William H. Harrison, A Voyage to South America, Book, Signed

Description

A Voyage to South America, signed three times by President William Harrison.

Any book signed by William Henry Harrison is considered one of the toughest finds in Presidential material. Indeed, it is rare to find an intact Harrison signature in any book! This one has three!

*Inscribed & Signed by Harrison to Morgan Neville on the first free endpaper 
*Signed ownership signature by Harrison on the title page – faded;
*Signed ownership signature by Harrison on the preface page – somewhat faded;
*Signed by giftee Morgan de Lafayette Neville on rear of torn map opposite p.87;
*Signed by Fayette Neville on the last free endpaper;
*Later ownership signature by Mela A. Bigelow in 1894 signed on the flyleaf

Harrison had only a small private library, and few books either owned or signed by him have appeared at auction or for sale since his death in 1841. According to Stephen Koschal in his book “Collecting Books and Pamphlets Signed by Presidents of the United States” Harrison’s widow, Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison, wrote a letter to an autograph seeker in December 1845. In that letter, she explained that she had tried to comply with every request for her late husband’s autograph, and as such, had begun clipping his signature out of the remaining books of his library.=Very good; hinges professionally repaired; covers rubbed but sound; minor interior browning & staining; folding map partially missing. 

Don George Juan and Don Antonio De Ulloa.  A VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA:  Describing at Large, the Spanish Cities, Towns, Provinces, &c. on that extensive Continent….  London: L. Davis and C. Reymers, 1760.  VOLUME 1 ONLY (of two).  8vo, original full tree-calf, red & black Morocco labels, gilt rules and lettering.  (Sabin 26813)

The Backstory…

Most likely the book was read and used by Harrison when in South America. William Reynolds gifted this set of books to Harrison on June 10th, 1792 (a gift inscription by Reynolds – whomever his is – appears in volume 2, which is not present). Harrison received the books the summer he was promoted to Lieutenant in the 11th U.S. Regt. of Infantry in General “Mad: Anthony Wayne’s Western U.S. Army; 19-year-old Harrison was stationed in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was appointed by President John Quincy Adams as the U.S. Ambassador to Gran Columbia, present day Columbia. (He served in Bogotá only four months, from December of 1828 to March of 1829.)

Harrison gifted the book to Morgan de Lafayette Neville between 1792 and 1839. Morgan Neville, born in Pittsburgh, was the son of Colonel Presley Neville and the grandson of General John Neville, both figures of the Revolutionary War. After his schooling at the Pittsburgh Academy, Neville entered journalism and was, for a time, editor of the Pittsburgh Gazette (now known as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).  He also served as sheriff of Allegheny County from 1819 to 1822. In 1824 Neville left Pittsburgh for his part-time residence in Cincinnati, where he then spent the rest of his life.

Fayette Neville Morgan’s brother, signed in the back of Volume 1.