Feb 27, 2007 - Sale 2105

Sale 2105 - Lot 43

Price Realized: $ 1,560
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(DRED SCOTT.) A Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States . . . in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F. A. Sanford. December Term, 1856. By Benjamin C. Howard. Tall 8vo, contemporary quarter morocco and marbled paper-covered boards; tips and spine extremities lightly rubbed; paper evenly toned; small, private library ticket on the front paste-down. New York, 1857

Additional Details

Probably no other nineteenth century court case involving a slave stands out like the Dred Scott case, which was initiated on the issue of whether a slave was free or not if he was moved to free soil. In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that all blacks, slaves or free, were not and never could become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country's territories. Finkelman. Slavery in the Courtroom. pp 43-53.