RIGHT OF A STATE to Grant Exclusive Privileges, in Roads, Bridges

1811. THE RIGHT OF A STATE to Grant Exclusive Privileges, in Roads, Bridges, Canals, Navigable Waters, &c. Vindicated.... New York: E. Conrad, 1811. 12mo. 4, [3], 6-44, 9 p. Stitched in blue paper wrappers, as issued. Three leaves considerably foxed, else a lovely, as-illsued copy. An anonymous defense of the exclusive privileges granted to Robert Fulton and Robert R. Livingston to operate a steamboat on New York waters. The work reviews, in considerable detail, the history of exclusive navigation rights, beginning with the grant to John Fitch in 1787 and continuing to the date of publication. Over the next several years Fulton and Livingston's rivals, particularly Aaron Ogden and Daniel Dod, would continue to challenge the New York monopoly, which eventually would be struck down in the landmark United States Supreme Court decision Gibbons v. Ogden. S&S 23819; Rink 4018.