Masonic Documents: James P. Kimball archive of master Mason, geologist, and Director of the United States Mint - with superb engravings
by JAMES P. KIMBALL
JAMES P. KIMBALL. Archive. Approximately fifteen ornate Masonic documents, many relating to James P. Kimball and his family. Kimball was a noted geologist and one-time Director of the United States Mint. Plus over sixty related letters, documents, and ephemera most of which concern Kimball's Masonic activities. Many of the documents are masterpieces of the art of printing. Among them: Boston Lodge Masonic membership certificate for James Kimball, May 30, 1861. Lithograph by J.H... Read More
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Rufus King Tries to Save the Finances of America's Post-Revolution Government
by RUFUS KING
"The impost alone then can afford us relief?if established it will authorize such pecuniary negotiations as will greatly relief the national embarrassments, and in a short time fix the Faith and honor of our Country upon a solid foundation." Rufus King likely composed these notes in 1786, as crushing war debt, increasing sectional prejudices, and foreign intrigue?worsened by the Confederation Congress' persistent inability to perform the most basic functions of governance?led many to fear that the experiment in liberty was about... Read More
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Discontent with Gilded Age Presidential Politics and the Influence of the negro vote
by WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE
Newport [R.I.], 1872. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed, to Henry Anthony. Newport [R.I.], November 25, 1872. 4 pp. A detailed, despairing letter on campaign politics after the reelection of Ulysses S. Grant. Lawrence observes the humiliating defeat of Democrats and ""Liberal Republicans"" - who united behind Horace Greeley because of corruption in the Grant administration - in the Election of 1872. Lawrence laments the elevation of personality over merit and virtue in elections, an observation which resonates... Read More
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Remember Fort Pillow! Lincoln Seeks Cabinet's Advice on Best Response to a Confederate Atrocity against Black Troops
by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
President Abraham Lincoln seeks counsel from his cabinet on the appropriate response to the massacre at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, three weeks earlier. More than 400 African-American Union troops and their white officers were slain, many of them after surrendering. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Letter Signed, to Gideon Welles, May 3, 1864, Washington, D.C. 1 p., 8 x 10 in. With: [FORT PILLOW MASSACRE] LYMAN TRUMBULL. Signed Presentation Copy. Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War: Fort Pillow Massacre. Returned Prisoners.... Read More
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Currier and Ives Mourn Lincoln After His Assassination
by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
[ABRAHAM LINCOLN]. Print. Abraham Lincoln. The Nations Martyr. Assassinated April 14th. 1865. Currier & Ives, New York, N.Y., 1865. 1 p., 13½ x 18 in. Light toning. By recycling stock images, Currier & Ives could issue "rush" prints of important 19th century events, thus providing Americans with graphic depictions of current events. Based on Anthony Berger's famed photograph taken in February 1864, this is a fine example of a "rush" print of Lincoln ... Read More
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Illustrator Frank Leslie Publishes Fanciful Grand Reception of Civil War Notables as a Subscription Premium
by [ABRAHAM LINCOLN]
Frank Leslie published this print as a premium for his new family magazine, Frank Leslie's Chimney Corner, and copyrighted it on April 8, 1865, just a week before Lincoln's death. The image, created by engraver Henry B. Major and lithographer Joseph Knapp, portrays Lincoln, flanked by the First Lady and Vice President Andrew Johnson, greeting Julia Dent Grant, wife of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant who stands nearby. According to a notice printed at the bottom... Read More
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After Investing in its Stock, Lincoln Represents a Railroad in a Precedent-Setting Lawsuit
by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
A list of stockholders, entirely in Lincoln's hand, filed as evidence in his first significant railroad case. Lincoln's own appearance in the shareholder list represents only the second known instance of a stock purchase by the future president. The Illinois Supreme Court's ultimate ruling in favor of Lincoln and the railroad set an important legal precedent, upholding the binding nature of a stockholder's contractual and financial obligations. "The decision, subsequently cited in twenty-five other cases throughout the United States, helped... Read More
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Lincoln Mourning Broadside
by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1865. No binding. Fine. Broadside. The Nation's Loss. A Poem on the Life and Death of the Hon. Abraham Lincoln. 1865. 1 p., 9 3/4 x 15 1/4 in. 1/2 inch loss at top not affecting text. Headed by an engraving of Lincoln, Reverend Peter W. Brister's mourning poem occupies the first two columns, and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation is printed in full in the third column. Brister's poem addressed what Lincoln meant to the nation during the Civil... Read More
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The Only Abraham Lincoln Letter to his Fianc?e Mary Owens Still in Private Hands - Long on Politics, Short on Love
by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1836. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed, to Mary S. Owens, December 13, 1836, 2 pp., 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. ""Write back as soon as you get this, and if possible say something that will please me, for really I have not been pleased since I left you.""Here, Lincoln perfectly demonstrates what Owens later described as deficiencies ""in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness."" Rather than expressing his feelings for Owens, Lincoln... Read More
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1864 Campaign Blames McClellan’s Failures on Lincoln, Comparing the President’s Treatment of McClellan and Grant
by [ABRAHAM LINCOLN]
"with the same determination to divide the country unless they can secure universal abolition, we are exposed to the same dangers every day, and God only knows in what unlucky hour our ruin may be consummated... Compare his policy with McClellan's expression of readiness to receive any State when its people offer to submit to the Union." This Democratic Party campaign pamphlet quotes an April 1864 letter to argue that Lincoln gave Lieutenant General Ulysses... Read More
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The Most Famous Artifact of Lincoln's Humor -- His "Bass-Ackwards" Manuscript
by ABRAHAM LINCOLN
A master storyteller and talented mimic, Lincoln's humor was the product of his upbringing in the frontiers of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, where tall tales and exaggeration were key ingredients to good jokes and effective tools in the courtrooms and legislative halls. For some, it made him more appealing and approachable to the common man. For others, his coarse backwoods humor was undignified, reinforcing their belief that he was unfit to be president. This manuscript utilizes a series of "spoonerisms," in... Read More
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A Day After Grant's Capture of Fort Henry, Confederate General Lovell Weakens New Orleans in a Futile Attempt to Shore Up Fort Donelson
by MANSFIELD LOVELL
In February 1862, General Mansfield Lovell sends reinforcements to Albert Sidney Johnston, the chief Confederate commander in the West, so he can defend Nashville and Fort Donelson. The move was fruitless; Fort Donelson fell to Union troops a week after this letter was written. MANSFIELD LOVELL. Autograph Letter Signed, to Albert Sidney Johnston. New Orleans, La., February 7, 1862. 1 p., 8 x 11 in. With: a carte-de-visite of Lovell in Confederate uniform. New York &... Read More
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James Madison’s First Inaugural Address, Asserting Neutral Rights in Prelude to the War of 1812
by JAMES MADISON
"Indulging no passions which trespass on the rights or the repose of other nations, it has been the true glory of the United States to cultivate peace by observing justice, and to entitle themselves to the respect of the nations at war by fulfilling their neutral obligations with the most scrupulous impartiality." When President Thomas Jefferson followed George Washington's example and declined to seek a third term, he selected James Madison as his successor. Reflecting... Read More
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James Madisons Second Inaugural Address, in a Rare New York Irish Newspaper
by JAMES MADISON
New York, NY, 1813. No binding. Fine. The Shamrock, or, Hibernian Chronicle. Newspaper. The Shamrock, or, Hibernian Chronicle, New York, N.Y., March 13, 1813. Madison's second inaugural address begins on p. 2 and concludes on p. 3. 4 pp., 12 x 19 in. ""On the issue of the war are staked our national sovereignty."" ExcerptIt [the War of 1812] was not declared on the part of the United States until it had been long made on them, in... Read More
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John Marshall’s Supreme Court Decides Osborn et al. v. The Bank of the United States, landmark 11th Amendment Case
by [JOHN MARSHALL]
"[T]he Eleventh Amendment, which restrains the jurisdiction granted by the Constitution over suits against States, is, of necessity, limited to those suits in which a State is a party on the record." Ohio levied taxes on each branch of the U.S. Bank in the state. The Court had already ruled in McCulloch v. Maryland that such taxes were unconstitutional, but Ohio persisted in enforcing the tax. Ralph Osborn, the State Auditor, seized funds from the Bank. The circuit... Read More
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English Sociologist and Novelist Martineau Signs a Note
by HARRIET MARTINEAU
HARRIET MARTINEAU. Autograph Note Signed. Address leaf, n.p. n.d. "His Honour / The Lieutenant Governor / Boston / H. Martineau" Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) was an English social theorist, novelist, and essayist. She was one of the few Victorian women to support herself solely by writing, and she covered topics of sociology, religion, women's domestic life, position in the social hierarchy, and most controversially, feminine sexual identity.
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Scarce, iconic, & fantastic Abraham Lincoln lithograph cartoon,?The Political Gymnasium
by [Abraham Lincoln] [Louis Mauer?]
Scarce, iconic, & fantastic lithograph Abraham Lincoln cartoon, The Political Gymnasium [Abraham Lincoln] [Louis Mauer?] The Political Gymnasium. New York: Currier & Ives, 1860. Lithograph broadside, 18 x 13-1/2 inches. This scarce and iconic lithograph is a detailed, humorous "parody on the field of presidential candidates and their supporters in the 1860 campaign." Bell and Everett, for the Constitutional Union Party, are there: Bell, a muscle man, holds Everett aloft on a barbell. Horace Greeley struggles to do a pull-up in his... Read More
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Civil War Veteran in Maryland Predicts the War Will End Soon
by DAVID F. MCGOWAN
"Sherridan has been doing some good work. 1400 prisoners passed here a few days ago that he captured And Report says he has captured 1000 more. A couple of officers stopped here last night, that had just been exchanged. They were captured last August and gave me a good account of their trials & tribulations down in Dixie. One of them gave $100. for a common pair of shoes from all appearances the Confederacy... Read More
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The Defense in Ex parte Milligan Argues That Even During War the Federal Government Can’t Use Military Trials Where Civilian Courts Are Operative
by [LAMBDIN P. MILLIGAN]
Court reporter records the impassioned defense, before the U.S. Supreme Court, by David Dudley Field of Lambdin P. Milligan and others, who were tried by military commission in Indiana during the Civil War and sentenced to death for disloyal activities. The court's landmark decision agreed with Field's reasoning that the federal government could not employ military tribunals where civilian courts were in operation. [LAMBDIN P. MILLIGAN]. Printed Book. D. F. Murphy, reporter, Supreme Court... Read More
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John Quincy Adams’ Copy of a Scarce South Carolina Printing of the Monroe Doctrine
by [JOHN QUINCY ADAMS]. JAMES MONROE
"the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." The Monroe Doctrine - as it is now known- was largely the creation of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and issued not on its own but as part of James Monroe's Annual Message to Congress (now referred to as the State of the Union Address).... Read More
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James Monroe Defends his Actions in Futile Defense of Washington in War of 1812
by JAMES MONROE
"I stand responsible for my own acts only. [Secretary of War John Armstrong] claims credit for the measures which had been taken for defense of this place. Those measures were not proposed by him but the President...." James Monroe, then Secretary of State, led a scouting expedition in August 1814 that revealed the British marching towards the nation's capital. His warning allowed President James Madison to evacuate and save America's founding documents. In the face of criticism, Monroe... Read More
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James Monroe's State of the Union Address
by JAMES MONROE
Monroe enters office in a time of peace and prosperity well deserving of its moniker, the Era of Good Feelings. Still, the president outlines a plan for the future in his first message to Congress. [JAMES MONROE]. Newspaper. American Mercury, Hartford, Ct., December 9, 1817, 4 pp., 13 x 19½ in. With the State of the Union Address in full on page 2. Excerpt "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: At no period of our political existence... Read More
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Monroe Expands on his Doctrine in Last Annual Message
by JAMES MONROE
Apparently unrecorded, this broadside extra prints President Monroe's last annual message to Congress, delivered on December 7, 1824. Covers relations with Great Britain, the slave trade, Indian relations, the comprehensive survey of possible road and canal sites in the interior, and an elaboration on the Monroe Doctrine, providing the rationale for exhorting European states not to interfere with the evolution of the newly independent Latin American states. "Separated as we are, from Europe... Read More
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Robert Morris Promissory Note, Used As Evidence In His Bankruptcy Trial
by ROBERT MORRIS
Financier of the Revolution forced into bankruptcy court: "Sixty days after date, I promise to pay unto Mr. Mathias Kurlin Junr or Order Thirteen Hundred & forty six Dolls & Sixty Seven Cents for value recd." ROBERT MORRIS. Autograph Document Signed, December 12, 1794. 1 p., 7⅛ x 3¾ in. On the document's verso is a note reading "Exhibited to us under the commission against Robert Morris, Philadelphia, 15th October 1801." Signed by John Hollowell and Thomas Cumpston,... Read More
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Documenting Declaration of Independence Signer Robert Morriss Financial Troubles
by ROBERT MORRIS
Philadelphia, PA, 1795. No binding. Fine. Partially-Printed Document Signed. Promissory Note. Philadelphia, Pa., May 12, 1795. 1 p., 4 x 6 3/4 in. Endorsed on verso by Morris. Ink burn through the ""R"" and ""b"" in ""Robt."" Left edge irregularly cut. Partial Transcript""Three years after date I promise to pay Robt. Morris Esq. on order Four thousand Dollars, [signed] Jno Nicholson.""Endorsed on verso in separate hand: ""Exhibited to us under the Commission Against Robert Morris Philad. Sept 12th... Read More
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