Life of Andrew Jackson, Private, Military, and Civil. With Illustrations.
Description
Like many nineteenth-century books, this biography of Andrew Jackson was issued in parts. Each part would come out in an individual printed paper wrapper as the work was printed. In this case, only seven parts were issued and the text stops mid-sentence on p. 288.
Working together with the ongoing support of William C. Cook, the curator of books and curator of graphic arts were able to secure the 1843 proposal for publishing this book by subscription. From that prospectus we learn it was intended to be issued in fifteen parts at a price of $3.
The author, Amos Kendall, was such a close friend of Jackson's that he was entrusted with the care of Jackson's papers in 1842 to begin work on a new (authorized) biography encompassing Jackson's presidency. Andrew Jackson himself saw at least the first five parts before his death in the summer of 1845, as there is a copy at the Library of Congress with a few corrections in his hand. Another copy of this unfinished book is known at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (available digitally in Hathi Trust). In that copy the seven parts have been bound together with some original wrappers which are signed: “[Dr.] Ingraham Esq. Walnut St.” The William C. Cook Jacksonian Era Collection copy now at AAS was for subscriber "Mahlon Dickerson, Suckasunny, N.J." and the last page of this copy has in an handwritten addition at the bottom of p. 288: “no more published.”
An extensive examination of the role Kendall and others played in preserving Jackson's papers is presented in an essay on the Library of Congress website, Andrew Jackson Papers: Provenance.
Working together with the ongoing support of William C. Cook, the curator of books and curator of graphic arts were able to secure the 1843 proposal for publishing this book by subscription. From that prospectus we learn it was intended to be issued in fifteen parts at a price of $3.
The author, Amos Kendall, was such a close friend of Jackson's that he was entrusted with the care of Jackson's papers in 1842 to begin work on a new (authorized) biography encompassing Jackson's presidency. Andrew Jackson himself saw at least the first five parts before his death in the summer of 1845, as there is a copy at the Library of Congress with a few corrections in his hand. Another copy of this unfinished book is known at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (available digitally in Hathi Trust). In that copy the seven parts have been bound together with some original wrappers which are signed: “[Dr.] Ingraham Esq. Walnut St.” The William C. Cook Jacksonian Era Collection copy now at AAS was for subscriber "Mahlon Dickerson, Suckasunny, N.J." and the last page of this copy has in an handwritten addition at the bottom of p. 288: “no more published.”
An extensive examination of the role Kendall and others played in preserving Jackson's papers is presented in an essay on the Library of Congress website, Andrew Jackson Papers: Provenance.
Title
Life of Andrew Jackson, Private, Military, and Civil. With Illustrations.
Creator
Kendall, Amos.
Publisher
New York: Harper & Brothers.
Date
1843[-1844]
AAS Catalog Record
Files
Citation
Kendall, Amos., “Life of Andrew Jackson, Private, Military, and Civil. With Illustrations.,” Collecting the Jacksonian Era: How Books Become Library Collections at AAS, accessed July 6, 2024, https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/jacksonianera/items/show/39.