THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1857. Hardcover. About Very Good. Sparks, author of this 19th century biography of Washington, was a leading educator and intellectual of his time. A president of Harvard, chaplain of Congress and author of numerous historical works on the American Revolution and early American leaders including Benjamin Franklin, Gouverneur Morris, Gen. Anthony Wayne, and Ethan Allen. This copy of Washington's "Life,' is from the 1857 printing. The book was originally published in 1839. About 6 x 9 3/4 inches, 562 pages including frontispiece and a print of Martha Washington as well as 9 appendices. Bound in brown cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering on spine. Boards are moderately worn, with lightly bumped corners and some minor spotting and staining. The spine has faded though lettering remains visible. Spine ends are worn away though underlying binding is intact and firm. Hinges are cracked but binding is tight. Text shows light age-tanning and some sparse spotting and staining. Tissue paper protecting portraits of Washington and his wife are intact. Text appears complete, clean and easily readable. There is a fading previous owner's signature and 19th century date on fep, o/w no marginal notes or underlining. The book's covers show its age but it is structurally sound and whole. It is interesting to note that Sparks was one of those American intellectuals who received the French author, Alexis de Tocqueville, during his 1831-32 visit to the U.S. that resulted in the classic "Democracy In America.".