[Title page lacking; reconstructed from Evans 34925:] Laws of the State of Vermont; Revised and Passed by the Legislature, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Seven. Together with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, with its Amendments, and the Constitution of the State of Vermont.

[Rutland, Vermont: Printed by Josiah Fay. 1798.] Vol. I only of II. 8vo, 21cm (8.25 inches). Contemporary calf, tooled bands; spine with binder's label "Laws of Vermont" and gilt volume numeral "I." Pp. [3]–406. No endpapers. Lacking title page (pp. 1–2).

Condition: Poor/Fair. Lacking title leaf and all endpapers. Binding intact but cracked at both hinges with evidence of old adhesive repair; leather severely worn with surface loss throughout. Paper foxed throughout; edges brittle with chipping. Page (3) taped in place. Text block otherwise secure. Extensive 19th-century pencil annotations, and ownership inscriptions throughout; one modern pencil ownership to front pastedown. Surviving text complete and legible.

Significance: Vol. I of a two-volume issue of Evans 34925 — the first revised laws of the State of Vermont, incorporating the Declaration of Independence and both the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions. Evans records the single-volume issue; Neither WorldCat (25653255) nor McCorison (Vermont Imprints, 507) locates Vol. I; both sources record Vol. II only. Scarce.

Annotations: One layer, apparently 19th-century, includes physician names with M.D. credentials and the inscription "... Medical & Surgical Institute No. 9, Vermont Medical Society." A second layer, circa 1892, attributable to G.M. Browne of St. Johnsbury and family members (including M.A. Browne of Ashland), adds pointed personal commentary: "Must a fool a Dam fool / always Will be" appears below the taxation law; "John W. Lewis / Gone to the Devil / May 10, 79" is entered on the coroner and felony law page; "John P. Pheris / murdered by Jack Ross" appears on the fence law page, suggesting knowledge of a local killing tied to a property dispute. On the Vermont Bill of Rights ratification pages, the annotator practices the signatures of the historical figures printed in the text.