The Life of George Washington, Inscribed by John Marshall by Marshall, John - 1832

1832. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. 2 volumes.. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. 2 volumes. Inscribed by John Marshall Marshall, John [1755-1835]. The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War Which Established the Independence of His Country, And First President of the United States, Compiled Under the Inspection of the Honourable Bushrod Washington, From Original Papers Bequeathed to Him by His Deceased Relative. Revised and Corrected by the Author. In Two Volumes. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. Two volumes. [iv], 460, [42, viii] pp; 448, [32, v] pp. Volume I has a lithographed portrait frontispiece of Washington. Complete set. Octavo (9" x 5-1/2"). Contemporary calf, raised fillets on spine, black spine labels with gilt title and volume number, gilt tooling to board edges. Some scratches and rubbing to boards, general wear to spine. Marbled edges and endpapers. Moderate toning and foxing throughout; some signatures show more soiling than others but without loss to legibility. Loose signature near front of second volume, a few cracks to text block of Volume II. Inscribed "For Mr. Wickham from his old friend the author" on front free endpaper. Several annotations in pencil, possibly Wickham's. $17,500. * Second edition, and the first abridged edition, based on the first edition, Philadelphia 1804-1807. Wickham [1763-1839] was an American attorney and Loyalist who became a close friend of Marshall after the Revolutionary War. He is perhaps most notable for his successful defense of Aaron Burr at the latter's trial for treason in 1807, a case over which Marshall himself presided. Wickham was also a contact of Bushrod Washington, editor of Marshall's Life of Washington, who asks him in an 1814 letter from Mt. Vernon to write a short biography of Marshall for inclusion in a journal edited by a friend. A set clearly well-read and often referenced, likely by Wickham. OCLC locates 4 copies of this scarce imprint. There are two issues of the second edition. The most common is the version published by James Crissy, which includes an atlas volume. The other, by Carey and Lea, which does not include an atlas volume, is scarce; OCLC locates 4 copies (Abilene Christian College, Bryn Mawr, Columbia, Virginia Historical Society). Howes, USIana 317.