Autograph Document Signed / Unsigned Portrait
by RIVINGTON, James (1724-1802)
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Galena, Illinois, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
This English-born American bookseller and publisher was controversial during the American Revolution for his suspected Tory sympathies, especially since he published the "New York Gazetteer," even returning to England briefly early during the war; but it's believed he was actually a spy for the Americans, and smuggled messages to General Washington printed on thin paper bound into the covers of books. ADS, 2pp (separate leaves), 7 3/4" X 6" and 7 3/4" X 7½", New York, NY, 1789 September 10-11. Very good. Mild bit of age toning, slight bit of soiling. First leaf, in Rivington's hand, records a real estate transaction (verbatim, with line breaks included): "James Rivington & wife / to / Benj: Moore / deed & Release Sept: 10 & 11, 1789. / Recd. -- Lib:45. p529 -- & Lib:46. p221. -- / 16 ac. 2 roads & 32 paas.-- Between Green- / -wich Road & the River -- South of / Mary Clarke's land. --" The second leaf, in another and neater hand, notes: "Abstract of Title to two Lots of Ground, on the North-Easterly side of Twenty first Street, in the 12th Ward of the City of New York, distinguished on the plot beneath by the numbers 1 & 2." Below this is a well-drafted plat map showing land parcels between "9th Av." at left, "8th Ave." at right, "22d St" at top and "21. St." at bottom -- with the two lots in question here neatly marked "1" and "2" in the lower right area of this block. The purchaser here was Bishop BENJAMIN MOORE (1748-1816) the second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and president of Columbia College -- best remembered as the father of Clement C. Moore (1779-1863), the scholar who penned the immortal poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1823. Bishop Moore and his son owned a number of properties in this area, mostly in the Chelsea Historic District slightly north of the two lots he purchased from Rivington. A scarce document with interesting connections. Accompanied by a superb and itself scarce vintage steel-engraved portrait, heavy stock 7" X 10½", n.p., n.y. [mid-19th century]. Fine. A bold and handsome head-and-shoulders portrait of Rivington gazing intently at the viewer, looking rather like Washington himself, engraved by A.H. Ritchie.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 32194
- Title
- Autograph Document Signed / Unsigned Portrait
- Author
- RIVINGTON, James (1724-1802)
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Bookseller catalogs
- Autographs; Colonial Americana;
- Product_type
- Autographs
Terms of Sale
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts accepts most major credit cards and PayPal. Checks are welcome. Institutions will be accommodated as their procedures require. Every effort has been made to describe each book and any defects accurately. If an item proves unsatisfactory for any reason, it may be returned within seven days. We would appreciate a courtesy call if an item is being returned. Member ABAA, ILAB, MWABA, The Manuscript Society.
About the Seller
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
Biblio member since 2005
Galena, Illinois
About Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts has been serving book lovers, collectors and institutions since 1991. Our inventory of quality out-of-print books spans 50 subjects, while the extensive autograph holdings have a decidedly historical bent, reflecting personages from every field of human endeavor.
Glossary
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