The Bankrupt Law of the United States. 1867. With Notes..

1867. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867. American Bankruptcy Law in 1867 James, Edwin, [1812-1882]. The Bankrupt Law of the United States. 1867. With Notes, and a Collection of American and English Decisions Upon the Principles and Practice of the Law of Bankruptcy. Adapted to the Use of the Lawyer and Merchant. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867. v, 325 pp. Includes two-page publisher list. Octavo (6" x 9"). Original tan law sheep, blind frames to boards, gilt red and black lettering pieces to spine, worn and scuffed. Bookseller's ticket "W.H. & O.H. Morrison" to front pastedown. Some dampstaining to rear endleaves and board, otherwise internally clean. Two contemporaneous news clipping concening the enactment of the bankruptcy act affixed to final blank leaf. $350. * First edition. The Bankruptcy Act of 1867 was the third attempt to create a Federal bankruptcy system. Each of the first two acts, passed in 1800 and 1841,lasted about a year. Never popular, they were seen as safeguards for financial recklessness and were allowed to expire. Other attempts, most notably a bill proposed in 1841 by Daniel Webster, were defeated. Around 1865, however, Congress began to see bankruptcy protection as a necessary tool to encourage the economic redevelopment of the devastated southern states and encourage the expansion of the national post-war economy. These needs informed the passage of the 1867 act. This treatise contains the complete text of the act, with notes, along with extensive discussion of each of its sections. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) I:1040. (Inventory #: 82365)