Description
Signed first edition of Speeches and Occasional Addresses by John Adams Dix.
Octavo, [two volumes], vi, 452pp; iv, 466pp. Half black morocco, red paper boards, title in gilt on spine. Top edge gilt. Solid text blocks, some rubbing to covers, light wear to corners and spines. Archival reinforcement to all hinges. Includes frontispiece portrait in volume I and facsimile letter in volume II. Some leaves unopened. This presentation edition from 1864 is not found in Sabin. The 1865 edition is listed as Sabin 20341.
Inscribed on the front endpaper of both volumes “Mrs. Wm. T. Blodgett, with the sincere regards of her friend, John A. Dix.”
“If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.” – Secretary of the Treasury John A. Dix (1861).
John Adams Dix (1798-1879) held many offices throughout his forty-one year political and military career, including Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New York, U.S. Minister to France, Senator from New York, and Secretary of State of New York. Dix also served as a Union Major General during the Civil War, notably arresting the Maryland General Assembly and establishing the Dix-Hill Cartel to exchange prisoners between the Union and Confederacy. The recipient of this book, Mrs. William T. Blodgett, was a benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and a lifetime friend of the Dix family.
