ORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI, ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, MDCCCXI

Philadelphia: C. and A. Conrad and Co, 1811. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Tipped in on a prefatory blank leaf is a later engraved portrait of Biddle and his signature, apparently clipped from a letter. Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844) was an American financier who as president of the Second Bank of the United States (1823-36) made it the first effective central bank in U.S. history. As historian Jeffrey Sklansky observed, Biddle "cultivated the character of the gentleman of feeling who takes upon himself the suffering of a strife-torn world, manifested in effusive despair and foreboding." True to form, he surveys the desolated kingdoms of wartime Europe and prophesies a similar fate for the American republic in this Fourth of July address, which is notable for calling for the construction of a memorial to George Washington. Later, Biddle was President Andrew Jackson's chief antagonist in the Bank War (1832-36) that resulted in the termination of the Second Bank and its replacement by state banks. 28 p. Octavo. Full brown morocco binding, with decorative gilt stamping, two raised bands, ornamental dentelles, and marbled endpapers. The signed bookplate of American historian George Bancroft (1800-1891) appears on the front pastedown. Additionally, an autograph letter signed (ALS) by Bancroft and a receipt signed by him are laid in. Bancroft was a noted critic of Biddle, who he regarded as part of the "aristocracy" along with the likes of Alexander Hamilton. Typical toning to the contents, with some minor offsetting to p.26-7. The binding is a trifle darkened along the extremities; otherwise very good. (Inventory #: 72047)