"Oration on Life of Lafayette" - Inscribed by John Quincy Adams to Jacksonian

Description

ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY
.
Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette: Delivered at the Request of Both Houses of the Congress of the United States, Before Them, in the House of Representatives at Washington, on the 31st December, 1834
.  Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1835.  First edition, 8.5” by 5.25”, 94 pages, early full black morocco, spine gilt, edges yellow, and in good condition with the binding worn, spine perishing, and contents detached and disbound (can easily be restored with binding restoration).
PRESENTATION COPY OF AN
ORATION ON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF GILBERT MOTIER DE LAFAYETTE
INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY JOHN QUINCY ADAMS TO A JACKSONIAN WHO ASSISTED IN HIS DEFEAT IN THE 1828 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
A presentation copy inscribed and signed by John Quincy Adams to Isaac Hill: “Isaac Hill, from, John Quincy Adams.”  Authenticated by RR Auction, the world
’
s leading autograph auction house. Hill (1789–1851) was an American politician and newspaper editor who served as a United States Senator and as Governor of New Hampshire.  He was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson in the 1828 presidential election who ultimately defeated Adams and he was one of Jackson’s greatest allies in the Congress helping him pass many of his policies.  Adams’ presentation inscription is on a leaf inserted at the front which is typical for inscribed copies of this work. Conventional wisdom holds that Adams was out of the country when the book was originally published so he provided pre-inscribed slips to his friends to be inserted.
ADAMS DELIVERED THIS GREAT ORATION TO CONGRESS TO EULOGIZE AND COMMEMORATE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE’S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
The former President of the United States and Harvard professor of rhetoric delivered this great oration to Congress on December 31, 1834 to eulogize Lafayette who died on May 20, 1834 and commemorate his important contribution to American independence and his activities in the years after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, especially his involvement in the French Revolution and with the governments that followed.  The Appendix prints the proceedings initiated by Adams on June 21, 1834, “to consider and report by what token of respect and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep sensibility of the Nation to the event of the decease of General Lafayette.” The resolution was passed unanimously. Two identical presentation copies recently sold for ,500 at Christie’s in April 2012 and ,625 at Sotheby’s in June 2013.