![[WASHINGTON, George]. GORDON, Thomas. Another Cordial For Low Spirits: By Mr. Gordon and Others. Vol II. London: R. Griffiths, at the Dunciad, in St. Paul's Church-Yard. 1751.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2005/NYR/2005_NYR_01587_0269_000(112558).jpg?w=1)
THE PROPERTY OF DR. WILLIAM COLEMAN
PRESIDENTIAL SIGNED OR INSCRIBED BOOKS (Lots 269-280)
[WASHINGTON, George]. GORDON, Thomas. Another Cordial For Low Spirits: By Mr. Gordon and Others. Vol II. London: R. Griffiths, at the Dunciad, in St. Paul's Church-Yard. 1751.
Details
[WASHINGTON, George]. GORDON, Thomas. Another Cordial For Low Spirits: By Mr. Gordon and Others. Vol II. London: R. Griffiths, at the Dunciad, in St. Paul's Church-Yard. 1751.
12mo (6.38 x 3 7/8 in.). General title, sectional titles for each of the 9 tracts comprising the collection (occasional minor browning). Contemporary mottled polished calf, covers with gilt-ruled borders, spine sparingly gilt (rubbed, front joint cracked). In ca.1940 straight-grained morocco solander case; recent dark red levant morocoo clamshell case.
SIGNED "G:WASHINGTON" AT THE TOP CORNER OF THE TITLEPAGE. This would constitutes one of the earliest printed books owned by Washington and, if it was signed at or about the date of publication, as it appears from the style of signature, may represent one of the young Virginian's first book acquisitions. The early signature is more upright and more condensed than later examples, and uses a cursive lowercase "s" (as do his surveys of this period), replaced in the late 1750s by a more elegant long "s." The signature is reminiscent of the signatures on Washington's early survey manuscripts (see, for example the 1751 survey in the Forbes Collection, sale, Christie's, 27 March 2003, lot 10), although those tend to have a self-consciously decorative quality not expected of an ownership signature in a book.
Gordon, a Scotsman, translated Tacitus, Sallust and Cicero, and contributed pamphlets and articles to various religious and political controversies. Collected here are such essays as "The True Picture of a Modern Tory," "A Vindication of the Quakers," and "The Creed of an Independant Whig." The book is noted in Lane, Inventory of Washington's Library, p.490 as ("an additional title not included on the original inventory").
Provenance: George Washington -- Bushrod Washington (1762-1829, by bequest) -- John A. Washington, Jr. (1820-1861, by bequest) -- Lawrence Washington (1854-1920, by bequest, his sale of Washingtoniana, Thomas and Sons, Philadelphia, 28 November 1876, lot 134) -- Howard Edwards -- A.S.W. Rosenbach, cited in his "The Libraries of the Presidents of the United States," in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, October 1934, p.6) and in Book Hunter's Holiday, p.134) -- The present owner.
12mo (6.38 x 3 7/8 in.). General title, sectional titles for each of the 9 tracts comprising the collection (occasional minor browning). Contemporary mottled polished calf, covers with gilt-ruled borders, spine sparingly gilt (rubbed, front joint cracked). In ca.1940 straight-grained morocco solander case; recent dark red levant morocoo clamshell case.
SIGNED "G:WASHINGTON" AT THE TOP CORNER OF THE TITLEPAGE. This would constitutes one of the earliest printed books owned by Washington and, if it was signed at or about the date of publication, as it appears from the style of signature, may represent one of the young Virginian's first book acquisitions. The early signature is more upright and more condensed than later examples, and uses a cursive lowercase "s" (as do his surveys of this period), replaced in the late 1750s by a more elegant long "s." The signature is reminiscent of the signatures on Washington's early survey manuscripts (see, for example the 1751 survey in the Forbes Collection, sale, Christie's, 27 March 2003, lot 10), although those tend to have a self-consciously decorative quality not expected of an ownership signature in a book.
Gordon, a Scotsman, translated Tacitus, Sallust and Cicero, and contributed pamphlets and articles to various religious and political controversies. Collected here are such essays as "The True Picture of a Modern Tory," "A Vindication of the Quakers," and "The Creed of an Independant Whig." The book is noted in Lane, Inventory of Washington's Library, p.490 as ("an additional title not included on the original inventory").
Provenance: George Washington -- Bushrod Washington (1762-1829, by bequest) -- John A. Washington, Jr. (1820-1861, by bequest) -- Lawrence Washington (1854-1920, by bequest, his sale of Washingtoniana, Thomas and Sons, Philadelphia, 28 November 1876, lot 134) -- Howard Edwards -- A.S.W. Rosenbach, cited in his "The Libraries of the Presidents of the United States," in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, October 1934, p.6) and in Book Hunter's Holiday, p.134) -- The present owner.