John Marshall

The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War Which Established the Independence of His Country, and the First President of the United States [Two Volumes + Atlas, complete]

Philadelphia: James Crissy, 1832. Very Good. Item #11624

Philadelphia: James Crissy, 1832. Second Edition. Two octavo volumes + Atlas with maps. iv, 460 pp., 42, viii; 448 pp., 32, v, [4 pp. publisher's advertisements]; atlas unpaginated with 10 maps, all with some hand coloring. Two volumes in full contemporary calf with leather spine labels; atlas quarter morocco with marbled boards and gilt lettering to spine.

Autograph letter signed from John Kirk to his fellow Germantown, PA Mermaid Club member Edwin C. Jellett tipped in, in which Kirk begins, rather sweetly, "My Dear Edwin, Will you be good enough to put these books on your shelf as a very slight testimony of my regard for you..." and continues with praise of Jellett's character, comparing it even to that of Washington. Two quotations added to the front of each volume from Kirk (Tennyson and Whittier, respectively.)

Jellett was an engineer and botanist and served as president of the Mermaid Club. Kirk was a historian and served as secretary for the historian William H. Prescott, editing his works after Prescott's death.

Boards worn with brief exposure and general rubbing. Bindings are sound. Spotting and toning to pages. Pages of atlas a bit stiff with some rippling.

Begun after his appointment to the Supreme Court, Marshall would continue to edit the work (down from the initial five volume publication) throughout his tenure as Chief Justice. The biography was called "indispensable" by Sabin.

[Sabin 44789].

Price: $750.00