Description
The first edition of The Life of William H. Seward by Frederic Bancroft, the first substantial biography of Seward.
Octavo, [two volumes], [8], 554pp; [8], 575pp. Publisher’s maroon cloth, title stamped in gilt. Illustrated with portrait frontispieces. Top edge gilt. Both volumes appear unread. Uncut outer edge. Bookplate on the front pastedown of each volume.
Published by Harper & Brothers in 1900. A substantial biography of William H. Seward, covering his early life in New York, service as governor and United States senator, leadership in the antislavery wing of the Whig and Republican parties, rivalry with Abraham Lincoln for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination, and his tenure as Lincoln’s and Andrew Johnson’s secretary of state. Volume II includes material on the Civil War, foreign relations, the Trent Affair, the attempted recognition of the Confederacy by European powers, and Seward’s role in the purchase of Alaska.
