The Federalist Papers Faithfully Transcribed from the 1818 Gideon Edition

Your eyes will thank you for choosing this edition. Unlike other paperback editions that squeeze the text of this lengthy work into as few pages as possible to cut costs, this edition is typeset with ample space between the lines to make it easy on the eyes. Some wording differences will also be noted between this edition and other modern editions. This is due to the edition used. The 1818 edition published by Jacob Gideon, which is the edition used for this volume, contained corrections and revisions made by Alexander Hamilton for an 1802 edition and by James Madison for the 1818 Gideon edition. This is how the work was printed in subsequent editions throughout the nineteenth century. Later editions, however, did not include these corrections made by the work's authors, and most modern editions have followed suit. For over two centuries, the definitive source for interpreting the meaning of the Constitution and its framers' intent has been The Federalist, commonly referred to today as The Federalist Papers. As relevant today as when written in 1787 and 1788, this series of 85 essays was written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to defend the new Constitution against articles in the New York papers by Antifederalists, who argued that it gave the federal government too much power. Addressed to "the People of the State of New York," where opposition to the Constitution was particularly strong, the Federalist essays made the case for why a stronger federal government than that under the Articles of Confederation was necessary and explained each article of the Constitution in great detail. In Hamilton's words in the first number, the series would would "endeavour to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to attention." The 1818 Gideon edition was selected for this volume because this was the first edition to incorporate Madison's corrections and revisions. Hamilton's and Jay's corrections and revisions had appeared in earlier editions, with Hamilton only agreeing to the publication of an 1802 edition on the condition that he be allowed to make corrections and minor revisions. The Gideon edition was also the first to accurately attribute each essay to its correct author. As the preface to the Gideon edition stated, "Former editions, indeed, it is understood, had the advantage of a revisal from Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jay, but the numbers written by Mr. Madison still remained in the state in which they originally issued from the press, and contained many inaccuracies. The publisher of this volume has been so fortunate as to procure from Mr. Madison the copy of the work which that gentleman had preserved for himself, with corrections of the papers, of which he is the author, in his own hand. The publication of the Federalist, therefore, may be considered, in this instance, as perfect; and it is confidently presented to the public as a standard edition."