Controversial Books | Page 33

The Federalist. The first printing of The Federalist in book form in 1788. The essays originally appeared in four New York City newspapers and were later carried in a few newspapers and periodicals in Pennsylvania, Virginia (owing to the efforts of George Washington), and some of the New England States. The New-York Journal, an anti-Federalist newspaper, ceased publication of the essays after readers complained that the publisher was ‘‘cramming us with the voluminous publius,’’ which has ‘‘become nauseous.’’ Madison later recalled ‘‘the haste with which many of the papers were penned’’—four numbers every week—‘‘in order to get thro the subject whilst the Constitution was before the public.’’ (Courtesy of Corbis-Bettmann.)