Nov 21 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2687 -

Sale 2687 - Lot 31

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(AMERICAN REVOLUTION--HISTORY.) Invitation to Philadelphia's Lafayette Ball during his grand tour. Illustrated engraving, 4¼ x 6 inches, on card; not completed with name of attendee, minimal foxing. Philadelphia, [28] September 1824
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Additional Details

During Lafayette's triumphant tour of America in 1824, one of his most lavish receptions was in Philadelphia. This invitation to the closing ball lists the 12 organizers, and is illustrated with a small portrait of Lafayette inset into an allegorical patriotic scene.

With--the manuscript text of "Toast by Mr. Ingersoll for the Lafayette Ball": "Our fathers were gathered with thee to the fight / Keep gratitude bright. We bow not the neck / And we bend not the knee / But our hearts, Lafayette, We surrender to thee!" One page, 8 x 5 inches. This was apparently written in the later part of the 19th century, apparently from a memory which may have been passed down through the generations. It differs from the complete version which appeared in Lafayette's 1825 memoirs, which placed the toast at his Boston reception.

Provenance: papers of the Maury-Gilpin family (see lots 128 and 129).

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