The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States (The Modern Library Classics)

lviii, 618 pp. Two books in one volume. 427, 210, [9] pp. Original French blue cloth, gilt titles & rules. Includes The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and the complete United States Constitution with amendments. Bibliography and index follow text, introduction by Robert Scigliano. Chapters divided into the original 77 articles, and also including the 8 additional articles included in the first publication of the complete work in 1788. "The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788. A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist; or, The New Constitution, was published in two volumes in 1788 by J. and A. McLean. The series's correct title is The Federalist; the title The Federalist Papers did not emerge until the twentieth century. The Federalist remains a primary source for interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, as the essays outline a lucid and compelling version of the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government. The authors of The Federalist wanted both to influence the vote in favor of ratification and to shape future interpretations of the Constitution. According to historian Richard B. Morris, they are an "incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer."" -- Wikipedia