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1885 WASHINGTON MONUMENT ORATION ROBERT C WINTHROP SIGNED CLAPP BOSTON 2ND RARE
Title:Oration on the Completion of the National Monument to Washington, Agreeably to the Appointment of Congress, February 21, 1885
Author:Hon. Robert C. Winthrop
Publisher:Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Publication Date:1885
Edition:Second edition
Today we are pleased to offer a signed presentation copy of Oration on the Completion of the National Monument to Washington, Agreeably to the Appointment of Congress, February 21, 1885, by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. Published by Little, Brown, and Company of Boston, Massachusetts. This is the second edition, explicitly identified on the front wrapper. The address is a separately issued, sewn softcover publication in its original brown printed paper wrappers, with the University Press imprint of John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the title-page verso.
The front wrapper carries Winthrop’s ink presentation inscription: “Hon. W. W. Clapp, with the kind regards of Robt. C. Winthrop,” ending in a large, sweeping signature. The recipient is most likely William Warland Clapp Jr. (1826–1891), the Boston Journal editor and prominent Boston newspaper figure. Harvard preserves Clapp’s correspondence, including letters from Robert Charles Winthrop, supporting this identification.
Winthrop had delivered the Washington Monument cornerstone oration on July 4, 1848, while serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Congress selected him to prepare the address for the completed monument’s dedication on February 21, 1885, linking the beginning and conclusion of the long building project. Pneumonia prevented his attendance, and John Davis Long read the address for him. The introductory note, dated Boston, February 28, 1885, and signed in print “R. C. W., Jr.,” explains those circumstances.
The contents include the congressional resolution authorizing the ceremonies, recollections of the Washington National Monument Society and the 1848 cornerstone procession, discussion of the obelisk’s design and national symbolism, and an extended tribute to Washington’s military service, presidency, and character. The terminal Notes page supplies a useful second-edition distinction: it corrects the first edition’s account of the unfinished shaft’s height from 174 feet to 156 feet, citing Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey’s estimate. Further notes discuss accounts of Washington’s youthful naval prospects, Edward Everett’s contribution to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and a quotation from Seneca.
The brown wrappers have uneven age darkening, rubbing, scattered spotting, and surface soiling, with darker handling marks toward the lower portions of the front and rear. The paper has creases and shallow surface impressions, the corners are worn, and the edges have chips, short tears, and small losses. A piece is missing from the upper outer corner of each wrapper, and the rear wrapper has an additional irregular loss farther down its fore-edge, together with smaller edge notches. The spine fold is rubbed and chipped, with localized splitting and paper loss at the rear wrapper attachment. Both original wrappers are retained. The presentation inscription remains dark and legible.
The pages have light cream-to-tan age toning, scattered small spots, occasional faint smudges, and some darker shading along exposed margins. Several fore-edges are rough and uneven, with minor nicks and shallow creases. Note that the majority of the pages are uncut at the top edge. The closing leaves have small top-edge nicks and tears, including a short tear in the upper blank margin of page 38. Stitching is exposed at the center opening, with localized brown discoloration near the lower stitch, and there is wear at the inner attachment of the terminal leaf. The title page, preliminary congressional resolution and explanatory note, separate half-title, concluding page 39, and final Notes page are retained. The printed text remains crisp and readily legible.
Make sure to see the photos above for complete details.
v pages, 1 unnumbered leaf, 39 pages (mostly uncut at the top edge), plus 1 unnumbered page of notes; unillustrated.
Measures approximately 9 1/2 inches tall by 6 1/4 inches wide.
_gsrx_vers_1736 (GS 9.9.5 (1736))
