Rare Millard Fillmore Bookplate, with a Book Curse
A Treatise on the Law of Principal and Agent; and of Sales By Auction in Two Volumes
Publication: Baltimore, MD: Printed for the Author by Joseph Robinson, 1818. First Edition.
Notes: This set comes from President Millard Fillmore's early legal career, when he practiced law in Buffalo, NY, as part of the firm Clary and Fillmore (1830–1832). The book combines presidential association, legal history, and an intriguing example of early American bookplate design.
RARE FILLMORE BOOKPLATE: The second volume contains one of just a handful of examples of Fillmore's printed bookplate. The bookplate features an intriguing warning against keeping borrowed books, attributed to the Koran (though this attribution appears to be incorrect): "Cursed is he that borrows his neighbor's property, and neglects to return it." This is particularly noteworthy as only one other Fillmore bookplate design was previously known, used in his personal library and documented in The First White House Library (Penn State University Press, 2010). The bookplate is printed letterpress in black ink on pale yellow paper employing four typefaces and two different type ornaments; roughly 2-5/8 by 1-3/16 inches.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This legal treatise was an expanded version of the first American book on auction law. Its enduring relevance is demonstrated by Justice Scalia's citation of it in the 2006 Supreme Court case Domino's Pizza, Inc. v. McDonald.
PROVENANCE: Original ownership: Clary and Fillmore law firm (manuscript notation in both volumes). Later owned by O.H. Platt, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (signature and stamps). C.J. Danaher (name label partially covering Fillmore's name on spine)
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: [blank leaf], xxxiii, [2 blanks], [Errata], 472, [blank leaf] and [blank leaf], [iv], 422, [blank leaf].
REFERENCES: Stephen Korschal, Collecting Books and Pamphlets Signed by the Presidents of the United States (Patriotic Press, 1982); this plate shown on p. 13. Lasting Impressions (Grolier Club, 2004), related plate pictured.
Edition + Condition: A good set, in contemporary sheep (?) with red spine labels, stamped in gilt. Outer joints cracked. A decent set with nice presidential and senatorial provenance.
Item No: #363449
Price: $2,500