The first compilation to collect the constitutions and charters of the United States. Originally published: Washington: Government Printing Office, 1878. 2 vols. xii, 2102 pp. The Government Printing Office edition consisted of five thousand copies, with nine hundred for use of Senators and the Vice President, two thousand five hundred for use of the Representative and Delegates, two copies to the President of the United States, fifty copies to the Department of State, fifty copies for transmission to United States legations and consulates-general abroad, four hundred forty-five to the Library of Congress for exchanges, one copy to the War Department, one copy for the Military Academy at West Point, one copy to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, one hundred copies to the Department of Justice, one copy to the Smithsonian Institution, and one thousand copies for sale to the public, according to Geo. M. Adams, Clerk, House of Representatives, June 6, 1875.

"The first compilation that purported to include the constitutions of all states...The index to this work contains citations to specific subjects on which there are provisions in the several state constitutions." -- Lawrence F. Schmeckebier, Government Publications and Their Use (1939) 194

Ben[jamin] Perley Poore [1820-1887] was a popular journalist of his era, and an active Whig. After editing the Boston Bee and Sunday Sentinel, in 1854 Poore became a Washington correspondent to the Boston Journal and a popular participant in influential Washington circles. His colorful pieces using the signature of "Perley" gave him a national reputation. In additional to his newspaper writing, Poore served as clerk of the committee of the United States Senate on printing records, where he edited the Congressional Directory beginning in 1867 and the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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