Carpintero

ref. 45031 — CARPENTER Thomas comp. The American Senator or a Copious and Impartial Report of the Debates in the Congress of the United States: Including all Treaties Addresses Proclamations &c. Which Occur During the Present Session Being the Second of the Fourth Congress. Philadelphia 1796-97. Three volumes. 352 4; 3554; 4367-78713pp. plus folding table. Contemporary calf gilt morocco labels. Bindings scuffed and worn spines of second and third volumes chipped but sound withal. Profuse ink and pencil scrawlings on endpapers of first volume. Worming in lower margin of final two signatures in first volume barely touching text. Uniformly tanned. Good. In cloth boxes with leather labels. Evans 30165 31918 31919. Sabin 11006. Regular official reporting of the debates and proceedings of the United States Congress was not instituted until the 1840s with the CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE. Before that the work of covering Congressional debates was left to private reporters who compiled and published their accounts and Thomas Carpenter was one of the most prominent of these early Congressional reporters. Carpenter gathered his reports from personal attendance of the Congressional sessions from other printed sources and often by receiving copies of speeches directly from members themselves. He presents the debates and procedures in a straightforward non-partisan manner often quoting the speeches directly other times summarizing speeches and floor actions. The present set covers the second session of the fourth Congress from December 1796 to early March 1797 and includes John Adams' and Thomas Jefferson's inaugural speeches as President and Vice President. Also included are George Washington's 1796 State of the Union message debates on the establishment of the mint on the militia the sinking fund petitions from free blacks federal salaries taxes and scores of bills on a variety of other subjects. The table gives a detailed listing of state debts. The final volume contains a list of subscribers which includes the House of Representatives six copies the soon-to-be-impeached Senator William Blount printers Matthew Carey and John Dunlap. Albert Gallatin John Jay Andrew Jackson Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and several foreign ambassadors. Each volume carries a separate index. Evans notes that "further publication. unknown