Beschreibung:

MONROE, JAMES, President . Autograph manuscript, the draft of his First Inaugural Address, delivered 4 March 1817, n.p., n.d., a cover page labeled in Monroe's hand: "Sketches Inauguration"; comprising 1350 words approximately, closely written in dark ink, each full page containing from 36 to 46 lines, (two partial pages with 27 and 16 lines); the text with many revisions and interlinear additions; many words, paragraphs and one entire page neatly lined-out by Monroe, 12 1/4 pages, folio, on seven sheets of at least two different paper stocks, pp.[1]-[4] unwatermarked, measuring 335 x 199mm. (13 1/8 x 7 7/8 in.), pp.[5]-[13] on paper watermarked "Ruse and Turners 1807," and measuring 318 x 200mm. (12 9/16 x 7 7/8 in.), all but two leaves detached from each other, onet with three small holes from acidic ink, another with one corner torn away (slightly affecting three lines text) and with fraying and wear at two folds, the paper evenly age-toned, but in generally good condition. JAMES MONROE'S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS WHICH LAUNCHED "THE ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS": A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN FIRST DRAFT AND APPARENTLY THE ONLY EARLY PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL ADDRESS EVER OFFERED AT AUCTION A manuscript of great historical interest, whose existence was previously unknown to scholars. It has not, until now, been transcribed or studied. The manuscript, probably a first draft, displays many significant differences from the address delivered by Monroe and represents the President-elect's earliest conception of this important speech. The final version was expanded by the addition of a section at the end on internal improvements, the treasury, the national debt and relations with native tribes, not present here and presumably composed at a later date. Interestingly, many lengthy portions of the present manuscript do not appear at all in the final version, or appear in heavily rewritten and condensed form. Monroe's inauguration, on 4 March 1817, was the first to take place out-of-doors since Washington's in 1789. An elevated portico was built in front of the burned-out Capitol (still not rebuilt after its firing by the British three years earlier) from which Monroe delivered his inaugural address. As John Quincy Adams, who was present, commented, it was composed simply, with a "homespun" character which made it appealing to the average person. In his opening passage, Monroe acknowledges that he is "deeply affected" to have been chosen by the American people for the nation's highest office "as an expression of their good opinion of my past conduct in the public service." In electing him, the people have set aside partisanship for "disinterested patriotism." Monroe confesses "an ardent desire to render useful service to my country. On my zeal, fidelity & devotion, my fellow citizens may confidently rely." He vows to "preserve our constitutions in their utmost purity," to "sustain the rights of our nations" with foreign powers, to "secure happiness at home and respect abroad," and "to be ready & willing to risk everything" in the nation's cause. "On this principle I have acted in every situation in which I have been placed," he asserts, and will now apply those same convictions to the office of the Presidency. In a passage deleted from the final address, Monroe notes that "the declaration of independence" vested "sovereignty exclusively in this great body of the people," so that no one citizen could claim either hereditary power "or greater right of any kind, than another. On this basis our governments are founded." The achievements of the revolutionary period, "that all important epoch," "will go down to the last posterity, admir'd monuments," for which "the highest commendation is due to the whole American people." Monroe expresses pleasure that, of the first four Presidents, three (Adams, Jefferson and Madison) are still alive "by the favor of an indulgent providence." In the forty years since the Revolution, he continues, the United States "have