[REFORM ACT 1832]: An unusual oblong 8vo album containing over 450 signatures of subscribers to a mezzotint engraving titled The Passing of The Reform Bill, the printed title page of the album stating that the engraving will be published by subscription by Mr. Walker of Cavendish Square ´from a characteristic and highly finished Drawing (nearly completed) by an amateur, representing the passing of the Reform Bill by Royal Commission, at the moment when that important measure was on the point of becoming the law of the land´ and that the work will feature distinguished individuals present on the occasion, including ´portraits of His Majesty´s ministers, and some of the leading members of the House of Commons´, further providing details of the size of the print, and the costs of three variants, including ´The First Proofs, with Fac-simile of the King´s Autograph, and Copy of the Great Seal affixed to the Bill, price £8:8 each´, and the signatures including (in order of appearance) Earl Grey (1764-1845) British Prime Minister 1830-34, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868) Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1830-34 who played a prominent role in passing the Reform Act 1832 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice (1780-1863) Lord President of the Council 1830-34, 1835-41 & 1846-52, John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer (1782-1845) Chancellor of the Exchequer 1830-34, Earl of Derby (1799-1869) British Prime Minister 1852, 1858-59, 1866-68, Prince Augustus Frederick (1773-1843) Duke of Sussex, son of King George III, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786-1861) German Princess, the mother of Queen Victoria, Viscount Goderich (1782-1859) British Prime Minister August 1827 - January 1828, Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848) British Prime Minister 1834, 1835-41, Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865) British Prime Minister 1855-58, 1859-65, Lord John Russell (1792-1878) British Prime Minister 1846-52, 1865-66, Thomas Spring Rice (1790-1866) Chancellor of the Exchequer 1835-39, James Emerson Tennent (1804-1869) Colonial Secretary of Ceylon 1846-50, Oswald Mosley (1785-1871) English aristocrat, politician, historian and naturalist, Alexander Leith Hay (1758-1838) British General, Stephen Glynne (1807-1874) Welsh antiquary and politician, brother-in-law of William Gladstone, Lord George Bentinck (1802-1848) English politician and racehorse owner who unseated Sir Robert Peel over the Corn Laws, Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lyndoch (1748-1843) British General and politician who served in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, Joshua Bates (1788-1864) American financier, a senior partner in Baring Brothers & Co. of London, Alexander Dennistoun (1790-1864) Scottish merchant, bank director, and politician, Viscount Morpeth (1802-1864) British statesman, orator and writer, Benjamin Hall (1802-1867) British politician and reformer, chiefly remembered as the person after whom Big Ben, the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, is named, Samuel Amory (1784-1857) English lawyer, Sylvain Van de Weyer (1802-1874) Belgian Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and ireland 1831-67, and Prime Minister of Belgium 1845-46, and many other politicians, aristocrats and other individuals. All of the pages are multiple signed, most to the rectos only, and many of the signatories have added the word Proof alongside their signatures, as a confirmation of the type of print required, and some have also added the date of their payment. The album is bound in red morocco with an attractive gilt stamped design to the borders of the front and back covers. The binding is detached at the spine, a few pages are loose, and with some light overall age wear, G

The Reform Act 1832 was a landmark law that restructured the electoral system of the United Kingdom, abolishing many ´rotten boroughs´, redistributing parliamentary seats to growing industrial towns, and modestly expanding the voting franchise to sections of the middle class. Introduced by the Whig government of Earl Grey and steered through Parliament by figures such as Lord John Russell, it faced strong opposition from Conservative leaders including the Duke of Wellington. Although limited in its scope, the act proved historically important as the first major step toward modern democratic representation in Britain, setting a precedent for further parliamentary reforms later in the 19th century.