Book Reviews : American Government, Basic Documents and Materials. By ROBERT G. DIXON and ELMER PLISCHKE. (New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. 1950. Pp. xx, 420. $2.90.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295000300422
• Published date: 01 December 1950
• Author: Norman L. Stamps
• Date: 01 December 1950
• Subject Matter: Articles

641

writings

and

recorded

actions

of

Thomas

Jefferson

as

accurately

and

com-

pletely

as

possible.&dquo;

To

achieve

this

purpose

some

50,000

documents

will

be

included

in

a

total

of

fifty-two

volumes.

The

first

forty

volumes

are

to

contain

letters

and

public

papers,

presented

in

chronological

arrangement.

Letters

written

both

by

and

to

Jefferson

are

included.

Longer

works,

such

as

the

&dquo;Notes

on

Virginia&dquo;

and

the

&dquo;Autobiography,&dquo;

legal

papers,

and

architectural

drawings,

will

make

up

the

remaining

twelve.

It

is

planned

to

publish

the

volumes

at

the

rate

of

four

each

year,

with

Volume

II

appearing

in

the

fall

of

1950.

Volume

I

covers

the

period

from

1760

through

1776.

Contained

therein

are

a

number

of

papers

which

show

the

evolution

of

documents

important

to

an

understanding

of

government.

Among

these

are

the

Declaration

of

the

Causes

and

Necessity

of

Taking

Up

Arms,

the

Virginia

Constitution

of

1776,

and

the

Declaration

of

Independence.

This

volume

contains

the

first

publication

of

Jefferson’s

comments

on

Franklin’s

Plan

of

Union

(1775).

Time

and

again

one

sees,

in

a

dramatic

way,

the

step

by

step

progression

in

the

development

of

ideas

basic

in

the

organization

of

government.

Relative

to

the

framing

of

the

Virginia

Constitution

of

1776,

for

example,

the

Mason

draft,

committee

drafts,

and

the

text

of

the

Constitution

as

adopted,

as

well

as

the

three

drafts

by

Jefferson,

are

included

to

facilitate

comparison

and

understanding.

A

reader

of

Volume

I

is

impressed

by

its

comprehensiveness

and

the

extreme

care

which

has

gone

into

its

preparation.

Writing

on

scraps

of

paper

has

been

included

with

detailed

explanation

of

meaning,

significance,

and

probable

date.

In

many

cases

the

editors

have

had

a

difficult

detective

job,

and

they

have

acquitted

themselves

admirably.

The

entire

series

will

be

an

important

addition

to

university

and

col-

lege

libraries

and

will

serve

as

a

valuable

source

of

data

for

research

workers.

The

quality

of

the

content

and

editorial

work,

and

the

excellence

of

physical

appearance

make

the

first

volume

an

example

which

future

editors

may

well

emulate.

W.

O.

FARBER.

University

of

South

Dakota.

American

Government,

Basic

Documents

and

Materials.

By

ROBERT

G.

DIXON

and

ELMER

PLISCHKE.

(New

York:

D.

Van

Nostrand

Company,

Inc.

1950.

Pp.

xx,

420.

$2.90.)

This

book

differs

from

other

companion

texts

in

that

stress

is

placed

upon

the

facsimile

reproduction

of

documents.

The

opinion

of

the

authors

appears

to

be

that

the

student

will

better

understand

how

government

operates

if

he

can

see

copies

of

joint

resolutions

of

Congress,

executive