1838 American Moral Reform Society Third Annual Report Sexual Morality Dueling For Sale

An uncommon 1838 report of the New York American Moral Reform Society, an evangelical reform organization devoted to combating what it regarded as the growing threats of sexual vice, prostitution, irreligion, crime, and declining public morality in antebellum America.The report offers a vivid primary source for the moral reform movement of the 1830s, documenting the society’s officers, resolutions, finances, activities, and broader campaign to reshape American private and public behavior. Its language is strikingly direct, describing the nation as threatened by “infidelity, licentiousness, and crime” and calling for an organized campaign to extend moral reform throughout the country.Particularly interesting sections address subjects far beyond the routine business of the society. A lengthy appendix considers the “Influence of Corrupt Literature,” condemning popular reading believed to encourage licentiousness, vice, and social disorder.The report also takes direct aim at dueling, calling it an “abominable and bloody relic of barbarous times” and asking whether Christians and patriots will continue to tolerate men who settle disputes by attempting to kill one another. The society urges that dueling be placed firmly in the “catalogue of crime” and that participants receive the public disgrace they deserve, making the pamphlet an unexpectedly lively document of antebellum attitudes toward violence, honor, and respectable conduct.The report also documents the precarious finances of organized reform. The society acknowledges that its contributions had been insufficient to sustain operations, that its Journal of Public Morals had been suspended, and that members of the Executive Committee had drawn on their own funds to continue the work.Preserved in its original yellow printed wrappers, this is an unusually attractive surviving example of a nineteenth century reform pamphlet and a revealing document of American anxiety about sexuality, literature, violence, religion, and social order during the antebellum period.Edition Details
Title: The Third Annual Report of the American Moral Reform Society
Place: New York
Publisher: Martin, Lambert & Co.
Date: 1838
Edition/Issue: Third Annual Report
Format: Pamphlet
Binding: Original printed wrappers, sewn
Pagination: 48 pp.
Subject: Moral reform, sexual morality, prostitution, dueling, censorship, evangelical reform, antebellum AmericaConditionOriginal yellow printed wrappers present, with light soiling, rubbing, handling wear, and minor edge and corner wear. Faint early pencil inscription to the upper portion of the front wrapper. Interior leaves show scattered foxing and occasional spotting, with some heavier discoloration near the lower margins of several leaves. Original sewing remains intact. Complete through page 48.Accompanied by an older protective folder identifying the work.Please see photographs for the best description of condition.