Landmark Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston Steamboat Monopoly Case. Robert Livingston & Robert Fulton vs. Van Ingen. Justices Kent, Yates and Thompson Uphold Fulton’s Steamboat Monopoly [Trials]. Livingston, Robert [1746-1813], Defendant. Fulton, Robert [1765-1815], Defendant. The Opinions of the Judges of the Supreme Court, Delivered in the Court of Errors, In the Cause of Robert E. Livingston and Robert Fulton, vs. James Van Ingen, And Twenty Others. Albany: Printed by S. Southwick, 1812. Three parts. 12; 12; 23, [1] pp. Slim 8vo pamphlet. Light browning. Early manuscript annotations to margins of p. 10 in the first part and p. 7 in the second. Owner signature at upper right-hand corner of title page. Light pencil sketch of sloop on verso of title page. This unanimous decision the New York Court for the Correction of Errors upheld the thirty-year monopoly on steamboat navigation on the Hudson River granted by the state legislature to Fulton and Livingston. This pamphlet contains the opinions of the court’s three judges: Joseph C. Yates [1768-1837], Smith Thompson [1768-1843] and James Kent [1763-1847]. The longest of these is by Kent, the chief justice. A few years later another steamboat entrepreneur, Thomas Gibbons, defied the law and established a ferry line between New York and New Jersey. This led to the 1824 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Gibbons v. Ogden. Declaring that states cannot regulate interstate commerce, the court struck down Fulton's monopoly. Sabin, A Dictionary of Books Relating to America 41637. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 11509. In very good condition, with uniform toning and tape repairs to spine.
