Details
WASHINGTON, GEORGE, President. Autograph manuscript leaf from the first draft of the FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, consisting of pages 59 and 60, comprising approximately 322 words in Washington's hand, n.p., n.d. [1789]. 2 pages, 4to, 228 x 185mm. (9 x 7 1/4 in.), written on the recto and verso of a single leaf, paginated "59" and "60" by Washington in upper left-hand corner of each page, a small tear at upper margin, three minute punctures in left margin (where once sewn in a binding?), otherwise in very good condition, marbled paper and red morocco folding protective chemise, red morocco slipcase, upper cover gilt-lettered.
WASHINGTON ON THE NATURAL RESOURCES AND NATIONAL DESTINY OF AMERICA: "WE SHOULD NOT...WISH TO AGGRANDIZE OUR OWN REPUBLIC AT THE EXPENCE OF THE FREEDOM & HAPPINESS OF THE REST OF MANKIND..."
In preparation for his inauguration as President on 30 April in New York, Washington meticulously drafted an address--serious in content and dignified in tone--giving detailed consideration to a host of crucial issues facing the new nation: the implementation of the new Constitution, the organization of the judiciary, the nature of the office of the President and problems of national defense, international trade and commerce; in each area specifying legislative initiatives he felt should be undertaken by Congress. As the inauguration drew nearer, though, Washington decided the speech was too long, contained too many controversial ideas and was perhaps too radical for the momentous occasion. Assisted by James Madison, Washington drafted a new, very brief address (see Papers, Presidential Series, ed. D. Twohig, 2:173-177, for that text). The original address was relegated to his files and to our great loss, only a handful of leaves and fragmentary leaves survive today. Ignored for many years, the few surviving leaves of the unused address contain many striking passages and are of considerable interest for revealing Washington's thoughts and intended policies on the threshold of his inauguration as President. A comparison of the text of these portions of the original draft with the rewritten version reveals "an underlying similarity of thoughts rather than words, although numerous recommendations to Congress appear in the unused draft. It is quite logical to assume...that the replacement was used for two strong reasons: the original speech with its multiple recommendations to Congress was too radical and far too long" (Nathaniel E. Stein, "The Discarded Inaugural Address of George Washington," in Manuscripts; The First Twenty Years, pp. 239-254).
In the present leaf, Washington considers the problem of developing the United States' resources independently of other nations. On page 58 (see Papers, op. cit), Washington observes that America "...shall not soon become a manufacturing nation. Because men are even better pleased with labouring on their farms, than in their workshops. Even the mechanics who come from Europe, as soon as they can procure a little land of their own, commonly turn Cultivators. Hence it will be found more beneficial, I believe, to continue to [page 59:] exchange our Staple commodities for the finer manufactures we want, than to undertake to make them ourselves. Many articles, however, in wool, flax, cotton & hemp; and all in leather, iron, fur and wood may be fabricated at home with great advantage. If the quantity of wool, flax, cotton & hemp should be encreased to ten fold its present amount (as it easily could be) I apprehend the whole might in a short time be manufactured. Especially by the introduction of machines for multiplying the effects of labour, in diminishing the number of hands employed upon it. But it will rest with you to investigate what proficiency we are capable of making in manufactures, and what encouragement should be given to particular branches of them. In almost every House, much spinning might be done by hands which otherwise would be in a manner idle.
[p.60:] "It remains for you to make out of a Country poor in the precious metals and comparatively thin of inhabitants a flourishing State. But here it is particularly incumbent on me to express my idea of a flourishing state with precision; and to distinguish between happiness & splendour. The people of this Country may doubtless enjoy all the great blessings of the social state: and yet United America may not for a long time to come make a brilliant figure as a nation among the nations of the earth. Should this be the case, and should the people be actuated by principles of true magnanimity, they will not suffer their ambition to be awakened. They should guard against ambition as against their greatest enemy. We should not, in imitation of some nations which have been celebrated for a false kind of patriotism, wish to aggrandize our own Republic at the expence of the freedom & happiness of the rest of mankind. The prospect that the Americans will not act upon so narrow a scale affords the most comfortable [p.61:] reflections to a benevolent mind..."
The manuscript of the first draft of Washington's inaugural address originally consisted of 64 pages; in 1827 it passed into the hands of Jared Sparks (1789-1866), editor of The Writings of George Washington, (1834-1837). Sparks began to dismember the manuscript, giving or trading away separate leaves and, when these ran out, half-leaves and small strips, to those who requested a sample of the President's handwriting. Tragically, most of the leaves given away so magnanimously by Sparks are now lost. According to the most thorough register of surviving fragments and leaves, thirteen complete leaves can be located (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series, ed. D. Twohig, 2:159-173). Surviving leaves published therein comprise pages 5-6, 15-16, 19-20, 21-22, 23-24, 27-28, 29-30, 33-34, 45-46, 47-48, 57-58, 59-60 and 61-62 (Stein's 1958 census recorded 11 leaves, 12 half-pages and two three-line fragments.) An additional previously unrecorded page (leaf 49-50) was sold at Christie's, New York, 20 May 1994, lot 95, $180,000). A number of the extant leaves are in permanent institutional collections.
Provenance:
1. Jared Sparks (1789-1866) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, editor, historian and manuscript collector. In 1827, Sparks borrowed from Washington's nephew Bushrod (in exchange for a share in the profits from his book) as many as eight cartons of Washington's original manuscripts at Mount Vernon for his research. When George Corbin Washington, the heir of Justice Washington, sold the public papers of the President of the United States, in 1837, Sparks was given permission to keep 'a few autographs,' which undoubtedly included the manuscript of the undelivered inaugural.
2. Nathaniel E. Stein (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 25 January 1979, lot 189, illustrated).
WASHINGTON ON THE NATURAL RESOURCES AND NATIONAL DESTINY OF AMERICA: "WE SHOULD NOT...WISH TO AGGRANDIZE OUR OWN REPUBLIC AT THE EXPENCE OF THE FREEDOM & HAPPINESS OF THE REST OF MANKIND..."
In preparation for his inauguration as President on 30 April in New York, Washington meticulously drafted an address--serious in content and dignified in tone--giving detailed consideration to a host of crucial issues facing the new nation: the implementation of the new Constitution, the organization of the judiciary, the nature of the office of the President and problems of national defense, international trade and commerce; in each area specifying legislative initiatives he felt should be undertaken by Congress. As the inauguration drew nearer, though, Washington decided the speech was too long, contained too many controversial ideas and was perhaps too radical for the momentous occasion. Assisted by James Madison, Washington drafted a new, very brief address (see Papers, Presidential Series, ed. D. Twohig, 2:173-177, for that text). The original address was relegated to his files and to our great loss, only a handful of leaves and fragmentary leaves survive today. Ignored for many years, the few surviving leaves of the unused address contain many striking passages and are of considerable interest for revealing Washington's thoughts and intended policies on the threshold of his inauguration as President. A comparison of the text of these portions of the original draft with the rewritten version reveals "an underlying similarity of thoughts rather than words, although numerous recommendations to Congress appear in the unused draft. It is quite logical to assume...that the replacement was used for two strong reasons: the original speech with its multiple recommendations to Congress was too radical and far too long" (Nathaniel E. Stein, "The Discarded Inaugural Address of George Washington," in Manuscripts; The First Twenty Years, pp. 239-254).
In the present leaf, Washington considers the problem of developing the United States' resources independently of other nations. On page 58 (see Papers, op. cit), Washington observes that America "...shall not soon become a manufacturing nation. Because men are even better pleased with labouring on their farms, than in their workshops. Even the mechanics who come from Europe, as soon as they can procure a little land of their own, commonly turn Cultivators. Hence it will be found more beneficial, I believe, to continue to [page 59:] exchange our Staple commodities for the finer manufactures we want, than to undertake to make them ourselves. Many articles, however, in wool, flax, cotton & hemp; and all in leather, iron, fur and wood may be fabricated at home with great advantage. If the quantity of wool, flax, cotton & hemp should be encreased to ten fold its present amount (as it easily could be) I apprehend the whole might in a short time be manufactured. Especially by the introduction of machines for multiplying the effects of labour, in diminishing the number of hands employed upon it. But it will rest with you to investigate what proficiency we are capable of making in manufactures, and what encouragement should be given to particular branches of them. In almost every House, much spinning might be done by hands which otherwise would be in a manner idle.
[p.60:] "It remains for you to make out of a Country poor in the precious metals and comparatively thin of inhabitants a flourishing State. But here it is particularly incumbent on me to express my idea of a flourishing state with precision; and to distinguish between happiness & splendour. The people of this Country may doubtless enjoy all the great blessings of the social state: and yet United America may not for a long time to come make a brilliant figure as a nation among the nations of the earth. Should this be the case, and should the people be actuated by principles of true magnanimity, they will not suffer their ambition to be awakened. They should guard against ambition as against their greatest enemy. We should not, in imitation of some nations which have been celebrated for a false kind of patriotism, wish to aggrandize our own Republic at the expence of the freedom & happiness of the rest of mankind. The prospect that the Americans will not act upon so narrow a scale affords the most comfortable [p.61:] reflections to a benevolent mind..."
The manuscript of the first draft of Washington's inaugural address originally consisted of 64 pages; in 1827 it passed into the hands of Jared Sparks (1789-1866), editor of The Writings of George Washington, (1834-1837). Sparks began to dismember the manuscript, giving or trading away separate leaves and, when these ran out, half-leaves and small strips, to those who requested a sample of the President's handwriting. Tragically, most of the leaves given away so magnanimously by Sparks are now lost. According to the most thorough register of surviving fragments and leaves, thirteen complete leaves can be located (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series, ed. D. Twohig, 2:159-173). Surviving leaves published therein comprise pages 5-6, 15-16, 19-20, 21-22, 23-24, 27-28, 29-30, 33-34, 45-46, 47-48, 57-58, 59-60 and 61-62 (Stein's 1958 census recorded 11 leaves, 12 half-pages and two three-line fragments.) An additional previously unrecorded page (leaf 49-50) was sold at Christie's, New York, 20 May 1994, lot 95, $180,000). A number of the extant leaves are in permanent institutional collections.
Provenance:
1. Jared Sparks (1789-1866) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, editor, historian and manuscript collector. In 1827, Sparks borrowed from Washington's nephew Bushrod (in exchange for a share in the profits from his book) as many as eight cartons of Washington's original manuscripts at Mount Vernon for his research. When George Corbin Washington, the heir of Justice Washington, sold the public papers of the President of the United States, in 1837, Sparks was given permission to keep 'a few autographs,' which undoubtedly included the manuscript of the undelivered inaugural.
2. Nathaniel E. Stein (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 25 January 1979, lot 189, illustrated).