purchase of the manuscripts by the United States Government was held not to affect the copyright. The contention of the defendant that the Government's ownership of the manu­scripts made them available for publication by anyone was denied. [ 6 ] The Printing Law of 1895, which was designed to centralize in the Government Printing Office the printing, binding, and distribution of Government documents, contained the first statutory prohibition of copyright in Government publications. [ 6 ] Section 52 of that Law,l° which is still in force, provides for the sale by the Public Printer of "duplicate stereotype or electrotype plates from which any Govern­ment publication is printed," with the proviso "that no publication reprinted from such stereotype or electrotype plates and no other Government publication shall be copyrighted." The provision in the Printing Act concerning copyright of government works was probably the result of the "Richardson Affair," which involved Representative James D. Richardson . [ 7 ] At the time when the Printing bill was being considered the Joint Committee on Printing, of which Representative Richardson was chairman, was in the process of preparing for publication a com­pilation of the "Messages and Papers of the Presidents of the United States." [ 6 ] In the Printing bill as presented by the Joint Committee to the House, section 53 (which later became section 52 of the Law of 1895) provided for the sale of duplicate plates by the Public Printer, this provision apparently having been suggested by Mr. Richardson with a