A Manual of Parliamentary Practice, Composed Originally for the Use of the Senate of the United States by Jefferson, Thomas - 1834

Philadelphia, PA: Hogan & Thompson. Very Good-. 1834. Early printing. Hardcover. This book is in Very Good- to Very Good condition and was issued without a dust jacket. The book covers have some light bumping and edge wear to the spine ends and corners. There are several spots of fraying to the spine ends and corners as well. There is a large spot of ink to the front cover of the book ( a real problem when inkwells were a regular feature of desks) , which has dripped over onto the inside edge of the rear cover and along the very top outside of the foredges of several text pages. The text pages are mostly clean and bright, though there are faint spots of foxing throughout. This copy includes the inkstamp of James A. Peden (possibly the James Peden who was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Argentina) in 1854). Also included is the adhered bookplate of LeRoy V. Brant, the Music Director of the San Jose Symphonic Choir and Founder of the San Jose Municipal Chorus. There is another hand inked name on the title page which appears contemporary to the book - First name William. The last name is difficult to read. "...the Senate have accordingly formed some rules for its own government: but those going only to few cases, they have referred to the decision of their President, without debateand without appeal, all questions of order arising either under their own rules, or, where they have provided none." "Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1801, is the first American book on parliamentary procedure." "The Senate traditionally has not considered Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice to be its direct authority on parliamentary procedure. However, starting in 1828 the Senate began publishing a version of Jefferson's Manual for their use, removing the Senate Rules from within the text and placing them in a separate section. In 1888, when the Senate initiated publication of the Senate Manual, a copy of Jefferson's Manual was included in each biennial edition. This practice continued until 1977." (from Wikipedia) .