Americana
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John Jay Appoints Richard Varick as Mayor of New York City
John Jay—Declaration signer, Continental Congress President, Governor, First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court—appoints the mayor who saw New York City’s population double during his tenure. “The People of the State of New York, by the grace of God free and independent.… Do nominate, constitute and appoint the said Richard Varick to be Mayor…
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George Washington Signed Military Commission, Preparing for a Decisive Battle Against Native Americans and the British in the Midwest
George Washington-signed military commissions are rare on the market, and we do not recall ever seeing a more attractive example. Two weeks after his second inauguration, President Washington appoints William Winston as Captain of Light Dragoons. By the time Winston joined the army in the Northwest Territory, he had been promoted to command the entire…
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President Washington’s Addresses to Congress and the Public, Including His Famous “to bigotry no sanction” Letter
A remarkable collection of Washington’s presidential speeches and letters, including his inaugural address, all of his annual messages to Congress (State of the Union addresses), and his farewell to his Revolutionary War armies. “It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people,…
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The Bill of Rights: Congressman and Future Speaker of the House Theodore Sedgwick’s Copy in 1789 Journal of the Senate
An incredible rarity with unique association to one of the people who played an active role in creating the first laws of the United States of America. The Bill of Rights appeared in two 1789 book printings —this Senate Journal and the Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States—both printed soon after the…
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George Washington’s First Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation
In the musical HAMILTON, King George III warns the Patriots, “I will kill your friends and family to remind you of my love.” Lin Manuel Miranda thus captured a reality of thousands of years of human history: governments existed for the sake of the rulers. This Thanksgiving Proclamation shows that America was meant to be…
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The Penultimate Draft of the Bill of Rights—Still Finalizing What Became the First Amendment
This issue of the Gazette of the United States prints the proposed constitutional amendments approved by the U.S. Senate on September 9, before a joint committee worked out the final details. Both houses finalized the twelve proposed amendments by joint resolution two days after the issue appeared. “Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith, or…
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George Washington’s “Justice & the Public Good” Letter, Written a Month Before His Inauguration as President of the United States
The still unofficial president-elect George Washington writes about his determination to go into the presidency ready to judge purely the qualifications of every appointment. Washington referred to the standard of “justice & the public good” only a few times in his writings. The present letter is the only example we know of that has ever reached the…
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Samuel Huntington Signed Connecticut Laws, Heavily Annotated Noting Legislative Changes
The volume begins with the Royal Charter granted by King Charles II in 1662, followed by the Articles of Confederation, and then a compilation of the governing acts for Connecticut through 1786, including key legislation that ultimately ended slavery in the state. “And whereas sound Policy requires that the Abolition of Slavery should be effected…
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ANON. (PENN. JOHN. Founder of the Outinian Society, edits: — RICHARDSON. JONATHAN, – secretary to the Society).
THE GENERAL ADDRESS (IN TWO PARTS) OF THE OUTINIAN LECTURER TO HIS AUDITORS. Periodically read by him as a lecture during the season in London and descriptive of the institution of the Outinian Society in the hundredth year after the death of the benevolent William Penn, and the year of the second peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, to…
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PROHIBTION COCKTAIL BOOK
AMERICANA. Eight Cocktail Napkins, Hand Blocked, with Recipes and the Histories of Eight Famous Drinks. NP. No Date. Circa 1925. FIRST, AND ONLY, EDITION. Oblong octavo. Illustrated with 8 hand blocked, hand coloured cocktail napkins mounted into the book among text pages. White printed boards with later plain burgundy cloth tape spine. Light soiling to…