Page:Federalist, Dawson edition, 1863.djvu/72

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Introduction.

and fifty-nine pages, respectively, which are thus arranged: In Volume I., Title-page, as above; verso to the title, blank,—both unpaged; iii. to vi., "Preface"; vii. viii., "Contents of the first volume"; 1 to 317, "The Federalist"; 318, "Erratum." In Volume II., Title-page, as above; verso to the title, blank,—both unpaged; iii. to v., "Contents of the second volume"; vi., blank; vii., "Valuable Books," which the publisher offered for sale; viii., blank; 1 to 283, "The Federalist"; 284, blank; 285, unpaged bastard-title of "Letters of Pacificus"; 286, blank; 287 to 334, "Letters"; 335 to 349, "The Federal Constitution, as agreed upon by the Convention, September 17, 1787"; 350, 351, "Amendments."

It is printed in signatures of eight pages each, on paper of good quality, with a clear long-primer type, leaded,—the Preface being in pica, leaded; and it is without illustrations of any kind.

This edition is remarkable, chiefly, on account of the great changes in the text which the anonymous editor saw fit to make, which, both in their extent and their character, from the rarity of the original edition and that of 1788, have been little understood.

It is not certainly known by whom this edition of The Fœderalist was edited; but Mr. Coleman, in his discussion with "Corrector," concerning the authorship of the several numbers, has thrown considerable light on the subject. In his "Answer" to that writer, published in The New York Evening Post on the twenty-fifth of March, 1817, that gentleman refers to different circumstances which had attended the preparation of this edition for the press, with the greatest particularity; and in one case, especially, he alludes to his own personal knowledge of the subject. As the private, personal interviews of that anonymous editor with General Hamilton on the subject of his editorial labors, the per-