Important book: The Columbian Magazine, or Monthly Miscellany, Containing a View of the History, Manners, Literature & Characters of the Year 1787. Philadelphia: Printed for T. Seddon, W. Spotswood, C. Cist, & J. Trenchard, 1787. Hardcover (with front board missing), 5.75 x 8, with some plates intact and most issues intact. Most importantly, the volume contains one of the first printings of the United States Constitution in its September issue. The text appears without commentary in the "Historical Scraps" section, on pages 659-665, under the title "The new plan for a Federal Government proposed by the Convention." It has the full text of the Constitution as passed by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, along with the text of George Washington's letter transmitting the text to the Continental Congress. A page of poetry from the September issue (p. 669/670) is absent; the rest has not been thoroughly collated. Book condition: poor, with front board missing, heavy wear and some losses to spine, and foxing and staining to the textblock. Priority has not been determined between this Columbian Magazine printing and that of the American Museum, which were the first two magazine printings of the United States Constitution.
