MARSHALL’S LIFE OF WASHINGTON: THE “BEST” ENGLISH EDITION, IN FIVE VOLUMES, WITH FOLDING MAPS AND PLATES

(WASHINGTON, George) MARSHALL, John. The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces. London: Printed for Richard Phillips, 1804-07. Five volumes. Octavo, contemporary full tree calf, gilt-ruled and numbered spines, black morocco spine labels, speckled edges.

First English edition (octavo issue) of Marshall’s classic life of Washington, called the “best edition” by Howes and published in the same years as the American first. Complete with three frontispieces (Stuart’s portrait of Washington and two folding views), engraved tailpiece in Volume III, and 12 folding maps, in bright contemporary full tree calf.

Shortly after Marshall became Chief Justice he was approached by Washington's nephew, Bushrod, to write the first President's official biography. Probably no man was better suited to the task. As a personal friend of Washington, Marshall had been the one to announce the President's death in 1799, had offered the eulogy, had chaired the committee that arranged the funeral rites, and had led the commission to plan a monument in the capital city. When Marshall's Life of Washington appeared, it was considered so authoritative that Washington scholar Jared Sparks suggested any new biographical undertaking would be "presumptuous" (Sparks, Washington I:12). This first English edition was typeset from manuscripts "received from America in the course of the Autumn [1804 and later]," making this, and the American first edition of the same years, "the only complete editions of this indispensable work, the 'Colonial History' being omitted in the later American editions" (Sabin). Gilbert Stuart's famous portrait of Washington, made known to the British public through this engraved frontispiece, was executed by Royal engraver James Fittler. The 12 engraved folding maps include Boston (bound in at beginning of Volume V), New York Island, the engagement on White Plains, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and the siege of Charleston. Publisher's ads at rear of Volumes I, II, and V; list of plates at rear of Volumes I and V. Howes M317. Sabin 44788.

Interiors very clean with light foxing to only a few text pages and Vol. III "City of Washington" folding view, expert paper repair to folding map in Volume I. Contemporary full tree calf with expert restoration and repairs to a few joints and hinges. A very handsome set of this important edition.