(GEORGE WASHINGTON) Odes to be Sung at the Celebration of Wa

Sale 2615 - Lot 258

Unsold

Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350

(GEORGE WASHINGTON.) Odes to be Sung at the Celebration of Washington's Birth-Day, by the Washington Benevolent Society of the County of Hampden, at Westfield. Letterpress broadside, 11 3/4 x 7 1/2 inches; some separations at folds, worn without loss of text. No place, 1816

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Contains two untitled, uncredited, but apparently original poems in honor of the late president. "Ode I" begins "When the Almighty's behest / In these climes of the west / Bade empire be / From the treasures of Heav'n / Was our Washington giv'n / And tyrant pow'r was driven / By liberty." "Ode II" begins "While free-born millions swell the song / To hail this joyful day." The second ode was apparently composed by the Rev. Charles Jenkins; it was later published as the closing words of a memorial sketch of Jenkins published in 1833 by D.C. Colesworthy, who asserted that it was "written for the anniversary of Washington's birth-day, and sung on the occasion."

No other examples traced in OCLC or at auction. Brown University holds a similar broadside for the organization's 1813 celebration in Springfield, MA, with different odes.