MASSACHUSETTS

[Robert C. Winthrop, American Whig politician, representative for Massachusetts.] Autograph Letter Signed to the English economist Nassau Senior, recommending to his attention the lawyer Charles Pelham Curtis, with reference to Daniel Webster.

Author: 
Robert C. Winthrop [Robert Charles Winthrop] (1809-1894), American Whig politician from Massachusetts [Nassau William Senior (1790-1864), economist; Charles Pelham Curtis (1792-1864); Daniel Webster]
Robert C. Winthrop
Publication details: 
‘Boston. 28th. April, / 1853.’
£220.00
Robert C. Winthrop

Written following the premature end of his political career in 1852. See Senior’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Addressed to ‘N. W. Senior Esqe.’ and signed ‘Robt. C. Winthrop.’ In good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. Begins: ‘My Dear Sir, / You may, perhaps, remember that I owed the pleasure of your acquaintance in 1847, to a letter of introduction from our late distinguished Statesman, Mr. Webster. [i.e. the celebrated Daniel Webster (1782-1852)] - Were Mr. W.

[George Ticknor, Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.] Autograph Letter Signed [to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister?], presenting a copy of Prescott’s ‘Ferdinand and Isabella’, ‘written by a friend in America’ and liked by Hallam and Southey.

Author: 
George Ticknor (1791-1871), Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard [William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859), American historian; Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), English novelist]
Publication details: 
‘Brunswick Hotel [Jermyn Street, London] / May 26. 1838.’
£380.00

Signed ‘Geo. Ticknor’. The male recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with a trace of glue from mount to the second leaf. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

[George Ticknor, Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.] Autograph Signature and address of letter to Lady Theresa Villiers from cover of envelope.

Author: 
George Ticknor (1791-1871), Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
George Ticknor
Publication details: 
With partial Boston postmark. No year [but between 1844 and ]
£80.00
George Ticknor

The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item is an 11.5 x 8 cm panel of light-brown paper from the front cover of an envelope. Part of a large Boston postmark is at the left, with a manuscript ‘2’ written over a few letters of the address. All in Ticknor’s hand, it reads: ‘Lady Teresa Lewis / South Place, / Knightsbridge / London, SW.’, with the signature ‘Geo: Ticknor’ at bottom left.

[American shipbuilding, Massachusetts, 1866.] Manuscript ‘Contract for building a Schooner’ between William Greenleaf Blackler of New Bedford and six Fairhaven carpenters, with all their signatures and that of witness Moses H. Delano.

Author: 
American Shipbuilding, New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, 1866; William Greenleaf Blackler; Ebenezer Bryden; Benjamin Westgate; George F. Eldred; Charles H. Coombs; Moses H. Delano
Publication details: 
[Fairhaven, Massachusetts, United States of America.] ‘made this day March 20th 1866’.
£220.00

Blackler’s papers are in the New Bedford Whaling Museum. 4pp, foolscap 8vo. Eighty lines of text, with last page written crosswise. On wove paper with stationer’s embossed mark. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper with light staining at edges. Text clear and entire. Begins: ‘Contract for building a Schooner made this day March 20th 1866 by and between Wm G.

[American War of Independence.] Three original hand-tinted engravings: portraits of ‘The Honble Horatio Gates, Major General of the American Forces’ and ‘John Paul Jones’, and ‘First Action between the English and Americans at Concord in 1775’.

Author: 
American War of Independence; Horatio Gates; John Paul Jones; Battle of Concord, Massachusetts, 1775; John Chapman; James Cundee; Robert Faulder, London bookseller
Publication details: 
[1780, 1796 and 1806; all London.]
£150.00

Three contemporary engravings, now scarce. All three items are in good condition, each laid down in a nineteenth-century mount. All have been trimmed (the information concerning each comes from another source), and all are partially tinted. ONE: ‘The Honble Horatio Gates, Major General of the American Forces’. From ‘An impartial history of the war in America, between Great Britain and her colonies’ (R. Faulder, London, 1780). 9 x 16 cm; in 21 x 27 cm mount. A full-length portrait of Gates, with right hand on chest and left hand holding the ‘Articles of Capitulation’.

[William Taylor Adams (‘Oliver Optic’), author and academic, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.] Autograph Signature (‘William T Adams / “Oliver Optic”’, in attractive copperplate.

Author: 
William T. Adams [William Taylor Adams, pseudonym ‘Oliver Optic’] (1822-1897), academic, author of more than one hundred books, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Adams
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00
Adams

Adams was the author of more than one hundred books. He was criticised by Louisa May Alcott for his use of slang and depiction of ‘low’ characters such as bootblacks, elements which make him sound like a proto-Mark Twain, and should attract renewed attention today. Without date or place. On 4.5 x 9.5 cm slip of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse.

[Alexander Hamilton Bullock, Republican politician and abolitionist.] Autograph Signature ('Alexander H Bullock') to printed card of 'The Governor of Massachusetts', inscribed on reverse as a gift 'For Master Walter G. Webster'.

Author: 
Alexander Hamilton Bullock (1816-1882), Republican politician and abolitionist, who served three terms as 26th Governor of Massachusetts
Publication details: 
[Massachusetts.] Dated by Bullock '1867'.
£56.00

6.5 x 11 cm calling card, with the words 'The Governor of Massachusetts' printed at centred of one side. Above this Bullock signs 'Alexander H Bullock', and below it '1867'. On the reverse Bullock writes: 'For | Master | Walter G. Webster'. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse carrying traces of grey paper mount at the four corners.

[Nineteenth-century New Hampshire.] Printed pamphlet: 'Discourse Delivered at the Funeral of Hon. William M. Richardson, on the 26th Day of March, A.D., 1838. By Rev. Jonathan Clement, Pastor of the Congregational Parish in Chester, N.H.'

Author: 
Rev. Jonathan Clement, Pastor of the Congregational Parish in Chester, New Hampshire [William Merchant Richardson (1774-1838), Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court]
Publication details: 
'Published by request of the citizens of Chester. | Concord, N. H. [New Hampshire] | Printed by Asa M'Farland, opposite the State House. | 1838.'
£120.00

16pp, 8vo. Saddle-stitched into (the original?) plain blue wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight damage and damp staining to back wrap. A laudatory assessment of Richardson's life, attainments and achievements, concluding with the observation that 'no marble monument will be needed to tell the coming age, that he lived and died in the heart of this community. Confusing entries on OCLC WorldCat appear to list six copies, none in England. "William Merchant Richardson (January 4, 1774 – March 15, 1838) was a member of the U.S.

[James Bryce [Viscount Bryce; Lord Bryce], jurist and politician, written while British Ambassador to the United States.] Autograph Letter Signed ('James Bryce'), to 'Hope', arranging the return of spectacles he left at the Canadian Club.

Author: 
James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce [Lord Bryce] (1838-1922), Ulster-born Liberal poltician, academic, British Ambassador to the United States
Publication details: 
9 October 1908. On letterhead of Burn Side, Prides Crossing, Massachusetts.
£45.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The letter begins: 'My dear Hope, I have told Canadian Club you are coming. If I left my spectacles in the Chancery, in their case as I think I did this forenoon, will you please put them into an envelope for me?' He will go over the following morning, 'at Manchester if not'.

[Rudyard Kipling: American fine printing of 'Britain's Favourite Poem'.] If.

Author: 
Rudyard Kipling; The Pinkham Press, Boston, Mass.; Robert S. Pinkham
Publication details: 
Colophon: 'PINKHAM PRESS | CHRISTMAS | 1937'. [The Pinkham Press, 286 Congress Street, Boston, Mass.]
£100.00

[12]pp, 16mo. Tastefully printed in brown and black, and stitched into grey-green wraps, on the cover of which is the word 'If' in large gold print, enclosed in a brown rectangle. In good condition, lightly aged. Colophon on reverse of title, and on facing page a note with facsimile signatures of 'Robert S.

[Philip Hofer, book collector and curator at the Houghton Library, Harvard University.] Autograph Letter Signed and Typed Note Signed to Stephen Harrison, regarding his collection of drawings by Edward Lear

Author: 
Philip Hofer (1898-1984), book collector and founder of the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts in the Houghton Library of Harvard University [Stephen Harrison; Edward Lear]
Publication details: 
Both on letterheads of The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Autograph letter dated 19 October 1966. Typed note dated 28 November 1966.
£100.00

See Hofer's obituary in the New York Times, 12 October 1984, in which it is stated that 'Mr. Hofer, who was secretary of the Fogg Museum at Harvard for 12 years, was a recognized book collector focusing on 18th-century German, Iberian and Italian publications. Mr. Hofer put together an Italian book collection considered the finest outside Italy. | Konrad Oberhuber, professor of fine arts at Harvard, said of Mr. Hofer: ''He was one of the most farsighted collectors that Harvard ever had. [...]”'. Two airmail letters, both in good condition.

[ Nineteenth-century Boston children's book with hand-coloured illustrations by Chandler and Duran. ] The Delectable Historie of the Cat and the Rabbits.

Author: 
'G. W. Cottrell, Publisher, Bookseller, Stationer, and Valentine Dealer, No. 36 Cornhill, Boston' [ Chandler and Duran, Massachussetts ]
Publication details: 
Boston: G. W. Cottrell, Publisher. ('Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by CHANDLER & DURAN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachussetts.')
£220.00

29pp., small 4to. Stitched into card covers. Internally in fair condition, in aged and worn covers repaired along the spine with brown tape. There are eleven hand-coloured engravings: one on the cover, a frontispiece, two vignettes (at the beginning and end of the poem) and seven full-page illustrations in the body of the poem (six of them with blank reverses). The cover illustration, frontispiece, and all but two of the full-page engravings are attributed to Chandler and Duran.

[ Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, Governor of the Provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, and New Hampshire. ]

Author: 
Richard Coote (1636-1700), 1st Earl of Bellomont [ Bellamont; Bellemont ], Governor of the provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, and New Hampshire, and supporter of the pirate Captain Kidd
Publication details: 
Their Majesties Receipt of Exchequer, London. 2 July 1694.
£650.00

1p., 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Customary printed Exchequer receipt, completed in manuscript, headed (manuscript text in square brackets): 'Numb. [946 | 947 | 948] | The [2] Day of [July] 1694. | Received by me [Richard Earle of Bellemont [sic]] | By Virtue of [3] Order[s] bearing Date the [2d.] Day of [June 1693:] of [Hen Carew Esqe] One of the Four Tellers of Their Majesties Receipt of Exchequer, the Sum of [ten pounds ten shillings] for [three] Months Annuity Due at the Feast of St: Jno. Baptist last past, of [three] Hundred Pounds'.

Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Dummer Academy, Byfield, Mass. Instituted A.D. 1763.

Author: 
William Dummer Northend [The Dummer Academy; Governor Dummer Academy; The Governor's Academy]
Publication details: 
Massachusetts: Printed at the Salem Gazette Office. 1844.
£100.00

8vo: 53 pp. In modern green wraps with white paper label. Text clear and complete. On aged, stained paper with slight wear to extremities. Pencil addition of one name. One page 'Advertisement', dated August 1844, by 'W. D. N.' (i.e. William Dummer Northend), and four-page anonymous 'Preface', giving a history of the Academy. 22-line newspaper cutting loosely inserted, headed 'Dummer Academy', and with dates March and April 1845 on reverse. Excessively scarce. According to WorldCat no copy in America, and the only copy on COPAC at the British Library.

[Manuscript; American Colonies ] Document Signed by Earl of Warwick, "Warwicke" and others (damaged with losss).

Author: 
Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1587–1658), English colonial administrator (American colonies), admiral, and Puritan.
Publication details: 
[ 10 May 1620 ("four and fiftieth yeare" of James's reign in Scotland ]
£1,500.00

One page, sm. fol., damage repaired and substantial loss expertly backed with laid paper. Surviving text as follows:One page, sm. fol., damage repaired and substantial loss expertly backed with laid paper.

Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1921. ] Printed 'Report to the Governor [ of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Michael S. Dukakis ] in the Matter of Sacco and Vanzetti', with letter from the Governor's Press Office and photostat of pardon.

Author: 
[ Daniel A. Taylor, Chief Legal Counsel, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the 1921 Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti; Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchists ]
Publication details: 
Introduction by Daniel A. Taylor, Chief Legal Counsel, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Department, State House, Boston, dated 13 July 1977.
£135.00

[1] + 38pp., 4to. Stapled in brown printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. In his introduction Taylor explains: 'The accompanying Report has been prepared under the auspices of the Office of the Governor's Legal Counsel in response to your questions: first, as to whether there are substantial grounds for believing - at least in light of the criminal justice standards of today - that Sacco and Vanzetti were unfairly convicted and executed, and, second, if so, what action can now appropriately be taken.

[ Abbott Laurence, American ambassador to London. ] Autograph Signature ('Abbott Laurence').

Author: 
Abbott Laurence (1792-1855), American politician and philanthropist, congressman and ambassador to London, 1849-1852
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£22.00

On 1 x 5 cm. piece of paper. In fair condition, lightly aged. Cut from a letter.

[Embargo Act of 1807?;] Substantial copy letter, John Holmes, lawyer & politician in Maine/Massachusetts, to William Sabatier, merchant, about land in Maine/MA. Annotated & Copied by Sabatier,and forwarded to Thomas Hutchinson, Jr (see notes below)

Author: 
William Sabatier, "office holder, merchant, jp, and lobbyist (Canadian DNB) [John Holmes, US Senator, etc. (Wikipedia)]
Publication details: 
[Holmes letter] Alfred, Mass., 24 March 1809; [Wm Sabatier note], 5 May 1809.
£280.00

Four-pages bifolium, fold marks, good condition. Holmes letter copied by Sabatier to Hutchinson, and with substantial added material also by Sabatier, 2pp., folio; Sabatier added the note to Hutchinson, p.3, "A cross grained business has happened in the appointment which will occasion a temporary delay; Hutchinson's address appears on page four with a note (presumably in Hutchinson's hand), "Willm Sabatier Esq.

[Printed item.] Proceedings at Suffield, September 16, 1858, on the occasion of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Decease of the Rev. Benjamin Ruggles, First Pastor of the First Congregational Church.

Author: 
[Rev. Benjamin Ruggles, First Pastor of the First Congregational Church, Suffield; Henry A. Sykes; Daniel W. Norton; Byron Loomis; Rev. Joel Mann; Rev. A. C. Washburn; Springfield, Massachusetts]
Publication details: 
Springfield, Mass. Samuel Bowles and Company, Printers. 1859.
£120.00

118pp., 8vo. Two engravings, both with tissue guards: frontispiece of the 'First Church erected in Suffield. About 1680.'; and 'The Ruggles Monument'. In cream printed wraps. Errata slip at rear. The item begins: 'A Hundred and fifty years had nearly expired since the decease of the first Pastor of the First Congregational Church, and no monument or stone had been set to indicate to the passer-by his last resting-place. The idea was conceived of erecting a suitable monument to his memory; and on the 24th of May, 1858, the Church appointed Dea. Henry A. Sykes, Daniel W.

Autograph Letter Signed from the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Edward Everett, enclosing a copy of a book to aid the recipient's 'statistical enquiries'.

Author: 
Edward Everett (1794-1865), American orator and Whig politician, 15th Governor of Massachusetts and President of Harvard College
Publication details: 
46 Grosvenor Place [London]; 12 December 1842.
£100.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight discoloration at head and evidence of previous mounting on reverse. Docketed on reverse. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir, | Knowing your fondness for statistical enquiries, I have thought the accompanying copy of the last annual return of the Commerce & Navigation of the Unites States, might have some interest for you. - | Very truly & faithfully Yrs, | Edward Everett'. Note: 'Everett, one of the most famous American orators, is most remembered for his oration at Gettysburg on Nov.

Autograph Letter Signed from H. Appleton of Boston, informing the genealogist John Bernard Burke that he has not received his 'Visitation of Great Britain', and asking for it to be sent to him via the London bookseller John Miller of Covent Garden.

Author: 
H. Appleton of Boston [Sir John Bernard Burke (1814-1892), genealogist; John Miller of 24 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, 'the American bookseller in London'; Abbott Laurence (1792-1855); book trade]
Publication details: 
Boston. 23 February 1853.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'J. B. Burke' and signed 'H. Appleton' (a member of the Boston firm of publishers?). The letter reads: 'My dear Sir | I find that the 2d. part of your work "The visitation of Great Britain" has been published some time but I have not received mine. Will you be good enough to put one under cover with my name & an outer cover to address of the Hon Abbott Laurence Boston [businessman and philanthropist], and send it to John Miller Esq. No: 24 Henrietta St.

Holograph Poem by American author George Steele Seymour, titled 'Emerson's House, Concord, Mass.'

Author: 
George Steele Seymour of the Order of Bookfellows, Chicago [Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American essayist, lecturer and poet]
Publication details: 
Presented 'to Mrs. Steele in Los Angeles - August 23, 1918.'
£350.00

1p., 8vo. On yellow paper. On lightly-aged paper, with slight wear and creasing along one edge, and thin stub from previous mounting adhering to the reverse. The poem is twenty lines long, arranged in five stanzas, and signed at the foot 'George Steele Seymour'. Beneath this, in Seymour's hand: 'Special greetings to Mrs.

Autograph Card Signed from Frederic Harrison to Elbridge H. Goss of Melrose County, Massachusetts, regarding 'the President's fine message'. With two neatly-mounted photographs of Harrison, from magazines.

Author: 
Frederic Harrison (1831-1923), jurist, positivist and author [Elbridge H. Goss of Melrose County, Massachusetts]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Elm Hill, Hawkhurst. 18 October 1831.
£35.00

The card is in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, neatly and attractively tipped-in onto a 4to leaf which also carries a photograph of 'FREDERIC HARRISON' cut from a magazine, with both items placed within ruled borders. Laid down on a second 4to leaf, and also within a ruled border, is a second photograph of Harrison, captioned 'FREDERIC HARRISON | Author of "The Creed fo a Layman." (Apologia Pro Fide Mea).' Both photographs and mounts are in very good condition. The card is addressed to Goss at the Melrose Savings Bank, Melrose, Massachusetts.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W B Sprague') from the American Congregational clergyman and author Rev. Dr W. B. Sprague [William Buell Sprague], in part a letter of introduction for Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Massachusetts

Author: 
Rev. Dr W. B. Sprague [William Buell Sprague] (1795-1876) of Albany, New York, Yale-educated American Congregational and Presbyterian clergyman and compiler of Annals of the American Pulpit
Publication details: 
Albany [New York]. 13 April 1832.
£120.00

1p., 4to. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, laid down on the remains of a leaf of grey paper from an album. Sprague has only just received his recipient's letter, 'with its invaluable accompaniment', presuming that it was detained at New York for more than two months. He will send a proper letter in a fortnight; in the meantime he writes 'to introduce to you my worthy and much respected friend Mr Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, a direct descendant of the venerable divine whose name he bears [i.e.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. O. Sargent') from the Whig politician and editor John Osborne Sargent to the Boston abolitionist poltiician Charles Sumner, on his moving to New York to work as assistant editor on the New York Courier and Examiner.

Author: 
John Osborne Sargent (1811-1891), American Whig politician, lawyer, journalist and author [Charles Sumner (1811-1874), abolitionist Massachusetts senator]
Publication details: 
New York. 16 August [1837].
£180.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. 65 lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, 'To | Charles Sumner Esq. | Boston', with docketed date giving year. He writes that he had hoped to see Sumner before leaving Boston. 'Will you give my best regards to your friend Dr. Lieber, and assure him of my sincere obligations for his unsolicited & therefore more acceptable kindness.' He is 'in all respects' pleased with his 'situation' in New York: 'It is every wise more independent - & more "uninterfered-with" than ever; besides opening a large field and better prospects'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. K. Hosmer') from the American educator James Kendall Hosmer to 'Dear Doctor' [Dr Edward Jarvis of Dorchester], regarding a visit by 'Herbert & Anna'.

Author: 
James Kendall Hosmer (1834-1927), American educator and writer [Dr Edward Jarvis (1796-1886) of Dorchester, Massachusetts]
Publication details: 
Cambridge. 15 November [no date].
£45.00

1p., 12mo. Sixteen lines. Good, on lightly-aged ruled paper. He reports that 'Herbert & Anna came down this morning from Concord, where they spent last week. This week they expect to spend most of the time in Cambridge. During the week I hope to have them visit Dorchester.' He asks if there is 'any time when it will be more convenient for you to have them come than another?' Jarvis's papers are in Concord Library.

Autograph Manuscript of the poem 'The Thunder Storm', in the autograph of its author William Bourne Oliver Peabody.

Author: 
Rev. William Bourne Oliver Peabody (1799-1847), pastor of the Unitarian church in Springfield, Massachusetts, educated at Harvard and Cambridge Divinity School
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£235.00

2pp., 12mo. Fair, on aged paper. In pencil at head: 'Autograph of the Rev W. B. O. Peabody'. In ink in a contemporary hand, between the title and body of text: 'Autograph of Mr Peabody '. Twenty-four lines, arranged in three eight-line stanzas. The text presented here differs in certain respects from that printed in A. P. Putnam's 'Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith' (1875). In the present version the first stanza reads: 'Black the heaven is overcast! | Breathless is the sultry blast.

Autograph Letter Signed from the geologist George Gibbs to Charles Sumner, abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts, regarding the French jurist Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix and Sumner's review.

Author: 
George Gibbs (1815-1873), American geologist and expert on Native American culture [Charles Sumner (1811-1874), abolitionist Massachusetts senator; Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix (1791-1853)]
Publication details: 
Greenwich, Massachusetts; 28 February 1836.
£150.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. 35 lines of text. Addressed, with postmark, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Chas. Sumner Esq. | Boston | Masstts.' Very good, on aged paper. Written while Sumner was lecturing at Harvard Law School, the year before his visit to Europe. Gibbs explains that he has made an arrangement by which Sumner can forward his periodical the Jurist 'to [the French jurist] Foelix &c. & receive others in exchange. Hudson the Proprietor of the Merchants News Room has an agent in Paris & one in Narn to whom he will transmit them.

Holograph poem by the Harvard-educated lawyer George Stillman Hillard, Attorney General of Massachusetts, titled 'To the Friday Club'. With engraved portrait of Hillard.

Author: 
George Stillman Hillard (1808-1879), Harvard-educated lawyer, in partnership with Charles Sumner, writer on the law, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts [The Friday Club, Boston]
Publication details: 
Signed 'Geo. S. Hillard | April 1. 1859.'
£200.00

3pp., 12mo. A fair copy. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The twenty-eight-line poem is arranged in seven four-line stanzas, with Hillard's firm signature and the date at the end. The poem begins with unintentional, but no less curious, sexual overtones: 'The rod of Aaron, severed long | From its ancestral bowers, | Felt in its veins the sap of youth, | And shone with buds of flowers. | The rigid staff, smoothworn and dry, | In living green was dressed.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. S. Hillard') from the Harvard lawyer George Stillman Hillard (later District Attorney for Massachusetts) to W. W. Greenough, written from Paris in the 'Year of Revolutions' 1848, analysing the political situation there.

Author: 
George Stillman Hillard (1808-1879), Harvard-educated lawyer, writer on the law, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts [William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899), Boston merchant]
Publication details: 
Paris, France; 16 May 1848.
£320.00

4pp., 4to. Bifolium. Ninety lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with small hole on second leaf causing damage to a few words of text. Addressed with two postmarks (one French, one American) on the reverse of the second leaf to 'William W. Whitwell Esq | Boston. Mass. | United States of America'. A significant letter, written from Paris by an astute and cultured American jurist on the day following the demonstration of 15 May 1848.

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