J. G. Wells, Wells’ Illustrated National Hand-Book… 1864 Election

Name: J. G. Wells, Wells’ Illustrated National Hand-Book… 1864 Election
SKU: 6879
Availability: InStock

$225.00

Artifact From Lincoln’s Second Presidential Campaign

In stock

SKU: 6879 Categories: Abraham Lincoln, Books - Autographed, Rare, New; Pamphlets & Wraps, Civil War, Confederacy, New Acquisitions, Other Personalities & Events, Other Presidents, Pamphlets & Wraps Tags: 1864 Campaign, New York, Presidents

Description

Wells’ Illustrated National Hand-Book, Embracing a Complete Compendium of the Political History of the United States, From the Original Formation of the Government to the Present Time is an excellent source book for the period, and a voters’ guide to the 1864 presidential election.

Designed for readers of every political bent in thinly-settled rural areas, this fascinating book contains the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; presidential election results through 1860; biographies of presidents and ex-presidents with accurate (?) woodcuts; officials in “the so-called Confederate Government,” and miscellaneous governmental and historical information.

This copy signed in pencil, in a youthful hand, by the original owner “Henry S. Jordan / Rochester / NY / 1863”. The 1860 census identifies Henry Jordan as a fifteen-year-old laborer living in the Ninth Ward of Rochester, New York, with his mother, Elizabeth, brother Thomas, and sisters Ann, Sarah, and Jane. The Jordan family immigrated to Rochester from Ireland. A Thomas Jordan, similar in age to Henry’s brother, served as a corporal in Rochester’s 13th New York Infantry regiment.

If young Henry Jordan was as politically engaged as he seems to have been, we can imagine that he saw, and read, the writings of his activist townsman, Frederick Douglass, perhaps comparing the great abolitionist’s opinions with information published in this political textbook.

Light chipping of extremities, but with bright gilt on front boards and spine; light soiling of exterior; owner’s signature (Jordan); later owner’s signature, bookplate & blind stamp light foxing throughout; one rear end page missing; else very good.

Wells, J. G. Wells’ Illustrated National Hand-Book, Embracing a Complete Compendium of the Political History of the United States, From the Original Formation of the Government to the Present Time. New York: John G. Wells, 1864. 1st edition, 271(v)p., frontispiece, illustrations, appendices.