A Sketch of the Events Which Preceded the Capture of Washington by the British, on the Twenty-Fourth of August, 1814
Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1849. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Good / No Jacket. Item #014202
First edition. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author to T. [Thomas] Rockhill Ingraham, Oct. 25th, 1851 to head of Preface. Quarter brown cloth, brown paper boards. iv, 66 pp. Apparently lacking B&W folding map. Manuscript corrections to text, apparently in author's hand. Boards rubbed, discoloured, and stained. Wear to extremities, chip to spine head. Damp staining to foot of boards and text block. Oily staining to head of gutter throughout and rear endpapers, long tear to head of inner hinge at title page. Foxing to endpapers. Some sporadic chipping from opening to upper margins. Edward Duffield Ingraham (1793-1854) was an American lawyer and author, mostly famous as the author of several essays in the field of American history, this account of the events of the War of 1812 leading to the Burning of Washington being his best-known work. "This is the earliest carefully prepared monograph upon the Battle of Bladensburg and the subsequent capture of Washington, August 19--25, 1814. This event led to the resignation of General Armstrong as Secretary of War and the appointment of a committee to investigate the causes and circumstances of this disaster. In the Sketch here described General Armstrong is blamed and General Winder exonerated. The work has an extensive appendix, in which are given documentary proofs." Cole: Library of E.D. Church, p. 2553. Howes I-48. Sabin 34772. Provenance: Bookplate of Wallace Hugh Cathcart, (2 Apr. 1865-6 Sept. 1942), prominent bibliophile, best known for his association with the Western Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, first as its president and then as its director. As a prominent member of the book trade, Cathcart was one of the founders and later vice-president of the American Booksellers & Publishers Association. Civic-mindedness and love of books attracted Cathcart to the WRHS where he acted as the organization's secretary (1894-97), president (1907-13), and finally became the society's first full-time director (1913-42). As a book collector, Cathcart concentrated his energies in developing one of the best historical libraries in the nation. [Case Western Reserve].
Price: $300.00