Mar 26, 2009 - Sale 2174

Sale 2174 - Lot 190

Price Realized: $ 2,400
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
CONGRESS IN THE AGE OF JACKSON (PENNSYLVANIA.) Archive of Muhlenberg family correspondence. 47 Autograph Letters Signed, almost all addressed to Hiester Henry Muhlenberg by family members; various sizes and conditions, but most about 10 x 8 inches folded and without any major condition issues. Reading, PA, Washington, and elsewhere, 1832 and undated
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Hiester Henry Muhlenberg (1812-1886) received these letters while attending medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. His father Henry A.P. Muhlenberg (1782-1844) was at that time a United States Representative as a Jacksonian Democrat, and his 22 letters discuss in great detail the dramatic political events of the period: Jackson''s re-election campaign, the nullification crisis, and Jackson''s efforts to crush the Bank of the United States. At one point, the frustrated congressman proclaims that "One third of our members seem destitute of common honesty . . . The very air of Washington seems to change every man almost who breathes it for any time" (5 June). Later, on the passage of a compromise bill, he announces with relief that "it alone is worth our long session. It will save the Union, altho South Carolina may kick up a dust" (13 July). Upon Jackson''s reelection he reflects that "If Clay had gone in, the whole South would have gone, & nothing could have preserved the Union. Now at least we have a reasonable hope" (25 December).
with--Manuscript extracts from the diaries of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, 1761-1787, prepared in the early 19th century. 3 small volumes in wrappers "The Muhlenberg Family in 1852." 19th-century manuscript genealogy, 35 pages. 4to, original wrappers.