History
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REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS ON PORTLAND HARBOR, ACCOMPANIED BY STATISTICS OF COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, &C. OFTHE STATE OF MAINE, AND CITY OF PORTLAND, AND BY PROCEEDINGS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT
Joseph G. TOTTEN ET AL Totten et al, Joseph G. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS ON PORTLAND HARBOR, ACCOMPANIED BY STATISTICS OF COMMERCE, RAILWAYS, &C. OFTHE STATE OF MAINE, AND CITY OF PORTLAND, AND BY PROCEEDINGS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT. Portland: Printed by David Tucker, 1855. 8vo., cloth with stamped design and with title stamped…
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Abraham Lincoln Signed Check to “William Johnson (Colored),” the President’s Valet, Who Accompanied Him to Antietam and Gettysburg
William Henry Johnson was a free black servant who accompanied the president-elect on his journey from Springfield to Washington, D.C., while Lincoln was under threat of assassination. Lincoln’s identification of Johnson as “Colored” would facilitate the latter’s cashing of the check. On arrival in the capital, Lincoln found employment for Johnson stoking the furnace of the…
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William Henry Harrison Four-Language Sea Letter Signed as President
An incredible rarity. Fewer than 40 of Harrison’s presidential signatures are known to exist in any format, from complete to partial letters and documents, down to clipped signatures that retain some proof of the date. Of those, only a dozen or so complete documents signed as president are known in private hands. Succumbing to pneumonia…
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Thomas Jefferson’s Premature Hope for Reconciliation with John Adams, Sparked by the Death of Jefferson’s Daughter
A remarkable, poignant letter from Jefferson’s presidency, prematurely anticipating reconciliation with his predecessor and longtime compatriot, though he still holds one grudge. “He & myself have gone through so many scenes together…that I have never withdrawn my esteem, and I am happy that this letter gives an opportunity of expressing it to both of them.…
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President John Adams Reflects on Presidential Leadership
A wistful letter to a Harvard friend in which Adams mentions some guileful political colleagues and laments the “popular Passions of the times” and the general neglect of his political writings. “The Difficulty of leading or guiding Millions, by any means but Power and Establishments can be known only to those who have tried Experiments…
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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…