[Signed] The History of Louisiana, from the Earliest Period (2 volumes) MARTIN, Francois-Xavier [Very Good] [Hardcover]

Octavo, 2 volumes. 363pp., 429pp. A very good set, bound in 19th century 3/4 red morocco and marbled boards, with marbled endpapers and all edges stained red. Ex-library with some old markings, but nothing disfiguring. Somewhat more recent owner's stamp to a few leaves. Small and non-archival paper repair to a front blank in volume I. Front inner hinge of volume I is cracked and the front board and spine are partly loosened from the page block, though it is otherwise a sound set. Moderate even foxing. Half-title present in volume II only. This copy is SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Martin in both volumes to the original owner, one E. E. Meux, wife of Thomas Oliver Meux, who seems to have been a prominent medical doctor in New Orleans. Very scarce New Orleans imprint, and an important early 19th century history of the city. The author, Francois-Xavier Martin, was a French-born American lawyer and the first Attourney-General of the State of Louisiana. He is probably best known for his role in the freedom suit of enslaved person Sally Miller. Miller was a white German immigrant whose parents had entered into indenture agreements in order to immigrate to the United States. After a complex trial, Judge Martin's final decision freeing Miller stated, ""That on the law of slavery in the case of a person visibly appearing to be a white man, or an Indian, the presumption is he is free, and it is necessary for his adversity to show that he is a slave."" The decision was unpopular in the south, and especially in Louisiana, where a large population of very light-skinned mixed-race people were enslaved. Miller v. Belmonti was the sort of case which, along with ""Dred Scott"" and others, heightened the contradictions which ultimately led to the American Civil War. Howes M332 (aa), American Imprints 29632, Sabin 44871.