Life of George Washington by John Marshall, 6-Volumes with Atlas, Circa 1804-07

View Similar Items

Facsimile Joan Blaeu's Atlas Major '12 Volumes'

2 Volumes. John Fiske, The Life and Letters.

George Washington by Henry Sadd, Antique Engraving, circa 1844

John Holland Rose, the Life of Napoleon I, Third Edition, 1903, 2 Volumes

2 Volumes, John Keats, The Poems of John Keats

National Gallery of Art, Washington by John Walker

Tales of a Traveler by Geoffrey Crayon (Washington Irving) 2 Volumes 1st Edition

4 Volumes, George Rawlinson, History of Herodotus

The Works of Machiavelli (in Italian) 10 Leather Volumes Published: 1804, Milan

Beacon Lights of History by John Lord in 5 volumes

The Works of Washington Irving in 21 Illustrated Leatherbound Volumes

3 Volumes. John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice.

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 5

Life of George Washington by John Marshall, 6-Volumes with Atlas, Circa 1804-07

About the Item

“The Only Comprehensive Account by a Great Statesman of The Full Founding of The United States”: 6-volume Set to Include the Scarce Atlas Volume of The Military Campaigns. All in Period Bindings. Philadelphia: C.P. Wayne, 1804-07. This is America's fourth Chief Justice John Marshall’s seminal biography of General and President George Washington, with engraved frontispiece portrait and the companion atlas depicting Washington’s major Revolutionary War campaigns. This is a beautiful, desirable second edition set in period leather backed boards, with scarce atlas volume also in period leather and cloth-backed boards. Published from 1804-1807 in Philadelphia by C.P. Wayne, this second edition set is the "the only complete edition of this indispensable work, the 'Colonial History' being omitted in the later American editions" (Sabin). Shortly after Marshall became Chief Justice (1801-1835), Washington's nephew Bushrod approached him to write the first President's official biography. No man was better suited to the task. As a personal friend of Washington, Marshall had announced the President's death in 1799, offered the eulogy, chaired the committee that arranged the funeral rites, and led the commission to plan a monument in the capital city. When Marshall's Life of George Washington appeared, it gained such authoritative status that Washington scholar Jared Sparks suggested any new biographical undertaking would be "presumptuous" (Sparks, Washington I: 12). The work "is political history as well as biography… the only comprehensive account by a great statesman of the full founding of the United States— of the founding of an independent people as well as of its government… There is no other concentrated history of the essentials by such an authority on American institutions" (Robert K. Faulkner). "If George Washington founded the country, John Marshall defined it" (Jean Edward Smith). Gilbert Stuart's famous portrait of Washington, engraved on this frontispiece, was produced by Philadelphia stipple-engraver David Edwin. Edwin was, "for upwards of 30 years, the most prolific workman in America" (Fielding, 109). The maps in the atlas relate to military operations in the Revolutionary War, and include the Boston area, New York Island, northern New Jersey, New Hampshire, Yorktown, and more. The atlas is composed of ten strategic maps, eight of which are double-page maps.

Dimensions:
Height: 11.5 in (29.21 cm)Width: 10.75 in (27.31 cm)Depth: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 6
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1800-1809
Date of Manufacture:
1804-1807
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Colorado Springs, CO
Reference Number:
Seller: BK03451stDibs: LU90979208031