THE CONSTITUTIONS OF AMERICA, first translation in French, 1783, gift from Benjamin Franklin to Nils von Rosenstein, 2 volumes.

COPY FROM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Constitution des treize États-Unis de l'Amerique. A Philadelphie [=Paris]; et se trouve a Paris, chez Ph.-D. Pierres - Pissot, 1783.

Large 8vo (215x128 mm.). Title vignette: First instance of the seal of the U.S.
"Recueil contenant les Constitutions des différens États indépendans de l'Amérique, la Déclaration de l'Indépendance, les Articles de Conféderation entre lesdits États, les traités entre Sa Majesté Très Chrétienne & les États-Unis de l'Amérique ... on y a ajouté le Traité d'amitié & de commerce entre L.H.P. les États-Généraux des Pays-Bas-Unis, & les États-Unis de l'Amérique, le Traité d'amitié & de commerce entre S.M. le Roi de Suède & les États-Unis de l'Amérique." (third page).
Contemporary light brown half calf, partly worn, gilt title to spine, inner joints partly split, some damages to upper part of spine. With a note in Swedish by the Swede Nils von Rosenstein (1752-1824) that this was a gift from Benjamin Franklin to him on first free endpaper: "Fådt af Ben. Franklin d. 23 juli 1783". Rosenstein was in Paris at that time on behalf of the king Gustav III, as a secratary to the Swedish ambassador.
According to notes in pencil underneath by the former owner Israel Holmgren (who was related to von Rosenstein) this is in the hand of von Rosenstein. Holmgren also mentioned this volume to his friend, the American author and journalist Valentine Thomson (1881-1944), which led her to search the archives in Paris. According to her findings, Franklin and von Rosenstein met in Paris in 1783. With Holmgren's signature in pen (no date but probably in the 1940s).

FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. The first translation of "The constitutions of the 13 states of colonial America: the Declaration of independence, the Articles of confederation" etc., a collection prepared by a committee of three under a resolution, December 1780, of the Continental Congress, first published, Philadelphia, 1781. They were translated to French by La Rouchfaucauld and printed at the instigation of Benjamin Franklin.

Title-page with circular woodcut Great Seal of the United States (its first use in a printed book). One of only 600 copies printed for Franklin (including 100 large-paper copies). The collection features each of the 13 state constitutions plus the Declaration of Independence (pp. 419-425, with all Signers named), the Articles of Confederation, several treaties with France and one with Sweden. Franklin's aims in publishing the edition were expressed in a letter to Thomas Mifflin of 25 December 1783: "The extravagant Misrepresentations of our Political State in foreign Countries, made it appear necessary to give them better Information, which I thought could not be more effectually and authentically done, than by publishing a Translation into French...." The Great Seal, designed by Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson, makes its first book appearance on this titlepage.

Provenance: Israel Holmgren (1871-1961), Swedish physician and politician, professor at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Holmgren was the son of the daughter of the son of the daughter of Nils von Rosenstein's sister; Birger Strandell (1901-1993), famous Swedish collector of Linnaeus. Strandell was a Stockholm physician and descendant of Linnaeus who built a private collection of Linnaean materials. A large part of his collections are in The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh USA.

Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790).
La Rochefoucauld-d'Enville, Louis-Alexandre, duc de, (1743-1792).
Nils von Rosenstein (1752-1824), the first permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy and a tutor of king Gustav IV Adolf for 11 years. He was also the secretary to the ambassador in Paris and made many important friends, amongst others Germaine Necker (madame Stael von Holstein) and D'Alembert.

Sabin 16118.

Together with a work in Swedish:
FRANKLIN. Benjamin Franklins enskildta lefwerne, upsatt af honom sjelf och stäldt til hans son. Hertil äro bifogade åtskillige händelser och omdömen, som angå denne store man. I-II. Stockholm (Anders Jac. Nordström) 1792. 8vo. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Franklin (by Snack). Signature on title. Contemporary half calf, partly worn. Signature of Israel Holmgren 7/8 1945. (Complete).
(Sabin, A dictionary of books relating to America 25618.)

2 volumes.

See text.