Books and Manuscripts: Rare Americana

A Rare Commemorative Silk Broadside Printed to Celebrate the Inauguration of 12th United States President, Zachary Taylor

"When I reflect that the acceptance of the office, which their partiality has bestowed, imposes the discharge of the most arduous duties, and involves the weightiest obligations, I am conscious that the position which I have been called to fill, though sufficient to satisfy the loftiest ambition, is surrounded by fearful responsibilities"

Baltimore: Murphy & Co. Printers and Publishers, ca. 1849. Printed broadside on silk, in two columns, with text printed in blue and with decorative gold border and accents; 14 x 17 1/4 in. (356 x 438 mm). Edges lightly worn and frayed; surface unevenly dampstained. Not in Collins' Threads of History

A rare and very well preserved silk broadside featuring the inaugural address of 12th United States President, Zachary Taylor (1784-1850). Taylor delivered his inaugural address on a cloudy and snow-filled Monday, March 5, 1849, from the East Portico of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Although the inauguration was originally scheduled to take place the day before, on Sunday March 4, it was postponed in observance of the Sabbath. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the oath of office to an estimated crowd of 20,000 people, and in his 1,000-plus word speech Taylor expressed gratitude for his election and voiced his desire to govern with the assistance to the other branches of government. Invoking the image of George Washington, Taylor expressed that, "In the discharge of these duties my guide will be the Constitution, which I this day swear to 'preserve, protect and defend.' For the interpretation of that instrument, I shall look to the decisions of the Judicial tribunals established by its authority, and to the practice of the Government under the earlier Presidents, who had so large a share in its formation. To the example of those illustrious patriots, I shall always defer with reverence, and especially to his example, who was, by so many titles, 'the father of his country.'" Although Taylor's speech emphasized cooperation with Congress, stating that he "shall look with confidence to the enlightened patriotism of that body to adopt such measures of conciliation as may harmonize conflicting interests, and tend to perpetuate that Union which should be the paramount object of our hopes and affections," his short term as President (he died suddenly only 16 months into office) was consumed by the bitter and ongoing political turmoil over the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired territories from Mexico following the Mexican-American War.

John Murphy (1812-80) was an Irish-born printer and publisher, and one the most respected American publishers of Catholic texts of his day. He immigrated to Delaware from Ireland in 1822 with his parents, and later became a printer's apprentice in Philadelphia. In 1837 he established Murphy & Co. in Baltimore, Maryland, where he became one of the city's most successful publishers. He was known for his printing of the United States Catholic Magazine (1842-49), as well as other important Catholic and theological texts, for which he received a gold medal from Pope Pius IX, and the honorary title "Printer to the Pope." Murphy printed similar commemorative silk broadsides featuring the inaugural addresses of ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and 14th president, Franklin Pierce.

This is the only example we can locate. OCLC does not locate any copies, nor have we confirmed any exact copies on silk in the auction record.