Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts; Begun and Held at Boston, in the County of Suffolk, on Wednesday the Twenty-fifth day of May, Anno Domini, 1785.
Boston: Printed by Adams and Nourse, 1785. [281]-313, [1] pp. [pp. 309-313 misnumbered 509-513]. Folio. Disbound. First edition. Removed from a larger volume, two institutional stamps on title page, faint soiling and edge wear, small tear on margin of sixth leaf, inked notation on rear and correction of pagination errors, a good copy. Evans 19079. ESTC W15100. See Lee: History of American Journalism. Item #43972
Among the acts and laws were the Act for the Regulation of Navigation and Commerce, which required exports only from US vessels, which highlighted the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, since the U.S. could not make trade treaties if the states could impose there own requirements; the repeal of the recently introduced Stamp Act: Act for Repealing a Law for this Commonwealth, intitled, "An Act Imposing Duties on Licenced Vellum, Parchment and Paper, " and for Imposing Other Duties on Certain Papers, Commissions, Instruments and Processes. The Boston Gazette noted: "The sixteenth article of our Bill of Rights says 'The Liberty of the Press is essential to the security of Freedom in a State: It ought not therefore to be restrained in this commonwealth'." Among the other acts were: Act to Prevent Damage from Fire Being Communicated from Chocolate Mills and Machines for Roasting Cocoa, in the Town of Boston.
Price: $125.00