New Jersey Session Laws | Acts passed by the General Assembly of New Jersey in 1747-48, printed by Franklin

New Jersey

[New Jersey Session Laws] Anno Regni Georgii II. … At a General Assembly of the Colony of New-Jersey, continued by the Adjournments to the 17th Day of November, Anno Domini 1747, and then begun and holden at Burlington, being the fifth sitting of the second Session of this present Assembly. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty for the province of New-Jersey, M,DCC,XLVIII (1748)

Folio (310 x 185). Woodcut arms of George II on title-page; disbound, light spotting, a few minor creases, small chips, splits at the ends of the folds, and short edge-tears, the title, the upper corner of p. 3, and the last page lightly dust-soiled, paper repairs to the upper corners of the title, the top edge of the final leaf, and the lower corners of the final three leaves, with no losses to printing. Black cloth slipcase, chemise.

A collection of 16 laws passed by the General Assembly of New Jersey in 1747–1748, the year Jonathan Belcher was appointed governor of the colony. The acts deal with a variety of topics, including livestock, infrastructure, slander, the punishment of counterfeiters, the importation of rum, and more. Two of the acts deal directly with the 1746 Land Riots, one being a pardon for the insurrectionists, known as the "Clinker Lot Right Men," and the other aimed at suppressing further unrest.

Robert Morris was Chief Justice of the Colony of New Jersey when these laws were printed. Later on, as the deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, acting on behalf of the Penn family, he repeatedly clashed with Franklin and the Pennsylvania Assembly over the taxation of Penn family lands. His father, Lewis Morris, had been the colonial Governor of New Jersey until his death in 1746.

This is the final piece of official printing that Franklin executed for the Province of New Jersey before Bradford took over. Franklin is mentioned on page 35, in a section detailing payments to the colony's official printers.

For more on the Clinker Lot Right Men, see lot 41.

Rare — only one copy of these laws has been sold at auction, the Ogden Goelet sale at Anderson Galleries in 1935, per RareBookHub. This copy includes an accompanying letter, evidently from a New York Bar Association librarian and laid into the clamshell case, referencing the Goelet sale and the fact that this copy was purchased from Newark Galleries. ESTC locates just four examples in institutional collections.

REFERENCES

Miller 449; ESTC W6242; Evans 6200; Hildeburn

PROVENANCE

Robert Hunter Morris (signature on title-page) — New York City Bar Association (purchased from Newark Galleries, 1935; Doyle Auctions, November 24 2014, lot 43)