"[Bound Compilation of Senate Reports from 1816-17]", U.S. Government

This volume consists of 122 reports dated from December 2, 1816 to February 27, 1817, plus index. Three of the longer and more notable reports are:

A. [Senate Report No. 114] Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting the Correspondence Between the United States and the Government of Spain, Relative to the Subjects of Controversy Between the Two Nations. The controversy referenced in the title involved the limits of the Louisiana Purchase, including the boundary with Texas. The controversy was settled by the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 in which Spain transferred Florida to the United States and gave Texas its modern eastern and northern boundaries. 77 pages.

B. [Senate Report No. 82] Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting Documents Relative to the Execution of the First Article of the Late Treaty Between the United States and Great Britain. The First Article of the Treaty of Ghent provided for the return of slaves or restitution. Great Britain was in no hurry to comply with that provision. 103 pages.

C. [Senate Report No. 101] In Senate of the United States … Copy of the Reports of Messrs. Latrobe and Hoban, on the Public Buildings. Interesting, detailed reports and cost estimates of the work needed to restore the Capitol and the White House after the British set fire to the buildings in 1814. Latrobe, second architect of the Capitol, and Hoban, architect of the White House, both were called on to design the post-fire repairs. Latrobe resigned later in 1817 as a result of differences of opinion with Commissioner of the Public Buildings and the President on how the work should proceed, leaving “at the U.S. Capitol some of the greatest interiors in the history of neoclassicism in America,” according to the Architect of the Capitol website. 19 pages.

Altogether a scarce compilation of reports. Octavo, hardbound in quarter leather over marbled boards with gilt title on spine.

References: Streeter (Texas) #1062.1.

Condition: B

Text has light to moderate toning and scattered foxing. There is a large dampstain on the first 12 pages and a library bookplate on the front pastedown. Front cover is loose, the spine has a small chip at top, and the boards are worn.