrupt Bill Prepared by Messrs. Hopkinson and Webster." Joseph Hopkinson (famed jurist and counsel in McCulloch v. Maryland) and Daniel Webster (then a rising legal titan) drafted these amendments in a brilliant bid to forge a legislative compromise. Though their specific bill was narrowly defeated in 1820, this text laid the structural and philosophical groundwork for the landmark Bankruptcy Act of 1841, which Webster eventually championed into law. This is a rare title. OCLC locates 5 copies in law librarie.
Price: $750.00
Book number 83165