Amos Lawrence; William R. Lawrence [ed.]

Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence of the Late Amos Lawrence; With a Brief Account of Some Incidents in His Life [Signed and Inscribed by William to his nephew Amory A. Lawrence]

Boston: John Wilson & Son, 1855. Very Good. Item #25433

Boston: John Wilson & Son, 1855. First Edition. Signed by the editor (Amos' son) on flyleaf to his nephew with inscription "Amory A. Lawrence, From his aff. uncle William. Boston May 16th 1855"

Octavo (9.5" x 5.75"); xii, 307pp. Three plates with tissue guards including portrait frontis, all present. Green leather boards with gilt rules, spine lettering, and edge ornamentation; marbled endpapers. Boards rubbed along edges, corners, and along spine. Joints tender with splits just starting at spine ends, but still holding. Some light to moderate offsetting opposite plates despite tissue guards, with some very sparse foxing scattered throughout. Faint dampstain at bottom corner of final 40ish pages, remaining in the margin and not touching text. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.

Excerpts from the journals and letters of Groton-born dry goods / textile merchant and philanthropist Amos Lawrence (1786-1852). His son Amos Adams Lawrence -- brother of our editor William and father of this copy's signee, Amory Appleton Lawrence -- was a social activist and abolitionist, donating money to the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company and rifles to the Jayhawkers in Kansas, as well as a businessman and philanthropist like his father, notably setting up the initial endowment to found the University of Kansas in his namesake town. Amory continued the in family's merchant tradition while also working in banking, the railroad, and acting as overseer of Harvard College from 1906 until his death in 1912.

[Sabin 39384].

Price: $450.00