"A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Section 1 (of 3)" is an eleven-volume series copyrighted in 1897 and published in 1911. This monumental collection gathers proclamations, special messages, and inauguration speeches from American presidents spanning 1787 to 1902. Compiled by Tennessee Representative James D. Richardson, the work became the center of a political dispute over privately copyrighting public documents—the Richardson Affair—ultimately leading to laws prohibiting copyright of federal government works. The series preserves the official voice of presidential leadership across America's formative century. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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