The Constitution of the United States: A Variorum
24 Pages Posted: 15 May 2016 Last revised: 16 Apr 2017
Date Written: May 10, 2016
Abstract
This digital variorum, through a combination of text and footnotes, simultaneously shows four early versions of the Constitution of the United States:
Text P. The September 17 parchment engrossed by Jacob Shallus and signed by the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention.
Text F. The September 18 print of John Dunlap and David C. Claypoole, which formed the basis for the earliest newspaper printings of the Constitution.
Text C. The September 28 print forwarded by the Confederation Congress to the states.
Text CS. The form of the text included by Francis Childs and John Swaine, official "Printers to the United States," in their 1789 session-laws volume — where it is prefaced by a resolution of Congress that "there be prefixed to the Publication of the Acts of the present Session of Congress, a correct Copy of the Constitution of the United States."
For a discussion of the variants and their significance, see my essay "How Different Are the Early Versions of the United States Constitution? An Examination," 20 Green Bag 2d 163 (2017).
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