THE LIFE OF HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT. COMPRISING AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE BURR EXPEDITION: AND CONTAINING MANY ADDITIONAL FACTS NOT HERETOFORE PUBLISHED
1850 · Chillicoth
by Safford, William H
Chillicoth: Ely, Allen & Looke, 1850. 239pp. plus frontispiece. Original brown publisher's cloth, stamped in blind and gilt. Corners rubbed, head of spine lightly chipped. Light foxing to first few leaves and plate. Very good. First edition. Safford is still considered the leading authority on Harman Blennerhassett in the wake of his publication of THE BLENNERHASSETT PAPERS in 1864. This volume precedes that better-known work by a decade, but it establishes Safford's scholarly interest in the flamboyant man who provided much of the capital for Burr's scheme against the Spanish in Mexico. Blennerhassett's life has been regarded a mixture of "farce and tragedy," and Safford's work maintains this caricature. HOWES S13 (Inventory #: WRCAM50812)