Modern Reports: Or, Cases in Law and Equity, Chiefly During the Time the late Earl of Macclesfield presided in the Courts of the King’s Bench and Chancery, viz. From the Eighth of Queen Anne, to the Eleventh of King George the First Inclusive.

LUCAS, Robert. [Alexander Hamilton].

Item Number: 125709

London: Printed by His Majesty's Law Printers, 1769.

Alexander Hamilton’s copy of the tenth volume of Lucas’s Modern Reports. Folio, bound in one quarter contemporary calf over paper-covered boards. Signed by Alexander Hamilton and his son Philip Hamilton on the title page. In very good condition. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco slipcase. Rare and desirable, books from Hamilton’s library seldom appear on the market. No inventory of Hamilton‘s law library has ever been found. The most extensive list of his books (a total of ten works) is contained in a circular letter he issued in 1795 when he returned to his practice in 1795. Only four law texts from his library have surfaced at auction in the past thirty years.

The first treasury secretary of the United States and one of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton founded the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper. He was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration and, as Secretary of the Treasury, established a national bank, system of tariffs and trade relations with Great Britain. After the American Revolutionary War, Hamilton resigned his seat in the Congress of the Confederation to practice law, which he returned to in 1795 and was active in ending the legality of the international slave trade.