Books and Manuscripts

Philadelphia: Charless & Ralston, 1800. First edition. 16mo. (ii), ii, (i), 243, (1) pp. Original full brown calf, red morocco spine label, stamped in gilt, extremities, joints, and boards rubbed; all edges trimmed; front and rear free endpapers excised; dampstaining at bottom of title-page and several following pages; scattered soiling to text; light to moderate foxing to most leaves. Evans 37222; Howes C-664; Sabin 15176; Church 1289; ESTC W19263; Baker, Bibliotecha Washingtoniana, 20 (and 16); Baker, Early Sketches of George Washington, pp. 7-10

One of the earliest--if not the earliest--comprehensive biographies of George Washington. Originally published by Thomas Condie in his Philadelphia Monthly Magazine in January, 1798, he issued this expanded book-form edition of Biographical Memoirs very early in 1800 (his preface is dated February, 1800), shortly following Washington's death, on December 14, 1799. Condie's work drew on earlier sketches of Washington by John Bell and Jedidiah Morse, and is comprised of the introduction of Washington's 1753 journal; the June 26, 1775 Address of the Provincial Congress of New York, with Washington's answer; Washington's Farewell Address to the armies of the United States; Washington's resignation as Commander-in-Chief of the Army; his letter to the Governor of Virginia, declining shares in an Improvement Company, and his Inaugural Address of April 30, 1789. Condie added considerable material for this publication, including letters by Washington to Congress during 1775, 1776, and 1777; correspondence with British General Thomas Gage, from August, 1775; Washington's April 18, 1783 proclamation ordering the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain; a brief history of Washington's presidential administration, and finishes with an account of his death at Mount Vernon.

While accounts of Washington's life appeared well before Condie's work, they were typically brief sketches, and largely concerned with his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and with his private life. William Baker has called Condie's work the "earliest sketch" that "aspires to the dignity of a biography," while Church writes that this 1800 edition was, "At the time of its publication...much the fullest life of Washington that had been published."

Scarce to auction, this is only the fourth copy offered in 90 years.