Apr 27, 2017 - Sale 2444

Sale 2444 - Lot 236

Price Realized: $ 875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(NEW YORK CITY.) "Index Rerum" or commonplace book kept by future mayor A. Oakey Hall, with his leather portfolio. [132] manuscript pages, interspersed with many blank leaves. Folio, original calf, minor wear, with Hall's manuscript spine and cover labels; minor wear to contents, first leaf torn out, 3 clippings tipped in; signed on front cover label and initialed on flyleaf. Vp, 1844-45
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

Abraham Oakey Hall (1826-1898) was a prominent New York City politician, serving as district attorney for most of the period from 1855 to 1868, and then as mayor from 1869 through 1873. His administration is most often remembered for rampant corruption and close association with William "Boss" Tweed. These artifacts date from his early years, shortly after his 1844 graduation from New York University. He then attended Harvard Law School briefly, returned to New York to apprentice as a lawyer, and in 1846 moved on to New Orleans for several years.
An index rerum is an alphabetized notebook for recording literary quotations, somewhat like a systematic commonplace book. Hall's book bears his signed tag dated 1 March 1845, though he wrote many of these entries after that date. He began with a quote from Leigh Hunt: "It is good practice to read with pen in hand." He follows with quotes arranged by subject: Actors, Anecdotes, Affection, and on through the alphabet. Some sections are more like diary entries. Under "Antigone," he describes a performance he saw on 15 April 1845 in Manhattan. Under "Government," he has a quote from Jared Sparks: "Systems of government have grown up with time, till they have become rooted in the habits, usages, customs, and often the affections of the people; to destroy the former would be to derange the latter, and to produce misery instead of happiness." Under "Letters," he lists letters written to friends and family through late November 1845.
Also included in this lot is a leather portfolio, to which is affixed on the front board an essay titled "To My Old Portfolio," signed by Hall and dated 30 September 1844. Inside the portfolio are several sheets of well-used blotter paper. with--3 related items: New York Times of 22 July 1871, detailing the Tweed Ring's "Secret Accounts" Tilden. The New York City Ring: Its Origin, Maturity and Fall. 52, 31 pages; dampstaining. New York, 1873 Bowen. The Elegant Oakey. New York, 1956.