HORACE GREELEY - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/14/1860 - HFSID 15488
Price: $800.00
HORACE GREELEY
Greeley handwrote, signed and dated this letter to J. H. Fowler in
New York in 1860. In it, he rips the work of abolitionist and anarchist Lysander
Spooner and an article by Fowler, which he called "a clear imitation of
Spooner".
Autograph letter signed "Horace Greeley". 1 page, 5x8¼, with
small embossing in upper left corner. New York, June 14, 1860. Addressed
to Mr. J. H. Fowler, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In full: "Mr. Fowler: I
have not received Mr. Spooner's work from you, and you need not send it. I am
already familiar with it. I rather like it as an [illegible] and enane
[sic] attempt to show that the framers of the Federal Constitution meant
what we all perfectly know they did not mean. Your arti-cle is a
clear imitation of Spooner. The readers of news-papers are mainly busy people,
who have no time for such exer-cises of the [illegible] and imagination.
Yours,". "Mr. Spooner" is probably Lysander Spooner (1808-1887, born
in Athol, Massachusetts), a Massachusetts lawyer, abolitionist and
anarchist who opposed the Civil War and Reconstruction and started his own
mail-carrying firm, the American Letter Mail Company, that unsuccessfully
challenged the United States Postal Service's monopoly on letter delivery. More
apropos to this letter, he wrote a number of pamphlets and books on the
Constitution and law, including a 1867 essay called No Treason, which
argued that the Constitution was a contract that had been broken by the Civil
War. Greeley (1811-1872, born in Amherst, New Hampshire) founded the
New York Tribune in 1841 and edited it until his death. His
newspaper, competitive in price with the "penny press" but less sensational, was
the first to give its writers individual by-lines and the first with a literary
and book review department. The Tribune had wide readership and
influence, and many of his editorial quips became famous. ("Go West, young man,"
was one.) He was steadfast in support of many causes, such as antislavery,
temperance, and the rights of labor, but he could be mercurial at times. (His
swift reversal of opinion on the secession of the southern states is reflected
in two 1861 "Tribune" editorials: "Go in Peace, Errant Sisters," followed
shortly by "On to Richmond") He served as a Whig in Congress for three
months (1848-1849) to fill a vacancy and did not seek reelection. As the
Democratic and Liberal Republican parties' presidential nominee in 1872, he was
defeated by President Ulysses S. Grant, who was seeking reelection. On
November 28, 1872, just 23 days after the election, Greeley, worn out by the
grueling campaign, died at the age of 61. Lightly toned, soiled, stained, foxed
and creased. Tears in top and left edges. Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise
in fine condition.
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