[BURR, Aaron (1756-1836), owner.] The Constitution of the United States of America as proposed by the Convention held at Philadelphia, Sept. 17, 1787, and since Ratified by the several States. Philadelphia: John Fenno, 1791.

Aaron Burr's personal copy of the ratified United States Constitution. The title-page is signed by him in the upper right, "A. Burr".

An exceptional association copy of the Constitution owned by a sitting United States Senator and future Vice President. In 1791, Burr was serving as Attorney General of New York and had been newly elected to the United States Senate, having defeated Philip Schuyler, the father‑in‑law of Alexander Hamilton. That victory sharply intensified Burr’s rivalry with Hamilton—rooted in their opposing visions of constitutional power and federal authority and culminating in their fatal duel in 1804.

Burr did not take a public role in debates over New York's ratification of the Constitution but was generally regarded as a moderate anti-Federalist who favored amendments to secure individual liberties, but also accepted the political necessity of ratification. As New York Senator from 1791-1797 and Vice President from 1801-1805, this copy of the Constitution was in the hands of a leading figure of the founding generation who made important constitutional rulings—most notably while presiding over the impeachment trial of Justice Samuel Chase.

A century later, this copy was owned by Katherine Mackay, an influential New York suffragist who, in 1905, was the first woman elected to the Board of Education in her school district of Roslyn. It seems likely Mackay acquired this book and commissioned its binding in commemoration of that event in 1905. Three years later she founded the Equal Franchise Society in New York City. This copy of the Constitution has not been on the market in nearly 50 years. It has been in the same private collection since it was acquired at auction in 1977. Evans 23888.

Octavo (202 x 118mm). Full red morocco gilt by Zaehnsdorf, stamp-signed and dated 1905, dark olive morocco doublures, all edges gilt (tips and joints rubbed, upper hinge repaired, a little darkened).

Aaron Burr (ownership signature on title-page)
faint offsetting from an armorial bookplate on front flyleaf
Katherine Mackay, 1878-1930, socialite and suffragist (ownership inscription dated August 1905)
Parke-Bernet Galleries, 5 May 1964, lot 25
Sotheby's New York, 25 January 1977, lot 145; sold to the current owner's estate.