1.172 Ergebnisse
1864Best.-Nr. 63169New York: Published by Currier & Ives 1864. A Political Cartoon Exposing McClellan's Hypocrisy A rare Currier and Ives print from the presidential election of 1864 satirizing the Democratic presidential candidate and former general George B. McClellan as an equivocating hypocrite. As Neely and Holzer explain the presidential campaign of 1864 inspired a flurry of "separate-sheet display cartoons: thought-provoking witty but often cruel lampoons that struck hard at the most divisive political and personal issues of 1864. In these cartoons one can see illustrated vividly the raw toughness of the campaign as well as the skill of the artists who covered it." These prints they note could be "vicious: personal mean-spirited cruel race-baiting and divisive" and in this context McClellan "the military man now running on a peace platform made for one obvious target." The image here shows a two-faced McClellan at center standing atop rickety planks - a literal representation of the Democratic party's Chicago peace platform - and holding a copy of his letter of acceptance. The planks are supported precariously at each corner on the shoulders of four figures: Confederate president Jefferson Davis; New York congressman and prominent Copperhead Fernando Wood; another Copperhead and the author of the Chicago platform Clement Vallandigham; and "Jeffs friend" the devil. Standing on opposite sides of the image are representatives of each of the constituencies to whom the two-faced McClellan is pandering: a uniformed "Union Soldier" and a "Peace Democrat" caricatured here as a club-wielding simian Irishman. From the face addressing the Peace Democrat McClellan says "You see my friend I accept the nomination and of course stand on the platform" to which the Peace Democrat replies "All right General! if yere in favor of resistin the draft killing the Nagurs and pace wid the Southerners I'll knock any man on the head that'll vote aginye." From his other face addressing the Union soldier McClellan contradicts himself saying "If you don't like the Platform I refer you to my letter of acceptance" a copy of which McClellan holds in his and which reads "War! - preservation Union - could not look my gallant Comrades in the - face; ---" The soldier says "Its no use General! you can't stand on that platform and come that blarney over me; I smell brimstone!" Below McClellan the devil speaking to Jefferson Davis gives expression to the futility of the lost cause: "Well Jeff it's no use trying to hold up this rickety old platform I guess I'll leave you to your fate!" Davis says in reply "I'm in a pretty fix! Weldon road gone!! Atlanta taken!!! Mobile Forts surrendered!!!! Early licked!!!!! and now when my last hope is in keeping up this platform and getting Mac elected you who led me into the scrape threaten to leave me!!!!!" Meanwhile an exasperated Vallandingham exclaims "Confound that letter! I've a good mind to bolt and let the whole concern go to a smash!" Fernando tries to reassure his fellow Copperhead: "Hold on Val. don't you see it's only his little game to ring in the war men if he is elected he is bound to carry out our policy and nothing else!" The image mocks the seeming hypocrisy of McClellan a military man running on his war record who has just accepted the nomination of a party whose platform calls for an end to the war even as the candidate himself expresses his support for the war in his acceptance letter. Reilly notes that the cartoon was probably drawn by the prolific artist Louis Maurer. This print is scarce. The Currier & Ives catalogue raisonné locates only the copies at the Chicago Historical Society and the Library of Congress. OCLC locates another two copies at the time of cataloguing one at the Ohio History Center and another at the Clements Library. We find additional copies at the American Antiquarian Society the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A rare and stinging political cartoon from the bitter war-time election of 1864. Tanned with some scattered foxing. Small pinholes to top center and to top and bottom of left margin. Two small pieces of linen tape to top edge of verso; some soiling to verso and some discoloration from old tape since removed showing through to recto. Very good. REILLY AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINTS 1864-20. WEITENKAMPF p.143. PETERS CURRIER & IVES 1621. GALE CURRIER & IVES: A CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ 1126. NEELY & HOLZER UNION IMAGE pp.132 134 137 144-45. Bryan F. Le Beau Currier & Ives: America Imagined Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press 2001 pp.280-81. OCLC 818725064 1292629697. unknown
1812Best.-Nr. 68222Pennsylvania. 1812. Pennsylvania Elects Madison in 1812 An interesting early American political manuscript listing fifty-one electors by county or district with tallies next to their names which are then added in a final column. Among the more notable of the electors listed are Charles Thompson and Thomas McKean. In the election Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison who defeated Federalist candidate DeWitt Clinton. An unusual piece of political Americana. Old folds light tanning and wear. Very good. unknown
1856Best.-Nr. 63167New York: Nathaniel Currier 1856. Fremont as an Overland Explorer for the Presidency A cutting satirical cartoon aimed at the great western explorer John C. Fremont and his main supporters in his 1856 bid for the White House. Fremont was the Republican nominee for the presidency and ran on an anti-slavery platform. He was backed by New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley and radical abolitionist minister Henry Ward Beecher. In the image Fremont rides a horse - called the "abolition nag" - that has the face of Greeley. Fremont says "This is pretty hard riding - but if he only carries me to the White house in safety I will forgive my friends for putting me astride of such a crazy Old Hack." The horse is led toward the Salt River a metaphor for political disaster by leading Republican William Seward who proclaims that "Which ever road I travel always brings me to this confounded river I thought we had a sure thing this time on the Bleeding Kansas dodge." Mountains in the background are identified as Kansas and Nebraska. The Greeley-headed horse addresses Seward: "Seward it seems to me we are going the same Road we did in 'fifty two' but as long as you lead I'll follow if I 'go it blind.'" Henry Ward Beecher who was known to have furnished antislavery emigrants with firearms to participate in the Kansas struggles follows behind Fremont's horse his arms laden with rifles. A mountain man - evoking Fremont's exploring past - cautions the Pathfinder: "Ah! Colonel - you've got into a bad crowd - you'll find that dead Horse on the prairie is better for the Constitution than Abolition Soup or Wooly head stew in the White house." The embossed seal to the bottom left corner is that of F.A. Caspari of Baltimore "Dealer in Books & Stationery." This print is scarce. The Currier & Ives catalogue raisonné locates only the copies at the Chicago Historical Society and the Library of Congress. OCLC adds only two copies one at the American Antiquarian Society and another at the University of Rochester. A fine satirical print of John Fremont and his abolitionist supporters in the 1856 presidential election. Light even tanning lightly foxed. Old vertical fold running the length of right edge. Closed tears with repairs to the right and left edges plus small closed tear to top right edge along fold. Contemporary dealer's embossed seal to bottom left corner. Three small pieces of linen tape to top of the verso some discoloration from old tape since removed on verso. Very good. REILLY AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINTS 1856-20. WEITENKAMPF p.117. PETERS CURRIER & IVES 1635a. GALE CURRIER & IVES: A CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ 1309. OCLC 192110863. OCLC 1136567691. unknown
1844Best.-Nr. 66208Concord: Hill & Moore November 9 1844. New Hampshire Democrats Celebrate Polk's Victory An ebullient "Extra" issue of the staunchly Democratic New Hampshire Patriot & Daily Gazette celebrating the not-quite-confirmed victory of James K. Polk in the 1844 presidential election. Published by lifelong Democratic partisan and former New Hampshire governor Isaac Hill the New Hampshire Patriot was a long-running political newspaper in that stronghold of Northern Democracy and this illustrated extra issue printed on Saturday November 9 displays the extent to which the editors and indeed the people of Concord rejoiced at the news. The main headline "New York Speaks!!!" refers to the pivotal flip of New York state from Whig to Democrat a fact which when combined with the expected news of a comfortable victory in Virginia more or less clinched the victory for Polk despite the results being out on several other states. While the optimistic figures in this article report a whopping majority for Polk in reality the Democrats won New York by a narrow margin of just one percent. A short article following this news offhandedly reports on a fatal local celebration noting that "A most shocking casualty occurred in Concord last evening while the democrats were celebrating the triumph of Polk and Dallas in New York by the firing of cannon. Mr. John L. Haynes of this town one of the officers of the Columbian Artillery had his left arm almost entirely blown off his right arm dreadfully shattered and his face shockingly burned in the act of ramming down a cartridge. The discharge took place in consequence of the vent not being stopped in the excitement and hurry of the firing." At the top of the central column a small cartoon depicts a man with an oversized steak knife and glass of wine declaring "That roast beef fetch it on!-and them 'two dollars a day!'" referencing William Henry Harrison's 1840 campaign slogan of "Harrison two dollars a day and roast beef." The remainder of the text reports the election results by county in New Hampshire which voted for Polk by a margin of nearly nineteen percent including votes for the ballot issues "On amending Constitution" and "On abolishing capital punishment." An entertaining and ephemeral piece printed at the culmination of a pivotal election. Old folds. Light tanning a few small chips and tears at edges. Very good. BRIGHAM p.444. unknown
1864Best.-Nr. 65929New York: National Union Executive Committee 1864. Scarce Anti-Copperhead Broadside A scarce anti-Copperhead broadside printed during the election of 1864 purporting to reveal "the real Chicago Platform" and providing excerpts from speeches given at the Democratic National Convention. The convention met in Chicago on August 29 1864 where the Copperheads quickly established dominance over the outnumbered War Democrats and established peace with the South at any cost as the core of their platform. McClellan accepted the nomination alongside staunch Copperhead George Pendleton despite his open opposition to the peace platform; this seeming hypocrisy was mercilessly lampooned by the opposition contributing to the abject failure of the joint War and Peace ticket. The present broadside presents statements made at the convention by "a number of distinguished Democratic orators" which they deem "sufficient to show the temper and purpose of all." Some choice excerpts include: "I love our Southern friends; they are a noble a brave and a chivalrous people cheers" Representative James S. Rollins of Missouri; "Show me a War Democrat to-day and I will show you a shoddy Abolitionist in disguise.He is a Judas and should be cast out as an enemy to humanity and to God.Soon the net is to be drawn that will gather in its half million more to feed the insatiable thirst for blood of the Negro God" J.A. McMaster arrested for libel at the start of the war; "If Democrats catch Lincoln's bloody satrap spies among them they must cut their damned throats that's all. Applause" Captain William J. Kountz known troublemaker and personal antagonist of General Grant dishonorably discharged in 1863; and "We are one and all for peace and with this magic word upon our banner we shall sweep over the course and roll into oblivion the black negro-loving negro-hugging worshippers of old Abe Lincoln" Isaiah Rynders Tammany Hall tough and former Know-Nothing. The broadside was clearly printed with intention of wide dispersal among potential Lincoln supporters with a noted price of "$1 per 100." The American Antiquarian Society reasonably suggests that this broadside was printed by the National Union Executive Committee of New York based on typographically similar items in their collection. A representative document from one of the nation's most fraught elections. Old folds. Light tanning and staining. Small holes at two cross-folds short closed tear to upper margin and left edge. About very good. SABIN 68234. unknown
1864Best.-Nr. 63056New York: Currier & Ives 1864. Unlikely Running Mates Conjoined by "Party Ties" A rare Currier and Ives political print from the 1864 presidential election likening the unusual marriage of McClellan and his running mate Copperhead leader George Pendleton to the famous "Siamese twins" Chang and Eng Bunker. Chang and Eng first came to the United States in 1829 where their great popularity as a touring act gave birth to the phrase "Siamese twins" as a term for conjoined twins. After years of touring in Europe and America the pair settled down in North Carolina for over a decade before returning to the stage in the 1860s. Their renewed popularity and enduring cultural relevance are both evidenced by this election-year cartoon. "In the center McClellan left is attached to the side of his running mate by 'The Party Tie.' McClellan says apologetically to the two Union soldiers at his left 'It was not I that did it fellow Soldiers!! but with this unfortunate attachment I was politically born at Chicago!' The Democratic national convention took place in Chicago on August 29 1864. The soldier with his arm in a sling responds angrily 'Good bye little Mac' if thats your company! Uncle Abe gets my vote.' The soldier at far left says 'I would vote for you General if you were not tied to a "peace" Copperhead who says that Treason and Rebellion ought to triumph!!' Pendleton addresses the two 'Copperheads' at his right: Clement Laird Vallandigham author of the Democrats' peace plank and Horatio Seymour governor of New York and chairman of the Democratic national convention. Pendleton says 'I dont care how many letters Mac writes if it brings him votes; for every vote for him count one for me!!' Vallandigham concurs 'Yes Pen that's the only reason that I support the ticket; if you are elected both Jeff…and I will be triumphant!" Seymour far right replies 'With Pendleton as Vice; Val.secretary of State; Wood i.e. Fernando Wood an organizer of the Peace Democrats in the treasury and I Govr. of New-York we will have peace at any price the rebels "our friends" in this copy choose to ask for it'" – Reilly. Interestingly the copy described by Reilly differs slightly from the other recorded copies. In the Library of Congress copy Seymour refers to "the rebels" directly; in our copy and most others he instead refers to them as "our friends" in quotation marks alluding to his famous or infamous "My Friends" speech delivered during the New York draft riots. OCLC records copies only at the University of Michigan and Peabody Essex Museum though we locate additional copies at the Library of Congress Library Company of Philadelphia Princeton and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A rare and visually striking political cartoon evocative of the fraught 1864 election and contemporary popular culture. Light foxing and soiling. Closed tear in right edge into platemark but not touching illustration. Faint dampstain near center. Very good overall. REILLY 1864-19. PETERS CURRIER & IVES 1671. CURRIER & IVES: CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ 5232. OCLC 191120100. unknown
1864Best.-Nr. 62679Philadelphia: Published by Mason & Co. 1864. Singing for Lincoln in '64 A pocket songster printed to support Lincoln's reelection campaign in 1864 featuring a rather youthful portrait of the president on the front wrapper and twelve spirited pro-Union songs. The titles largely military in theme include such works as "Give us Noble Leaders" "The Veteran Volunteer" "Cast Your Votes for Abraham" "For Lincoln or McClellan you'll be called on to decide/ The one to save the union the other to divide" and "We are Coming Father Abraham 600000 More." The advertisements on the rear wrapper encourage readers to purchase a wide variety of Lincoln campaign badges emblems pins and photographs from the publishers. Despite Lincoln's overwhelming electoral victory in 1864 the race was rather close in Pennsylvania where this was printed – Lincoln took Philadelphia County by a scant few percent and actually failed to secure a majority in neighboring Montgomery and Bucks counties. 16mo. Original pictorial wrappers. Wrappers soiled and stained. Largely clean internally. Advertisements on rear wrapper shaved slightly at outer edge as issued. Good plus. MONAGHAN 323. unknown
1824Best.-Nr. 62431N.p. but likely New York. 1824. Rare Illustrated Anti-Jackson Broadside A very rare illustrated anti-Jackson broadside from the hotly-contested election of 1824 addressed to "manufacturers and mechanics." The presidential election of 1824 was a complicated four-candidate affair with frontrunners Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams trailed by Henry Clay and William Crawford each drawing considerable support in certain districts. In fact the race was so close that no candidate won a sufficient majority of the electoral vote and Adams was elected by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment despite carrying four fewer states than Jackson and the glow of the "Era of Good Feeling" was dimmed once and for all. Addressed to "Manufacturers and Mechanics" this broadside focuses primarily on Jackson's economic policies specifically his anti-tariff stance. "If the Jackson Party prevail" the text proclaims "the next Congress will be opposed to the tariff to mechanics manufacturers and domestic industry.The consequence will be that the sound of the shuttle will no longer be heard. Our stores will be filled with British and Scotch ginghams shirtings checks and bed-ticks; and not a place will be found for a yard of American cloth.Don't suffer yourselves to be deceived by stories that General Jackson is your friend.What will his battle of New Orleans avail you if you are thrown out of employment and made beggars" Even Jackson's campaign materials they claim are made from British exports. The text seems targeted at a New York and New England audience pointing out South Carolina and "the southern section of the country" as the fervent opponents of domestic industry and warning readers not to be "the dupes of such men as William Coleman" owner of The New York Evening Post. Throughout the broadside maintains a strong anti-British stance and suggests that Jackson and his supporters including Coleman are better friends of Great Britain than America: "Coleman is the man who exulted when a British fleet lay off the Hook. The Evening Post was received wet from his office on board their ships every day. Nothing but respect for the laws prevented our incensed countrymen from demolishing the press and types that printed the diabolical treason." While the text espouses Henry Clay as the man of the hour "the truest ablest and best friend you ever had" the woodcut illustration places a ship named the "John Quincy Adams of Washington" front and center. It flies banners reading "Free Trade & Sailors Rights" and "No Colonial Subjection" and is flanked on either side by vignettes subtitled "National industry is National Wealth" and "Agriculture is the Source of Prosperity." Ironically the largest controversy in Jackson's presidency a decade later would be over his lack of action against tariffs when his failure to repeal Adams' 1828 "Tariff of Abominations" resulted in the Nullification Crisis and threats of civil war. We locate only one other copy of this broadside at the Library of Congress. A rare and interesting illustrated political broadside from a highly contentious election. Old folds minor splitting at right edge of central horizontal fold. Lightly tanned. Very good. REILLY AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINTS 1824-3. OCLC 299947334. hardcover
1863Best.-Nr. 53688Winchester 1863. Running for State Office in Confederate Tennessee An exceedingly rare Confederate Tennessee state election ticket from 1863 nominating Robert L. Caruthers for governor and eleven others as state senators. In 1863 state elections were due in Tennessee. The state was fractured by war and secession and both Unionists and Confederates expressed the desire to hold elections for state government. Confederate supporters held a convention in Winchester and nominated a governor the State Legislature and members for the Confederate Congress. It was a bit of a fool's errand. Isham G. Harris who still considered himself the governor of Tennessee issued a proclamation calling for the election to be held on the first Thursday in August. Just who voted and how many or how few will probably never be known. According to historians the State Archives in Nashville are scant and inconclusive; returns from only thirty-two counties are found some of which reported the vote of only one civil district. Not a single report was from West Tennessee counties and only eight Middle Tennessee counties made returns. Robert L. Caruthers was elected governor on the face of returns but he was never inaugurated and thus never served a day as governor of Tennessee. No Confederate State Legislature ever convened either. The Confederate Congressmen were the only lucky ones. Those who were elected in 1863 took their seats in Richmond however briefly. George Webb notes this copy in his NOT IN ALLEN bibliography in 2013. Not in Parrish & Willingham. The only other copy or shall we say copies resides at the Library of Virginia in an uncut sheet of six tickets. This will likely be the only copy ever available in the marketplace. Toned minor soiling and wrinkling. Very good. WEBB NOT IN ALLEN 199 this copy. unknown
1828Best.-Nr. 56513N.p. 1828. A Very Rare Broadsheet Attack on Andrew Jackson in 1828 A rare broadside recounting Andrew Jackson's infamous execution of Private John Woods published in 1828 by Jackson's opponents during the 1828 election. There was considerable mud-slinging between the Jackson and Adams camps during that campaign which eventually saw the defeat of incumbent John Quincy Adams and the election of Andrew Jackson. This dense broadside recounts the events of March 1814 at Fort Strother during the Creek Campaign when Jackson charged John Woods an eighteen-year-old militiaman with disobedience disrespect and mutiny. According to the text the trial itself only occurred because Jackson's soldiers would not shoot Woods at the moment of the offense despite Jackson's cries to "Shoot the damned rascal!.blow ten balls through the damned rascal!" The court martial followed soon after; Woods was found guilty and sentenced to die. Some testimonies here state that Jackson offered to spare Woods' life if he would enlist in the regular army but Woods refused; others disagree. He was executed thirty-six hours later. Then follows the sworn testimony of several witnesses: Thomas Couch Robert Ferguson Samuel Hanna George A. Brock Isaac Roberts James Harris William Stewart Joseph Alexander Isaac Anderson Abm. Whitney and John Williams all fellow soldiers of Woods who witnessed or had personal knowledge of the facts in the case. Their accounts of Woods' supposed mutiny substantially downplay the severity of Woods' disobedience suggesting that it was likely a misunderstanding; they also emphasize the draconian nature of the punishment and make several mentions of Woods' aging and infirm parents. Williams' account closes: "It is not true that Woods on the ground of Execution with oaths and defiance refused to promise obedience. On the contrary he wept loud and bitterly." All of the testimonies are datelined in Tennessee in the first few months of 1828. The nature of the printing lends itself to the possibility of a Tennessee press. Though not as famous as the "Coffin Handbills" that appeared at the same time listing Woods' execution among many other crimes by Jackson this was definitely addressed to the same audiences. John Spencer Bassett in his Life of Andrew Jackson notes that the "execution of mutinous militiamen in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 was recalled to show Jackson's ferocious temper; and when a Philadelphia editor published a hand-bill showing a coffin with the victims standing by its side the idea was caught up eagerly and repeated in all parts of the country." Not in Wise & Cronin and we could find no listing for this broadside in OCLC or in American Imprints. It has only appeared at auction twice and then not since 1925 when Anderson Galleries offered a copy as part of the sale of the Henry De Puy collection which was strong in Andrew Jackson material. The only copy in the trade seems to be one offered by the Eberstadts in 1939. Broadsheet 19 x 9 inches text printed in two columns on both sides. Old folds some chips to edges minor loss to upper left corner and closed tear to bottom edge no text affected. Two small holes affecting just one word a few areas of soiling light foxing even tanning. Manuscript annotations to verso. About very good. unknown
Best.-Nr. 5149PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840. ALS. 2pgs. November 18 1840. Cincinnati Ohio. An autograph letter signed J Burnet by Ohio lawyer and politician Jacob Burnet 1770-1853. It is addressed to James Dunlap of Pittsburg. Burnet replies to Dunlaps letter stating his concerns about Pennsylvania politics in light of the recent 1840 Presidential election in which William Henry Harrison defeated Martin Van Buren. Harrison would die only a month into his Presidency. Mentioning a schism at one point Burnet seems to anticipate the national divide that would eventually lead to the American Civil War although this may have referred to economic issues rather than the question of slavery: Dear Sir I have received your letter of the 12th inst and read it with interest. The matter it containsthe view you have taken of the state of parties in Penna are highly interesting and are certainly entitled to serious consideration. The mixture of parties of which you speak as having taken place in the late struggle can not as you observeThere is reason to fear that when the cause whichthe union the fruits of which we have just gathered shall warn so often at the repelling principlewill throw the parts from each other as far as they win before the conflict began unless something can be done to effect such a permanent combination as you refer to. I confess I now have understood the theory of partyas they have existed in and have agitated your state or the principles on which they have been found or by which they areI can however easilyschism may be the result of such an injudicious course on the part of theyou are anxious to prevent. It would give mow me great pleasure to be instrumental in preventing the wit you depict so strikingly were it in my power. I was known unequal to the task because I have no claims to the confidence of the General beyond those of his friends generally not because in addition to this I could not point him to the parties or the persons as to whom he ought to be on his guard. A frank communication from a confidential friend in Penna who understands the whole subject would receive the attention it deserves. An intelligent Pennacan communicate the specific information necessary to show him the danger and the mode of avoiding it. Advice or caution in a care like this to have its proper influence should come from the power of information. Your views on the subject of claims founded on services rendered in the late political contest are precisely those I entertain and express on all occasions and I have reason to believe the General looks on the subject though the same medium and views it in the same light. If our motives have been patriotic our labor has been done for the country and success is our only legitimate reward. If they have been personal they are not praiseworthy and ought not to be rewarded. I am confident that president elect views the matter in that light and that he does not feel personal obligations to any body on account of no part taken in the contest. If this be not so I have very much misunderstood his character. Yours very respectfully J Burnet. The letter is in very good condition with a loss to the back page that does not affect any content. A reminder of the eternal contention and controversy in American political elections. unknown
1844Best.-Nr. List3860N.p. 1844. Folded letter on Henry Clay campaign lettersheet with portrait of Clay and printed caption: "And Frelinghuysen." Addressed to Mr. Joseph Griswold Benson Rutland County Vermont. Blue circular postmark and manuscript postage. Milgram No. HC-2 with listing example illustrated in James W. Milgram's Presidential Campaign Illustrated Envelopes and Letter Paper 1840-1872 p. 41. Light toning to address panel minor fold flaws; very good. A long 1844 letter from T. W. Goodrich to Joseph Griswold written on a Henry Clay campaign lettersheet during the presidential contest between Clay and James K. Polk. The printed lettersheet shows Clay's portrait with the caption "And Frelinghuysen" referring to Theodore Frelinghuysen Clay's Whig running mate. The letter opens with direct campaign content identifying the writer as a supporter of "the Harry of the West and his companion F-": "You see what a true Son of the Green Mountains sails under none other than the Harry of the West and his companion F-. Altho we accomplish nothing in this State we value our principals as much as any other set of men. Politics are raging high in these parts. Bets of good round sums are being made constantly. There is great exertions being made on both sides." Goodrich then gives the letter its strongest political passage complaining that abolitionists were gaining strength and drawing support away from the Whig ticket: "Our abolition friends are getting very strong in this State. They think in some counties they have made great gains from one election to another and hang them they are all from the Whig ranks or mostly so. If we had them with us we should carry the State. Then there would be one more bright star in the twenty six." The remainder of the letter turns to family visits courtship gossip local marriages schoolteaching music lessons and delays in correspondence. Goodrich teases Griswold about his interest in "Say" or Sarah closing with the advice to "not sigh oftener for her than she does for you. Sigh not but act." A good 1844 campaign lettersheet combining a printed Clay-Frelinghuysen design with manuscript political content on the Whigs abolitionist defections and the electoral consequences of antislavery politics. . unknown
1845Best.-Nr. List3867Hanover Furnace New Jersey 1845. 3 pp autograph letter signed "Richard Jones" written on an embossed Henry Clay campaign lettersheet from the 1844 presidential election. Letter written on Henry Clay lettersheet identified as HC-9 in Milgram's reference on presidential letterhead. 8 ¼ x 10 ½ inches. Some small tears to final page intersecting with text; else Near Fine condition. A strong post-election Whig letter written shortly before James K. Polk's inauguration discussing Texas annexation slavery the tariff manufacturing and the defeat of Henry Clay. Jones writes to a friend whose "political heresies" he rejects asking what could have induced "a member of our goodly society of Friends" to support annexation. His objection is not only to territorial expansion but to the political consequences of adding Texas to the Union: "will not her admission secure a free trade & slavery ascendency always in our national councils." He then turns to the tariff from the perspective of a furnace operator or manufacturer worrying that repeal would damage his works and the broader market for manufactured goods. The Clay campaign lettersheet is itself part of the letter's content: Jones calls it paper "with the brand of the last campaign upon it" declares himself "a true Whig" and says he may save some sheets until 1848 though he dislikes "that silly looking coon in the corner." Full text follows. "Hanover Furnace Feby 5 1845 Resp. Friend "For by that term I must continue to call you notwithstanding what I consider your political heresies but you know we do not talk politicks together and I think it is best that we should continue to abstain from them but I should like very much to know what arguments there are weighty enough to induce a member of our goodly society of Friends to vote for the annexation of Texas will not her admission secure a free trade & slavery ascendency always in our national councils. You said when I last saw you that the tariff was not a party question and the open ground that the advocates some of them in this part of the country of I or V. Polk would induce me to believe so but I have not quite found so and although contrary to the advice of some of my friends I have concluded to continue the operations of my works if the tariff is repealed I shall be dished even if the article of is still protected as it is not possible for one branch to be successful whilst the rest are prostrated as it is not so much the keeping out the foreign article that helps us as the customers that general prosperity enables to consume the article manufactured. I did not sit down to write a political letter but would like your judgment with regard to the course which will be pursued by the next administration & congress with regard to the Tariff. "I do not think it requires an apology from me for writing to you upon paper with the brand of the last campaign upon it for you know me to be a true Whig and as such shall keep my Banner flying to the last. I am come of a Welsh tribe who have never been conquered and I think of keeping a few of these sheets until 48 although I do not like that silly looking coon in the corner and I hope by that time that nothing but sterling argument will be used and our congressional candidates will be forced to stump it face to face but I will not tire you with my foolishness. I cannot give you much information as to the tone of Public conversation but I never knew any matter of great importance to be before congress that has excited so little feeling as the annexation of Texas there is not one man in twenty that knows any thing about it. The Whigs beaten and disappointed feel themselves powerless for the present and do not think it worth while to agitate themselves about things they cannot help but let me assure you that they feel themselves only beaten but not conquered and when the occasion comes they will raise in their might mighty and woe unto those who legislate for any other view than the good of their country. But I am like a lady I have come to the postscript before I begin to write about what I commenced for. Mr. Spencer says you have been making some enquiries about some Atkins claims upon McDonald Branch and I have promised Black that I will commence proceedings against him as soon as I have your opinion now if you have formed one upon the subject let me have it if not will you give it your attention when you come home and can also devote some time to the Polebridge affair in the Spring. I am very desirous that should be settled as well as some other things and you are the only man that can do it for me.I remain as I always have been and always hope to be your personal friend Richard Jones" An interesting letter from the aftermath of the 1844 election with unusually direct content on Texas annexation slavery free trade tariff protection and Whig political identity. The letter is also a good use of campaign stationery: Jones not only writes on a Henry Clay lettersheet but comments on the "brand of the last campaign" the Whig "Banner" and the campaign imagery itself. . unknown
1860Best.-Nr. List38104New York City 1860. Autograph letter signed "W." to "Dear John" written on the printed letterhead of Thomas Vernon attorney Nassau Street New York. 4 pp. on a single 8 x 10 inch sheet folded to make four pages of approximately 8 x 5 inches. Fine condition. An April 1860 political letter written in the months before the presidential election with the writer discussing the recent Rhode Island election and the way it was being read in New York. The letter refers to the April 4 1860 Rhode Island gubernatorial election in which William Sprague IV running as a Democratic/Conservative fusion candidate defeated Republican Seth Padelford. Outside Rhode Island the result was read by many as a meaningful Republican setback in the tense months before the presidential election. The author describes the result as producing "a profound sensation" among Democrats and Republicans and worries that outside Rhode Island it appeared as though "New England sentiment was faltering" on the "non-extension of Slavery." The letter also includes family news travel to Providence and Perth Amboy and legal/business matters relating to Ohio notes and accounts. Full text follows. "New York April 7th 1860 Dear John: "Yours of the 5th is before me as well as your letter to Aunt Addie and the papers giving an a/c of the deplorable result in R.I. Your despatch came duly to hand at 12-1/2 yesterday P.M. It saved Ellery the benefit of the bracing air of the early dawn of this glorious April morning. The Deacon & his amiable lady arrived this morning in fine spirits. It does me good to see Miss. Blanding so bright and rollicking. Ma is going down this P. M. with a view of hurrying your Ma off to Providence. Your Ma is at P. Amboy and I do hope she will go on to Prov. She has been subjected to too much wear and tear and anxiety & looks very much worn and depressed. She needs some cheerful faces and absence from constant and present trouble. I wish I could see some opening in the clouds. When I reflect upon the sorrows and exalted natures of Uncle Thomas and Aunt Addie it confers upon me the truth of another state where worth and purity will find reward. I do not think that Aunt Addie carries out however her favorite idea of the claims of parents as paramount to those of children. I think that she practically ignores her own claims or regards them as altogether subordinate. She has never given herself a chance and acts with a single view to the views of her children. "The news of the R.I. Election created a profound sensation here on Thursday morn'g. The joy of the Democrats was unbounded while the Republicans regarded it as the severest blow that their party has rec'd more disastrous than the national defeat of /56; for it looks to the County at large who do not understand the local issues upon which the contest went off as the New England sentiment was faltering in its devotion to the cause of non-extension of Slavery. "It is everywhere out of R.I. heralded as a Democratic triumph & hence inspires the Democrats while it depresses the Republicans. I hope that those deluded Republicans who voted for Sprague under the apprehension that they were not voting practically for the Democracy may be at some time able to forgive themselves and also receive the forgiveness of their country after due penance and probation. I am much obliged to you for the papers. "We are about foreclosing some of those Ohio notes and the delay is now caused by my inability to discover whether James Gregory's Thos. Bowen's & Anthony R. Jenkins' notes to your Father are paid or how much is paid on a/c of said notes. Do write me at once all you know. Uncle T. knows nothing about it. I have just rec'd the expected remittance from Brown on ac of the new sale of the 80 acre lot but have not yet Ex'd B's a/c. He says it took him all day to make it out and he hopes it is satisfactory. An a/c from Brown is a wonder indeed worth remarking. Do keep Aunt Addie a month. My love to Addie whom I hope to see soon. G.T.O. has gone to Newport 'via' Boston today. I saw Slater at the 5th Ave. Hotel on Thursday. Ma has just gone to P. Amboy. Aff'y W." A useful prewar political letter strongest for the writer's immediate reaction to the Rhode Island election of 1860 as understood from New York. Its interest lies less in the local election itself than in the way the result was taken as a national sign encouraging Democrats and discouraging Republicans over the issue of slavery's extension. . unknown
Best.-Nr. 005230No Place: No Publisher Single sided printed broadside approximately 380mm x 490mm in size no publisher no place but almost certainly Kendal n.d. c.1874. Creased with a couple of small tears to foot a couple of spots of foxing but generally clean. Probably for a municipal election in Kendal in 1874 Henry Thompson stood in the West Ward and Hargreaves in the East Ward. Not in Library Hub. First Edition. Unbound. Good. Elephant Folio. Broadside. No Publisher Paperback
Best.-Nr. A9789976973600Paperback / softback. New. paperback
Best.-Nr. 0331291606.Ghardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. hardcover
1804Best.-Nr. 030071New York City NY 1804. Signed by the inspectors John Townsend Samuel Stillwell and Robert McDermut in the Gubernatorial & Senate elections and providing the vote count for these offices. For Governor Morgan Lewis ran against Aaron Burr 1756 - 1836 revolutionary soldier U.S. senator and vice president of the United States. ".In 1804 the Republican leaders replaced Burr as the party's vice presidential candidate. That same year he ran for governor of New York against Morgan Lewis the regular Jeffersonian candidate. During the campaign Burr refused to accept assistance from New England Federalists in exchange for a promise to combine New York with New England in a secessionist scheme. In addition Hamilton continued his opposition to the vice president by circulating letters that contained disparaging remarks about Burr. Although most Federalists voted for the vice president despite Hamilton's remarks and Burr's opposition to disunion plans Lewis easily won the election with help from the Clinton and Livingston factions. Following the election Burr became increasingly angry at those he held responsible for his political downfall…Burr felt that the most effective response would be through the code duello. In June the vice president issued a challenge to Hamilton after Hamilton refused to make a comprehensive disclaimer of his derogatory comments of Burr uttered during the gubernatorial campaign. Hamilton accepted Burr's challenge and the two men met in Weehawken New Jersey on 11 July 1804. As a result Hamilton suffered a fatal wound as a ball lodged in his spine…Hamilton died the next day." Steven E. Siry in the ANB Approx. 8" x 12 1/2" size; age wear chipping and splitting along old lines; in about good condition. Manuscript. Good.
1772Best.-Nr. AQ12982Salisbury: Printed for and Sold by E. Easton 1772. 2 110pp. With a half-title. Bound with; An alphabetical list of the names of the persons Who polled for knights of the shire for the county of Wilts on the 18th 19th 20th and 21st of August 1772. Salisbury Printed and Sold by E. Easton 1772. 52pp 2 ads. Quarto. Handsomely bound by C. W. Rose in recent half morocco marbled boards gilt T.E.G. decorated endpapers. Very minor wear to extremities. Sporadic browning occasional ink annotations to margins and text sympathetic repair of tear to title of second work. Tables of eligible electors and their respective votes for the Wiltshire county poll of 1772 between candidates Ambrose Goddard and Henry Herbert. The latter polled well on the August 18th opening only to rapidly lose the majority over the next four days as Goddard's supporters rolled in to secure superiority of over two votes to one. When the poll closed it was said that Goddard had a substantial number of voters left. Given that half of Herbert's supporters polled on day one when no oath had been taken the likelihood is that Goddard's victory was even more decisive than the final count suggests. ESTC T180382 T122038. First edition. Printed for, and Sold by E. Easton hardcover
Best.-Nr. 1527919307.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
Best.-Nr. 1528026934.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
Best.-Nr. 1527915301.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
Best.-Nr. 1528111176.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
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