Beschreibung:

DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA] [Laws for the Government of the District of Louisiana, passed by the Governor and Judges of the Indiana Territory, at their first session, u[i.e. b]egun and held at Vincennes, the Monday the first day of October, 1804] . E. Stout: Vincennes, (I.T.), 1804. 20th century cloth, leather spine labels. 8 x 4 1/2 inches (20 x 11 cm); 134, [2] pp. (but see below). Lacking the title and the final leaf, the latter largely blank but with John Gibson's certification. Signatures M and N (pp. 89-104) are printed letterpress on shorter laid stock of a different tone (with a watermark "01"), and probably originate from another copy; they do not correspond with any of the facsimiles of which we are aware (there was one in photolithography in an edition of 50, published 1905). Some staining and toning, a few leaves marginally frayed, sold with all faults. "The District of Louisiana was created by the act of Congress of March 26, 1804, and comprised the territory of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 33rd degree of latitude. The government of Indiana Territory was responsible for enacting laws for the District until the creation of Louisiana Territory in 1805" --from the preamble of the 1905 facsimile edition. Stout's Vincennes shop commenced operations in 1804 after his move from Lexington, Kentucky, with the publication of the Indiana Gazette newspaper. A fire destroyed the shop the year after this publication. The book is exceptionally rare (most of the copies recorded institutionally on OCLC are in fact the 1905 facsimile), and is the second book printed in the Indiana Territory. Byrd & Peckham Indiana 2. C The New York City Bar Association