8vo (217 x 138 mm). (Some browning, a few short tears, lacking L4, blank.) Disbound; remnants of old backstrip, original sewing holes present.

FIRST EDITION, the issue with the pagination in signature H correctly imposed.  By the elections of 1792, two distinct political parties were starting to emerge: the pro-administration Federalist Party, who retained control of the Senate, and the anti-administration Democratic-Republican Party, who took control of the House.  The previous year, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had attempted to remove Hamilton from office for alleged misuse of foreign loans, and emboldened by their victory, Republican lawmakers continued their investigation into Alexander Hamilton's alleged corrupt conduct as Secretary of the Treasury.  "On February 24, the House assembled a select committee with sweeping powers to investigate the Treasury Department. ...The bulk of the committee was Republican. The members drew up an exhausting schedule to drain any energy Hamilton had left [following his recent bout with yellow fever]. Until their work was complete, they planned to meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening and Saturday morning. For three months, the committee stuck to this punitive schedule, and Hamilton testified at about half the sessions. ...He had to disclose all of his private accounts with the Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York, as Republicans tried to prove that Hamilton had exploited his office to extort credits from the two banks" (Chernow, Alexander Hamilton). Ultimately, Hamilton was exonerated of all of the allegations.  Evans 27909; Ford Bibliotheca Hamiltoniana p.45 (“This examination was made at the request of Hamilton, in order to silence the charges of misappropriation and mismanagement of the public funds"); Sabin 69800. RARE: According to online records, only two copies of this report have sold at auction since 1950. See lot 611 for Gallatin’s 1810 report on American manufactures.