Constitution of the Athenians (Aristotle)

E. A. Wallis Budge of the British Museum acquired it later that year, and the first edition of it by Frederic G. Kenyon was published in January, 1891.

Ancient accounts of Aristotle credit him with 158 Constitutions of various states; it is widely assumed that these were research for the Politics, and that many of them were written or drafted by his students.

Because it purports to supply so much contemporary information previously unknown or unreliable, modern historians have claimed that "the discovery of this treatise constitutes almost a new epoch in Greek historical study".

[6] Modern scholars dispute how much of the authorship of these constitutions can be attributed to Aristotle personally; he at least would have been assisted by his students.

[7] Modern scholars continue discussing about the many constitutions Aristotle compiled, which include not only Greek, but also non-Greek states.

The lost beginning, which is not preserved on the London papyrus but survives only in a handful of citations in ancient sources and in the epitome of Heraclides Lembus, dealt with the migration of Ion to Athens, the creation of phylai, trittyes and phratries, the kingship of Pandion, the democratic reform of Theseus, the death of Theseus, the change from a monarchy to a system with elected archons under the Codrid dynasty, the cruelty of Hippomenes and the conspiracy of Cylon.