Hosack, David:

$400 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

MEMOIR OF DE WITT CLINTON: WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING NUMEROUS DOCUMENTS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF HIS LIFE. This is one of a limited number of copies printed on large paper. According to the DAB, John W. Francis, pupil and later partner of renowned and pioneering physician David Hosack, stated of Hosack: "'His house was the resort of the learned and the enlightened'...adding that it was once observed that DeWitt Clinton, Bishop Hobart, and Dr. Hosack 'were the tripod upon which our city stood.'" This volume prints a biography of Clinton, emphasizing his service and political career in the state of New York, especially as governor of the state, with much material concerning his work on the canals in the state, for which Clinton is best known.This copy is inscribed on the titlepage "for B.D. Silliman Esq with the compliments of his friend N.P. Hosack." N.P. Hosack is almost certainly the author's son Nathaniel Pendleton Hosack, and B.D. Silliman, Esq. would appear to be Benjamin Douglas Silliman, a nephew of the eminent Yale professor and scientist of the same name. Benjamin Douglas Silliman attended Yale, like most of his family, where he studied Law and worked as an assistant to his uncle. Afterwards, he practiced law in New York for nearly the next century, also serving several terms as a Whig in the New York State Assembly. A large-paper copy in original binding, with interesting provenance.

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