LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Nov. Marketplace Auction #87111  / 

90228

19th Century Letters With Excellent Content

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 150.00 USD
19th Century Letters With Excellent Content
<B>Group of 19th Century Letters With Excellent Content</B></I>. Three letters including a one page autograph letter undated and unsigned, 8” x 11.25”, circa 1850s, in which the writer extols the growing prosperity of the country, begins with a poem, discusses western expansion, increased power, wealth, and gives a brief commentary on the “<I>red man</B></I>”: “<I>The red man is seen retiring from the shore of the Atlantic to the mountains, and from the mountains to the far-off Western region; not, however, until he is brought into terrible conflict with the intruder, to retain the land of his fathers; and in their stead a population of industrious freemen who would distain to be the subjects of the proudest sovereign on earth…</B></I>”, with the usual fold creases, else fine; a two page autograph letter signed “<I>John Livingston</B></I>”, 8.5” x 10.75”, August 6, 1853, New York, in which the writer, author of a multi-volume set of works entitled <I>Portraits of</B></I> <I>Eminent Americans Now Living</B></I>, solicits a memoir and daguerreotype from a gentleman for inclusion in his next volume in the series, with the usual fold creases, slightly toned, else near fine; and a two page manuscript signed “<I>C. W. S.</B></I>”, 7.25” x 9”, January 1, 1862, in which the writer no doubt expresses the uncertainty that many Americans must have felt after the close of the first year of the Civil War. He divides the manuscript into two distinct parts with his or her thoughts at the beginning of 1862 and reflections at the end of 1862. The hopes for the coming year start with guarded optimism: “<I>To us the year’s unknown, whether our cup be one of joy unmixed with drops of sorrow, or one of sorrow, but slightly sweetened by the joy of time…</B></I>”, and on assessing the year gives way to resignation that sorrow will be the staple: “<I>…sorrow and sighing have filled the land…hopes have perished…how frequently death with pointed dart…claimed his victim…</B></I>”. There is a significant loss in the first third of the manuscript and there are the usual fold creases, else it is legible and an important contemporary record of the typical American experience during the early stages of the Civil War.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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