Beschreibung:

Autograph album, ca 1844. Like many politicians, Hannibal Hamlin was deeply conscious of his legacy and kept mementos to mark his accomplishments. This nonce volume consists of a sheaf of blank sheets used by Hannibal Hamlin as an autograph album during the 28th Congress (1843-1845), followed by a series of pamphlets on the most serious political issues confronting the Congress in the mid-1840s, with an emphasis on slavery and the Texas question. The autographs are organized roughly by state, and include many of the major Congressional figures from all sides of the political spectrum. Hamlin’s autograph is the first, with most of the representatives noting the state or district they represented. The signatures include everyone from the power brokers to one term seat warmers, several of whom (like Hamlin himself) went on to play significant roles during the Civil War. • John Slidell of Louisiana (signed twice) • R. Barnwell Rhett (S.C.): a “fire eating” secessionist • Armistead Burt (Willington, S.C.) • Howell Cobb (Ga.): later a Confederate Major General • William Henry Stiles (Cassville, Ga.): later a Confederate Col.; • Robert Dale Owen (New Harmony, Ind.) • John A. McClernand (Shawneetown, Ill.): rival of Lincoln, controversial Civil War Major General • Stephen A. Douglas (Quincy, Ill.): Lincoln’s great debate opponent • Lucius Lyon (Mich., former territorial governor) • Joshua R. Giddings (Jefferson, Ohio): one of the prime antislavery men in Congress • Robert C. Schenck (Dayton, Ohio): Civil War Major General • Hamilton Fish (New York, NY) • Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus Elmer (Bridgeton, NJ). NJ Supreme Court and a heck of a name • J.R. Ingersoll (Philadelphia) • Henry A. Wise (Accomack C.H., Va.): Confederate Major General • Thomas Lanier Clingman (NC): Confederate General • George P. Marsh (Burlington, Vt.) • George C. Dromgoole (Brunswick Co., Va.): obscure • John P. Hale (Dover, NH) • Preston King (Ogdensburgh, NY) twice The autographs include all three non-voting territorial delegates -- from Florida (D. Yulee), Wisconsin (Henry Dodge), and Iowa (Augustus C. Dodge) -- and most notable are two Presidents of the U.S., John Quincy Adams (Quincy), the only U.S. President ever to return to Congress after serving in the Presidency, and Andrew Johnson (Greenville, Tennessee), the first to merit impeachment. A political progressive, Hamlin was committed to curbing the extension of slavery, and the pamphlets included reflect his political concerns: • Dymond, Jonathan, The Rights of Self-Defense (Philadelphia) • Dymond, Jonathan, Oaths, The Moral Character and Effect (Philadelphia) • Constitution of the United States... (Washington, 1841) • Birche, Samuel, Rules and Orders of the House of Representatives... (1841) • Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the US Military Academy, West Point (1844) • Dymond, Jonathan, An Inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity (Philadelphia) • Liberty Tracts and other related tracts from the New England Anti-Slavery Association (ca. 100p. of tracts that vary from 2-12 pages long). • The Legion of Liberty: Remonstrance of Some Free Men, States, and Press, to the Texas Rebellion, Against the Laws of Nature and Nations (1843) • The Legion of Liberty and Force of Truth (1844) • The Anti-Texas Legion: Protest of Some Free Men, States, and Press (1844) • The New-York Institution for the Blind A superb collection of political autographs with remarkable association. The following lots (110-130) have descended directly in the family of Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891). Hannibal Hamlin, a Maine native, spent the majority of his life serving the public, though he is best remembered today as Abraham Lincoln's first Vice President. A surveyor and teacher before he was admitted to the Maine bar in 1833, Hamlin, a Democrat, was elected to Maine's House of Representatives in 1836 and served as speaker in 1837, 1839 and 1840. He served two terms in the United States House of Rep