20 May 1843

Madison, Dolley, 1768-1849

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Quotation on love]

Six line poetic quotation on love. "Love should be pure harmless as pilgrims kisses on the shrines of virgin martyrs, . . ." Docket states "Mrs. D. P. Madison, lady of the late President, her own composition and writing."

GLC00163

December 8, 1810

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Peter Stephen Du Ponceau

Madison thanks Du Ponceau for a copy and commends his translation of Bynkershoek's "Treatise on the Law of War." Continues with the comments: "A nation which appeals to law, rather to force, is particularly bound to understand the use of the instrument by which it wishes to maintain its rights...When the sword alone is the law, there is less inconsistency if not more propriety in neglecting those Teachers of right and duty."

GLC00117

March 23, 1892

Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901

Letter signed

Title: to Charles Hedges

Harrison thanks Hedges for editing a copy of his speech and for a book of them which Hedges compiled. Harrison writes that "[t]he care you have taken in the arrangement of these extempore utterances and the good style in which the book is gotten up are very gratifying to me; and I beg to thank you for your interest as well as for the copy of the book sent me." The letter is written on lined executive stationery with header: Executive Mansion Washington. Stationery watermarked as The American Linen Paper. One bust engraving of Harrison included.

GLC00118.03

April 11, 1808

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander H. Everett

Thanks Everett, Adams' law apprentice, for a letter written in a classical language (Latin or Greek). Senator Adams praises the value of "ancient learning," but writes this letter in English because he has not used his knowledge of the ancient language in a long time and feels his skill may have diminished. He then comments on the law books Everett has read, specifically works by Lord Coke and Blackstone. He also recommends several other works for Everett to read. Adams concludes with some comments about his family.

GLC00125

circa 1776-1777

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph manuscript

Title: [Journal of William Ellery's journey from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Dighton, Massachusetts]

Signed "W.E." Discusses his travels and expenses through eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, southern New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Contains descriptions of Moravian settlements near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; imprisoned Tories at Newton, New Jersey; room and board at Fishkill, New York; and news of General William Howe's evacuation of New York. William Whipple accompanied him on his trip.

GLC00107.01

1794

Stiles, Ezra, 1727-1795

Book

Title: A history of three of the judges of King Charles I: Major-General Whalley, Major-General Goffe, and Colonel Dixwell. . .[Inscribed by William Ellery].

Title continues: "who, at the Restoration, 1660, fled to America, and were secreted and concealed, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, for near thirty years; with an account of Mr. Theophilus Whale, of Narragansett, supposed to have been also one of the judges." Signed by Ellery on the title page, with the date, 1795. Extensively annotated and commented upon in the margins, Ellery takes issue with many of Stiles's comments about contemporary events. Stiles was President of Yale College from 1778 until 1795. A Member of the Continental Congress from 1776 until 1785, William Ellery was a…

GLC00111

January 4, 1930

Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933

Typed letter signed

Title: to Mabel T. R. Washburn

Answers a genealogical inquiry on the Moors and Davises, possibly for a book Washburn is writing. Typed on Coolidge's personal stationery with header Calvin Coolidge/Northampton Massachusetts. Stationery watermarked "R CO HOLYOKE." One black and white bust engraving of Coolidge included.

GLC00118.08

March 14, 1830

Tyler, John, 1790-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary Tyler

John Tyler eeplies to his daughter concerning a discussion of the Duke of Marlborough and Charles XII of Sweden. He then proceeds to discuss English writers and Joseph Addison's and Richard Steele's Sir Roger De Coverley papers. Writes that he hopes to be home next Sunday but advises her not to expect him as his movements are uncertain.

GLC00128

1799

Adams, Hannah, 1755-1831

Book

Title: Summary history of New-England

Title continues: "from the First Settlement at Plymouth, to the acceptance of the Federal Constitution. Comprehending a General Sketch of the American War." First edition, printed by H. Mann and J.H. Adams of Dedham, Massachusetts, for the author. Signed by the subscriber, Eliza Price. Collateral to John Adams, Defence of the Constitutions (see GLC00177.01). Rebacked.

GLC00177.02

February 3, 1829

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Poem

Title: to Miss Anna McKnight

A poem in which he expresses his attachment to her and asks her to consider him a true and honest friend: "My pulses, mix'd emotions blend, unchang'd by wind or weather. Of lover-brother-father-friend, to take them all together." Adams was President of the United States from 1825 until March 1829.

GLC00209

May 27, 1776

Wendell, John, 1731-1808

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Written by Wendell, a wealthy, well-connected merchant in New Hampshire to an unknown recipient. References a previous letter he wrote that mentioned political sentiments. Does not go into detail. Mentions a report of the broken American siege of Quebec. General Guy Carleton had defeated the Americans under General John Thomas on May 6, 1776. Says Canada must be won or the cause will fail. Claims the British now have "very interesting Advantages" and fears they will press them. Says if they receive the support of the Canadian interests then it will be beyond the power of the Americans to…

GLC00252

1902

Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891

Header Record

Title: The anti-slavery papers of James Russell Lowell.

First edition. No. 141 of a Limited edition of 525 copies. Uncut and unopened. Published by Houghton Mifflin and Company.

GLC00267.013

1863

Cairnes, John Elliott, 1823-1875

Book

Title: The Slave-power: Its character, career and probable designs: Being an attempt to explain the real issues involved in the America contest.

Second edition. Published by Macmillan and Company. Contains pencil notes on title page. Includes dedication to John Stuart Mill: "...the opportunity of connecting my name in public with that of one from whose works I have profited more largely than from those of any other living writer, was one which I could not easily forego."

GLC00267.014

1857

Helper, Hinton R., 1829-1906

Book

Title: The Impending crisis of the South: How to meet it

First edition. Signed as presented by Samuel A. Winsor. Published by the Burkick Brothers, New York. Bookplate removed. In 1857, Hinton Rowan Helper, the son of a western North Carolina farmer, published one of the most politically influential books ever written by an American. 'The Impending Crisis of the South' argued that slavery was incompatible with economic progress. Using statistics drawn from the 1850 census, Helper maintained that by every measure the North was growing far faster than the South and that slavery was the cause of the South's economic backwardness. Helper's thesis…

GLC00267.074

1863

Kemble, Fanny, 1809-1893

Book

Title: Journal of a residence on a Georgian plantation in 1838-1839.

First edition, first issue. Published by Harper & Brothers. Text is 337 pages followed by ten pages of advertisements for new Harper & Brothers' books.

GLC00267.072

1860

Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822-1903

Book

Title: A journey in the back country.

Volume III of Our Slave States. Previous documentation indicates this is a first edition. Published by Mason Brothers. Introduction begins: "This is the third volume of a work, the first of which was a narrative of a journey in the sea-board districts of the older slave States; the second, of a rapid tour west of the Alleghanies, and of a winter spent in Texas. This volume concludes and somewhat focalizes the observations of those, its narrative being, in part, of the hill-country people, and mainly of those who are engaged in, or are most directly affected by, the great business of the…

GLC00267.073

1857

Helper, Hinton R., 1829-1906

Book

Title: The impending crisis of the South: how to meet it.

Cited as "Fourth thousand" above publisher information. Previous documentation indicates this is a first edition. Published by Burdick Brothers. Signed on inner front cover by B.B. Eldridge. Introduction states: "it has been no part of my purpose to cast unmerited opprobrium upon slaveholders, or to display any special friendliness or sympathy for the blacks... An irrepressibly active desire to do something to elevate the South to an honorable and powerful position among the enlightened quarters of the globe, has been the great leading principle... in the preparation of the present volume…

GLC00267.075

1867

Helper, Hinton R., 1829-1906

Book

Title: Nojoque; a question for a continent.

Published by George W. Carleton & Company. In the introduction, Helper states, "Were I to state here, frankly and categorically, that the primary object of this work is to write the negro out of America, and that the secondary object is to write him (and manifold millions of other black and bicolored caitiffs, little better than himself,) out of existence, God's simple truth would be told..." Includes several signatures and notes of ownership related to the Sperry family.

GLC00267.076

26 March 1918

Harding, Warren G., 1865-1923

Document signed

Title: Quit claim deed

Cosigned by Harding's wife Florence. Countersigned by Charles F. Pace and Eugene Colwell as witnesses. Pace signs twice as Notary Public of the United States Senate. Also signed by Auditor Harry E. Mason, citing the 6 April 1918 transfer of this document. The Hardings release their interest in the Harding Publishing Company, located in Marion, Ohio, for the sum of one dollar.

GLC00477.04

circa December 1870

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Frederick Douglass

Dated "Thursday." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (who had a home in Nahant) informed Sumner that false words about Douglass had been attributed to Sumner. Sumner clarifies that he stated that whatever Douglass may think of the "Presidential indignity" every one had a right to express their opinion "in as much as it concerned race."

GLC00470.02

1886

Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 1833-1908

Letter

Title: Lithographic letter requesting autograph

Hopes to insert into his private copy of "Poets of America" original drafts or autographic copies of poems by the authors represented in the book. He is also collecting engravings of the authors, and asks his correspondent to send a photograph if such an engraving does not exist. Unsigned, but name penciled in at bottom.

GLC00496.033.04

July 18, 1822

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Ronaldson

Docketed by Ronaldson. Jefferson compares the specimens (probably Ronaldson and Binney no. 1) to those used in a book in the mid-eighteenth century, and is cheered by the prospect of human progress. Ronaldson-Binney's first typeface was the first typeface designed in America and became the basis for "Monticello" the font used for printing the modern edition of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

GLC00496.042

April 15, 1831

Lee, Sarah, 1791-1856

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Delivers an account of her travels. Mentions her respect for Thomas Pringle.

GLC00496.187

May 27, 1834

Lockhart, J.G., 1794-1854

Autograph note signed

Title: to unknown

Comments on recipient's recent book. Requests information on Sir Walter Scott.

GLC00496.188

January 23, 1848

Lover, Samuel, 1797-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to J.M. Dawson

Describes the reception of his poem in New York City and Philadelphia. Discusses Broadway and the New York theatre scene. Affixed to verso is a satirical letter from Dawson dated February 25, 1854 presenting Lover with a diamond ring.

GLC00496.189