LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Feb Grand Format Book & Manuscript #682  / 

56107

Charles Francis Adams John Abigail Jefferson

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:290.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 900.00 USD
Charles Francis Adams John Abigail Jefferson
<B>Charles Francis Adams Autograph Manuscript</B></I>, 1.25 pages, 7.5" x 12.25", front and verso. No place, no year. We feel that this is an early draft of excerpts from Charles Francis Adams' work, <I>Letters of Mrs. Adams, The Wife of John Adams. With an Introductory Memoir by her Grandson, Charles Francis Adams.</B></I> by Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1840) in Adams' hand, with "<I>Charles Francis Adams</B></I>" in the text, possibly written for the publishers. It is headed "<I>Memoirs</B></I>" and, while the top portion appears in the introduction to the published 1840 work on pages xx and xxi, it has been expanded. In this manuscript, C.F. Adams writes about his grandmother, in part: "<I>Her father the Revd. William Smith, was the settled minister of the Congregational Church at Weymouth, for more than forty years and until his death. Her mother Elizabeth Quincy was the granddaughter of the Revd. John Norton. Her maternal grandfather John Quincy was the grandson of Thomas Shepard, Minister of Charleston. A. Smith was born in the Town of Weymouth on the 11th Nov. 1744 - in a letter written in 1817-the year before her death, speaking of her own deficiencies...</B></I>" In the 1840 published book, Adams writes: "<I>Her father, the Reverend William Smith, was the settled minister of the Congregational Church at Weymouth, for more than forty years and until his death. Her mother, Elizabeth Quincy, was the granddaughter of the Reverend John Norton</B></I>, long pastor of a church of the same denomination in the neighbouring town of Hingham, and the nephew of John Norton, well known in the annals of the colony. <I>Her maternal grandfather, John Quincy, was the grandson of Thomas Shepard, minister of Charleston</B></I>, distinguished in his day, and the son of the more distinguished Thomas Shepard of Cambridge [three pages later, Adams writes about his grandmother's birth] She was born in that town, <I>on the 11th of November, 1744</B></I>, O.S. [after writing about Weymouth, he continues on the next page] <I>In a letter written in 1817, the year before her death, speaking of her own deficiencies</B></I>..."<BR>In this manuscript, Adams quotes the entire May 13, 1818 letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams upon reading about Abigail Adams' death, beginning "<I>The public papers my dear friend announce the fatal event of which your letter of October 20 had given me ominous foreboding...</B></I>" This letter is published on pages <I>xxxv</B></I> and <I>xxxvi</B></I> of the lengthy introduction. At the bottom of the first page of this manuscript, Adams titles his work and quotes from a letter, in part: "<I>Letter of Mrs Adams the Wife of John Adams, with an introductory Memoir, by her Grandson Charles Francis Adams - Could you after a thousand fears and anxieties, long expectation and painful suspense, be satisfied with my telling you that I was well, that I wished you were with me...</B></I>" It concludes on the top of the verso. It is part of a 1778 letter sent by Abigail to John, not received. Charles transcribed it from a rough draft. He supposes that the original, if ever sent, was on ship captured by the enemy or sunk. This letter is on page 131 of Adams' 1840 book. The manuscript offered is browned in portions and creased at the top. Fine condition.<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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