(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION) [Williams] George Morton Letter disc

Sale 2391 - Lot 318

Price Realized: $ 344

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) [Williams?], George Morton. Letter discussing one of John Brown's spears--and his face. Autograph Letter Signed as "George" to unknown recipient. 8 octavo pages on 2 folding sheets; just a bit of glue residue from mounting. Culpeper Court House, VA, 25 October 1859

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The author had recently been in the Harpers Ferry area while John Brown was awaiting trial. Writing on the day the trial began, he offered an unsympathetic account: "They deserve death--nothing but death here & hereafter. . . . I have seen one of the spears taken from old Brown and it is a most ferocious looking weapon. It is on a long hickory staff, is fully nine inches in length, has a double edge very sharp and a sharp point. A man would easily be killed by one blow. I have also seen a likeness of old Brown and his face is a caricature of humanity. How in the world he could inspire confidence is a mystery as he carries the notice 'beware' in his countenance to all mankind."