Beschreibung:

A SAMMELBAND OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS PRESENTATION COPIES.ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY 1767-1848. 5 titles in one volume: 1. Dermot Mac Morrough; or, The Conquest of Ireland: An Historical Tale of the Twelfth Century. Boston: Carter, Hendee & Co, 1832. 8vo. Manuscript correction in the author's hand on p 71. Original presentation inscription clipped from wrapper and laid in before title page: "Revd Andrew Bigelow / From his Friend." 2. An Oration Addressed to the Citizens of the Town of Quincy, on the Fourth of July, 1831.... Boston: Richards, Lord & Holbrook, 1831. 8vo. Original presentation inscription clipped from wrapper and laid in before title page: "Revd Andrew Bigelow / from his friend J.Q. Adams." Sabin 292. 3. An Eulogy on the Life and Character of James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States. Boston: J.H. Eastburn, 1831. 8vo. Original presentation inscription clipped from wrapper and laid in before title page: "Revd Andrew Bigelow / With the Respects of / J.Q. Adams." Sabin 279. 4. Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Mortier de Lafayette, Delivered at the Request of Both Houses of the Congress of United States.... Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1835. 8vo. Original secretarial presentation inscription in Bigelow's hand clipped from wrapper and laid in before title page: "Andrew Bigelow / from the author" Sabin 295. 5. Speech [Suppressed by the Previous Question] on the Removal of the Public Deposites, and Its Reasons. Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1834. 8vo. Secretarial presentation inscription in Bigelow's hand to title page: "Andw Bigelow / From the Author / April 27, 1834." Sabin 306. Bound together in 19th-century half black calf gilt over cloth boards. Some spotting to blanks and edges, lacking wrappers except for clipped inscriptions, minor shelfwear. Provenance: Andrew Bigelow (1795-1877, presentation inscriptions and ownership signature to preliminary blank); his sale, American Book Auction, July 10 and 12, 1877. FIVE PRESENTATION COPIES OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' WRITINGS, BOUND IN ONE VOLUME. The presentation copies in this volume run the gamut of John Quincy Adams' literary output, from the eulogies and political speeches one expects of a career politician to the epic poem on the Norman Conquest of Ireland, Dermot Mac Morrough.... The poem, composed in the years after Adams' humiliating defeat by Andrew Jackson was a not-too-subtle allegory of his political fortunes (though he denied any such reading in the text of the poem itself). Dermot's tale, originally reported in Hume's History of England, is of an Irish King who angers his neighboring ruler by stealing that man's wife. In order to defend himself, Dermot appeals to the English King Henry II for aid, betraying his homeland and allowing for the annexation of the island by the English. Adams' choice of subject would have resonated with his readers: Dermot is clearly modeled on Andrew Jackson a man, Adams believed, who was willing to betray his country for personal political gain. The wife-stealing of Dermot would also have suggested Jackson, who dealt with charges of bigamy over his wife's first marriage during the campaign. Andrew Bigelow was a Unitarian Minister who served parishes in Medford and Taunton, MA. He was the son of Timothy Bigelow who served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1805-1806, 1808-1810, and 1812-1820. Like John Quincy Adams, the younger Bigelow was a graduate of Harvard, and harbored literary pretensions: not long after he graduated from Divinity School he published Leaves from a Journal: or Sketches of Rambles in North Britain and Ireland (Boston: 1821) and Travels in Malta and Sicily (Boston: 1831).