Sep 28, 2023 - Sale 2646

Sale 2646 - Lot 163

Price Realized: $ 812
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(ALEXANDER HAMILTON.) The Speeches at Full Length of . . . General Hamilton, in the Great Cause of the People, against Harry Croswell, on an Indictment for a Libel on Thomas Jefferson. 78 pages. 8vo, disbound; minor foxing and dampstaining with slight loss to title page, tightly trimmed with a few bottom lines grazed. New York, 1804
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A report of the famous February 1804 case of People v. Croswell before the New York Supreme Court, in which a Federalist journalist was charged with libel against President Jefferson and other politicians. Croswell was defended by none other than former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, then in private practice. His speeches are presented on pages 54-78. Hamilton argued that a man could not be convicted of libel if he told the truth. His arguments kept Croswell out of prison, and were later adopted by the New York legislature.

While in Albany to argue this case, Hamilton visited a friend's home and made some pointed remarks about his rival Aaron Burr. The remarks made their way back to Burr, the famous duel followed, and within 5 months Hamilton was dead. Ford, Hamiltoniana 90; Sabin 17677.