Description
The first edition of The Lawyer, The Statesman, and The Soldier, inscribed by Senator George F. Boutwell. This work is collection of historical sketches of Rufus Choate, Daniel Webster, President Abraham Lincoln, and General U.S. Grant.
Octavo, [8], 232pp, [2]. Green cloth, title stamped in gilt. Top edge gilt. Gray endpapers, booksellers’ label on the rear pastedown. (Monaghan 418)
Inscribed by George F. Boutwell on the second free endpaper, with a quote from the book: “Written at the request of Mr. De Witt, June 1, 1896. / We value a machine by the measure of it’s strength at the place where it is weakest, but we value a man by the measure of his strength at the place where he is strongest. George F. Boutwell. Groton, Mass.”
George S. Boutwell (1818-1905) was an American politician and reformer who rose from Massachusetts state politics to national prominence as a leading Radical Republican during Reconstruction. He served as Governor of Massachusetts (1851-52), was a founder of the Republican Party in the state, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives, advocating strong federal measures to secure civil rights. He was the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue under U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Ulysses S. Grant (1869-73), he pursued fiscal discipline, reduced the national debt, and supported hard-money policies before winning a seat in the U.S. Senate (1873-77).
