DUANE, William (1760-1865). Mississippi Question. Report of a Debate in the Senate of the United States... Concerning the Right of Deposit in the Island of New Orleans. Philadelphia: W. Duane, 1803.

8vo (228 x 141 mm). (Some spotting and toning, some dampstaining to the last few signatures.) Modern brown half roan, spine gilt-lettered, edges uncut (some minor bubbling under cloth). Provenance: a few early marginal annotations; Mrs. John Glenn, Jr. (gift stamp to title-page verso); Dudley Bell Priester (1923-2017), Mississippi River collector and bibliographer (sold Bloomsbury, 20 November 2009, lot 74).

FIRST EDITION of the report demonstrating the need to secure New Orleans and "showing of the necessity for acquiring Louisiana" (Howes). American commerce relied on the ability to navigate the Mississippi granted in a 1796 treaty with the Spanish, and trade was often endangered by the "unjustifiable, oppressive conduct of the officers of the Spanish government at New Orleans" (p.[1]). Eberstadt 116-0650; Howes D-517; Sabin 20990; Shaw & Shoemaker 4113.

Property from the Collection of Perry B. Hansen