Memorial of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, Praying a Repeal of the Existing Duty on Books Imported, or Amendments to the Act, as therein Suggested
Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1822.
First Edition. Softcover. Very good. Disbound. 7 pp. Near fine. After the American Revolution, the new Congress acted to protect American printers and paper manufacturers from foreign competition by enacting stiff tariffs on imported books and paper. Within a few years, colleges, churches, and other interested parties began to protest to Congress that these duties had become a de facto tax on domestic printers who needed to use imported paper, and, more importantly, on readers. In 1816, some relief was obtained when the tax schedule was revised to allow books to be brought into the United States free of charge if they were destined for use by any society incorporated for literary or philosophical purposes. Nonetheless, discontent with the duties continued, since, as Thomas Jefferson put it, books "locked up in libraries can be of no avail to the practical man when he wishes a recurrence to them for the uses of life." The American Philosophical Society was part of a loose coalition of institutions organized by Jefferson that petitioned Congress in 1821-22 to repeal all import duties on books, as such levies were "detrimental to the progress of knowledge." The plea fell on deaf ears, however, and the tariffs remained in place for several decades to come.
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