4 vols.; 8vo; burgundy cloth; leather spine labels lettered in gilt; top edge gilt; portrait frontis in each volume; each volume with plate illustrations containing chiefly portraits, and two facsimiles, all with tissue guards.

Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1801–1835), and Secretary of State under President John Adams from 1800 to 1801. Marshall had been a leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1799 to 1800. His opinions as Chief Justice were foundational in United States Constitutional Law.