Rare Books and First Editions: The Stamp Act and other Acts of Parliament

The Origins of the American Revolution:

The Acts of Parliament, 1763-67, including
The Stamp Act, The Currency Act, The Quartering Act, and the Declaratory Act

“Before the actual war of the Revolution could begin, there had to be a revolution ‘in the minds and hearts of the people,’ as John Adams put it. One of the most important factors in this change of heart was an innocent-looking document which received the assent of George III ‘by commission’ on March 22, 1765. It was to be known as the Stamp Act. That it was also to be a piece of political dynamite was soon evident.”
- The American Heritage History of the American Revolution

Taxation without Representation:

"An act for granting and applying certain Stamp Duties, and other Duties, in the British Colonies and Plantations in America, towards further defraying the Expences of defending, protecting, and preserving the same."

-The Stamp Act

"The first crisis centered on the Stamp Act. The Americans achieved an unprecedented degree of unity in opposing it and in defeating its operation"

Merrill Johnson, The Founding of a Nation

(American Revolution) Acts of Parliament (including, among others, the Stamp Act, The Sugar Act, The Currency Act, The Quartering Act, The Declaratory Act). London: 1763-67. Folio, contemporary calf. Five volumes.

Very rare collection of the Acts of Parliament, containing the first official printings of the supremely controversial Acts that led directly to the American Revolution.

The highlights of the collection include the Sugar Act (1764), the first act passed for the purpose of raising revenue from the Colonies, and the monumentally important Stamp Act (1765), the first direct tax levied by Parliament on the Colonies, including direct taxation of all colonial commercial and legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, cards, and almanacs. Because of the intense protest these Acts aroused in the Colonies (including the famous riots, stamp burnings, cries of “taxation without representation”, and outright refusal to obey the English government) it is often said that the Revolutionary War began with the passing of the Sugar and Stamp Acts. The collection also includes the major subsequent Acts leading to the Revolution such as the Currency Act (1764, by which Parliament assumed control of the Colonial currency system and abolished Colonial bills of credit), the Quartering Act (1765, requiring the Colonies to provide quarters, food, and transportation for British soldiers), and the Declaratory Act (1766, declaring the Colonies subordinate to Parliament “in all matters”). Another item of note is the group of three Acts relating to John Harrison and the search for the means of determining longitude at sea. Some rubbing and wear to rare contemporary bindings. A collection of the highest importance. Rare.