Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Colony of Rhode-Island, and Providence-Plantations, in New-England, in America. From Anno 1745, to Anno 1752.
Newport, Rhode-Island: J. Franklin, 1752. First Edition. Folio. [8], 48, 45–110 pp. Recently rebound in full leather, retaining the original marbled free endpapers. Pages 45–48 bound in duplicate, with both occurrences printed on apparently contemporary paper and containing identical text. An important and scarce collection of colonial American laws, printed in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1752 by James Franklin Jr. (1730–1762), nephew and former apprentice of Benjamin Franklin. This early Rhode Island imprint represents a significant contribution to the legislative and printing history of colonial New England, preserving the acts and statutes enacted by the colony's General Assembly between 1745 and 1752. The volume serves as a continuation of the comprehensive revision of Rhode Island laws published in 1745, following earlier revisions issued in 1719 and 1730. Unlike those preceding compilations, which organized legislation by subject, the present work arranges the laws chronologically according to the legislative sessions in which they were enacted, providing a detailed record of the colony's developing legal and governmental institutions. Its contents illuminate numerous aspects of eighteenth-century colonial life, including taxation, currency, commerce, property ownership, public administration, military affairs, and the regulation of social and economic activities. Of particular historical interest is the volume's association with the Franklin family of printers. James Franklin Jr., the son of James Franklin Sr. (1697–1735) and Ann Smith Franklin (1696–1763), learned the printing trade under his uncle Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia before returning to Newport, where he worked alongside his mother in their printing establishment. Ann Smith Franklin, who continued the family printing business following her husband's death, was among the earliest female printers in colonial America, and she and her son served as official printers to the Rhode Island colony. The title page is distinguished by a woodcut representation of Rhode Island's colonial emblem, featuring an anchor and the motto HOPE, enclosed within an ornamental design. An important surviving example of pre-Revolutionary American printing, this publication is of particular interest to collectors and scholars of colonial Americana, early American law, Rhode Island history, and the printing activities of the Franklin family.
Bibliographical note: The standard collation is [8], 110 pages. The present copy contains an additional occurrence of pages 45–48, with both sets of leaves apparently printed on contemporary paper and containing identical text. The duplication is consistent with a gathering or binding irregularity, although its precise origin has not been established.
References: Evans 6919; Alden 128; Sabin 70513; Bartlett, p. 172; Benedict, Acts and Laws of the Thirteen Original Colonies and States, p. 449; The Charlemagne Tower Collection of Colonial Laws, no. 812. Some slight rubbing, minimal discoloration, else in very good + condition. Item #728
Price: $2,000.00