Circular[s]: Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Commandery of the State of New York. 1867-1922 [Eight Volumes]

New York: [Commandery of the State of New York], 1922. First edition. Three quarter morocco over red boards, four raised bands ruled in gilt, gilt titles; one volume matching cloth. A very good set with the bookplate of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Commandery of the State of Illinois on front pastedowns of most volumes, shadow of sticker on foot of most backstrips. spine ends and joints scuffed on most volumes, well bound, most circulars quite clean.. 8vo. The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, begun in Philadelphia in 1865, was modeled on the Society of the Cincinnati, and formed to protect the republic amid rumors of a plot to destroy the government after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Among its members were Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley. By 1899 it had over 8000 members which included nearly every officer of note. The New York Commandery was the second formed after Pennsylvania. This collection is a nearly complete run lacking perhaps a dozen and a half meeting and other notices (out of 1194) prior to 1879, otherwise complete through 1922, ending with the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. Contains circulars, papers, and annual meeting notices (as well as a few unnumbered items such as letters, publication advertisements, etc). The meeting notices are nearly all signed, corrected, and annotated by the New York Commandery recorders; they were then sent to the Illinois Commandery for their records. Written in hand in the early volumes, and by stamp latter on, the disposition of each person seeking membership was noted; the first volume contains additional and extensive handwritten notes and a letter explaining the rejection of a candidate by Horatio King (1811-1897) who was Postmaster General of the United States under James Buchanan and the first recorder. A later volume contains a tipped in typed and signed letter, explaining an expulsion for "conduct unbecoming of an officer." Beginning in the first volume is the appearance of the first black bordered "In Memoriam" notice, usually four pages, with a biography of the deceased. These biographies will slowly come to make up the bulk of the circulars as the former officers passed away. A wealth of information and a very scarce collection, made irreplaceable by the annotations and corrections of the recorders.