JOSIAH QUINCY III - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 01/22/1847 - HFSID 32664

JOSIAH QUINCY
ALS thanking someone for the loan of a scholarly book on India and praising the author of the book
Autograph Letter signed: "Josiah Quincy", 1 page, 5x8. Beacon Hill, Boston, 1847 January 22. To "My Dear Sir", in full: "Many thanks for your loan of Tod's India. It is a work of great praise and places in high relief the author's hand, head and heart; evidencing the truest feeling and the best spirit. I have derived from it great pleasure and much information and am truly your obliged friend". Ink note (unknown hand) at lower right. Josiah Quincy (1772-1864), officially Josiah Quincy III, scion of an influential Massachusetts family, was a member of the dwindling Federalist minority in the US House of Representatives (1805-1813). There he proposed the impeachment of President Jefferson, a motion which failed 117-1, and became the first Congressman to threaten secession of a State (Massachusetts) from the Union. He resigned his seat when the US declared war on Britain. His subsequent endeavors as Mayor of Boston (1823-1829) and President of Harvard University (1829-1845) were considerably more successful. An active mayor, he was responsible for creation of the Quincy Market - named in his honor. At Harvard he improved the University's finances and reformed the curriculum while governing rather autocratically. (He suspended the entire sophomore class in 1834.)A long-time opponent of slavery, he strongly supported Abraham Lincoln and the Union cause in his final years. The book of which he writes here was no doubt by James Tod (1782-1835), and official of the British East India Company and a scholar of Indian history. Creased and lightly toned. Mounting residue on verso. Ripped at lower left edge. 3 vertical 1 horizontal fold creases. Smudged at lower right edge. Otherwise fine condition.