John Sinclair, W. Bulmer and Co, London, 1800, 57pp. 4to with boards. The dedication page is from Sinclair to the American People. Pages are 8 x 10. The pages were printed as 9 x 11.5 indicating the very ample margins as printed were trimmed by the bookseller. The engraved facsimiles are actual size. The condition is surprisingly fresh and near fine, other than boards taped spine.
Eight letters from Washington to Sinclair are beautifully reproduced from engravings. As Sinclair explained in his preliminary “Advertisement,” an introduction, his goal was to encourage American support for a Board of Agriculture. The appendix carries the official account of Washington’s death, as well a copy of Tobias Lear’s letter to President Adams, announcing the death.
This was reprinted in America in 1844. Forty years after it first appeared in England even the American reprint is a hard-to-find work. It was likely produced more for the budding autograph market than to promote agricultural practices.
Sinclair was a celebrated expert on agriculture and author. His most famous work was his statistical study of Scotland where he won credit for coining the word “statistics”. He was a proto- autograph collector, interested in graphology and understanding a person’s character through their handwriting. That may explain why he took the unusual step of presenting these letters in facsimile holograph rather than transcribed type. This may make the 1800 book the first book of Washington autographs.
A rare book worthy of the attention of autograph collectors.
John Sinclair, W. Bulmer and Co, London, 1800, 57pp. 4to with boards. The dedication page is from Sinclair to the American People. Pages are 8 x 10. The pages were printed as 9 x 11.5 indicating the very ample margins as printed were trimmed by the bookseller. The engraved facsimiles are actual size. The condition is surprisingly fresh and near fine, other than boards taped spine.
Eight letters from Washington to Sinclair are beautifully reproduced from engravings. As Sinclair explained in his preliminary “Advertisement,” an introduction, his goal was to encourage American support for a Board of Agriculture. The appendix carries the official account of Washington’s death, as well a copy of Tobias Lear’s letter to President Adams, announcing the death.
This was reprinted in America in 1844. Forty years after it first appeared in England even the American reprint is a hard-to-find work. It was likely produced more for the budding autograph market than to promote agricultural practices.
Sinclair was a celebrated expert on agriculture and author. His most famous work was his statistical study of Scotland where he won credit for coining the word “statistics”. He was a proto- autograph collector, interested in graphology and understanding a person’s character through their handwriting. That may explain why he took the unusual step of presenting these letters in facsimile holograph rather than transcribed type. This may make the 1800 book the first book of Washington autographs.
A rare book worthy of the attention of autograph collectors.
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