WASHINGTON'S MONUMENTS OF PATRIOTISM
First edition of this collection of documents and writing by Washington published in the wake of his death, a work that helped shape his enduring image and legacy.
Very good plus.
Price: $3,200.00
WASHINGTON'S MONUMENTS OF PATRIOTISM
"Yet the dark night of the tomb shall not obscure the lustre of his fame – and, when brass and marble shall have fallen into decay, the sweet remembrance of his virtues, passing in proud transmission to remotest ages, shall endure forever."
There are few historical figures as key to the US patriotic identity as George Washington. Venerated and mythologized even in life, after his death in 1799, his status as the embodiment of US values grew exponentially. As he was mourned across the county, publications of eulogies for Washington became big business – Margaret Bingham Stillwell's bibliography of them notes that 440 were published in the three months after his passing.
J. Ormrod, the publisher of WASHINGTON'S MONUMENTS OF PATRIOTISM, writes that he hopes "these invaluable papers will be regarded as the sacred admonitions of 'an affectionate Father to a beloved Family'"; Major William Jackson also uses paternal language in his eulogy that follows, naming Washington as a "Father, Guide, and Protector" (pages iv and 7). The combination of Washington's own writings with Jackson's eulogy serves to present evidence for Washington's status as a beloved hero while tugging on US heartstrings to drive the point home.
A fascinating work published while emotions were running high, WASHINGTON'S MONUMENTS OF PATRIOTISM gives us a glimpse of the process of legend-making.
Read more: Margaret Bingham Stillwell, Washington Eulogies, item 248; Wright Howes, U.S.iana, item W148; English Short Title Catalogue 29688; Charles Evans, American Bibliography, item 39021; Joseph Sabin, A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, item 10148.
The Object
Philadelphia: J. Ormrod, 1800. Full title: Washington's Monuments of Patriotism, Being a Collection of the Most Interesting Documents, Connected with the Military Command and Civil Administration of the American Hero and Patriot. To Which is Annexed, An Eulogium on the Character of General Washington. Octavo in fours; 8.25'' x 5''. Contemporary brown tree calf binding with gilt tooling and red label to spine. Marbled endpapers. Engraved portrait frontispiece with one engraved plate. viii, 338, 44 pages, collated complete; page 329 misnumbered 339 (as issued). Owner name "George W. Franz" and likely shelfmark stamped to first blank. Binding with some edgewear and scuffing, light rubbing to spine and joints. Leaves with occasional soiling to margins, scattered foxing; pinprick holes to the margins of frontispiece. Tight overall.
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