The Mystery of the Pinckney Draught: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Mystery of the Pinckney Draught, credited to Charles C. Nott, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Mystery of the Pinckney Draught, by Charles C. Nott. Read by Roger Melin. Charles Pinckney, member of the South Carolina legislature, Confederation Congress, U.S. Congress, and notably the Constitutional Convention of 1787, may have been regarded by some as perhaps the true author of the U.S. Constitution, although most likely James Madison would vehemently argue the point. This book investigates what may, or may not have happened to the draft of the Constitution which was drawn up by Charles Pinckney and submitted to the Constitutional Convention in May of 1787, and how (or if) it differed from the Constitution which was adopted. The questions which are delved into most deeply revolve around the following mystery: why, if, and by whom Pinckney's version of this important document was overlooked, or was it possibly destroyed intentionally (or for other reasons). Author Charles C. Nott was formerly Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims, appointed by president Lincoln. (Summary by Roger Melin)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Mystery of the Pinckney Draught
• Author credits: Charles C. Nott
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 18
• Listed recording duration: 7:23:10

Catalogue topics

• history
• U.S. Constitution
• Politics
• James Madison
• Government

Track guide

1. 01 - Statement of the Case — 17:25
2. 02 - The Draught in the State Department — 9:02
3. 03 - Of the Issue of Fraud — 7:22
4. 04 - Madison as a Witness — 15:14
5. 05 - Madison as an Advocate — 25:15
6. 06 - The Position Taken by Madison — 9:42
7. 07 - The Plagiarisms — 28:07
8. 08 - The Improbabliities — 27:32
9. 09 - The Observations — 51:10
10. 10 - The Silence of Madison — 20:22
11. 11 - The Wilson and Randolph Draughts — 1:05:18
12. 12 - The Committee's Use of the Draught — 26:02
13. 13 - What Became of the Draught — 23:14
14. 14 - What Pinckney Did for the Constitution — 19:47
15. 15 - Conclusions of the Whole Case — 28:37
16. 16 - Of Pinckney Personally — 20:24
17. 17 - Mr. Charles Pinckney's Draught of a Federal Government — 18:55
18. 18 - Draught of the Committee of Detail — 29:51

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.