Sep 24, 2020 - Sale 2546

Sale 2546 - Lot 234

Price Realized: $ 3,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
(GEORGE WASHINGTON.) A long continuous run of the Independent Chronicle of Boston, including funeral coverage and more. 102 bi-weekly issues (complete run), each 4 pages, in one volume. Folio, 20 x 12 inches, contemporary 1/4 calf, moderate wear, joints starting, duct tape at top and bottom of backstrip; minor dampstaining and wear. Boston, 6 January to 29 December 1800
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The first several issues are devoted to the recent death of George Washington. The 6 January issue features a long account of the Philadelphia funeral procession, as well as reports on ceremonies held in numerous other towns, and a proclamation by President Adams suggesting that all should "wear crape on the left arm as mourning for thirty days." The black-bordered 9 January issue reports on the Boston services, and Washington's attending physician's final deathbed report. The 16 January issue features on the first page a eulogy by the Rev. Richard Allen of Philadelphia, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who noted that by freeing the slaves at Mount Vernon, Washington "dared to . . . wipe off the only stain with which man could ever reproach him." A letter from Martha Washington is also included. The 20 January issue devotes most of the front page to an early printing of Henry Lee's "Funeral Oration on the Death of General Washington." A report on the freeing of Washington's slaves in his will appears on 13 February, followed by a complete printing of the will on 27 February.
Moving beyond Washington, the Quasi-War with France extended through much of the year; a report of Thomas Truxton of the USS Constellation on his battle with a French vessel appears on 6 March. The big story for much of the year was the 1800 presidential race between Adams and Jefferson; voting began in April, although the final result was not announced until February 1801. The 5 May issue's Congressional Register sets into motion the plans for a new Library of Congress. The first meeting of Congress after moving from Philadelphia to the new capitol in Washington is reported in the 1 December issue.