AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS)

Washington DC, 18 January 1900. Letter. Folds from mailing, faint soiling at edges. Near Fine. Fine SIGNED handwritten four-page letter on all sides of a 9-1/2" x 7-3/4" sheet of paper folded in half to a Miss R. K. Crandall, written in answer to an inquiry about documents concerning American foreign affairs. In part: "Miss Donnely was instructed to copy for me all documents she could find which had relation to American affairs between 1789 and 1799. Between 1799 and 1875 I made the search myself, and selected the material for copy. The latter documents, 1799 -- 1875, were found in several volumes, and are now at Quincy in Massachusetts. The documents from 1789 to 1799 were bound in four volumes, and are now here in Washington. All are at your service if you wish to consult them, but I have neither index nor list, and unless you can come here for the purpose I am at a loss to know how to assist you. Documents cannot be sent about, like books, not so much because of their value.... On the other hand, any particular paper you want shall be promptly copied and sent to you." With a clipping of a description of this item from a 1984 auction.

Henry Adams (1838-1918, American historian and author, was a descendent of John and John Quincy Adams. His posthumously published memoir, THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS, was awarded the 1919 Pulitzer Prize.