Webster, Daniel; Whipple, Edwin P. The Great Speeches and Orations of Daniel Webster, with an Essay on Daniel Webster as a Master of English Style, by Edwin P. Whipple. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1884. [9259]
Half black morocco bordered in gilt, raised bands to spine with gilt devices & decorations, peach marbled boards, 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches, minor rubbing to the edges with very good joints. Marbled end papers, top page edges gilt. Fine engraved portrait of Webster by J. A. Wilcox of Boston, with facsimile signature & tissue guard. Vignette engraving of a young Webster on title page. lxii. (Introductory Essay); 707 clean and unmarked pp. with an Index. Pages a bit dark in contrast to the bright white plates (frontis & title page). Near fine.
Slip laid in with provenance, "Memo from R. W. Couper: Given to me by President Eugene Tobin, Hamilton College, on the occasion of my 75th birthday 12/16/97."
"One of the nation's greatest orators, Daniel Webster (1782-1852) lent his eloquence to the cause of national unity during the tumultuous years leading to the [American] Civil War. Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, and gained national prominence as an attorney while serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. After moving to Boston in 1816, he successfully argued several notable cases before the Supreme Court of the United States that helped define the constitutional power of the federal government. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1827, Webster established his oratorical reputation in the famous 1830 debate with South Carolina senator Robert Hayne over the issue of states' rights and nullification, declaring, 'Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!' From 1841 to 1843, Webster served a distinguished term as secretary of state before returning to the Senate in 1845. Five years later he endorsed the controversial legislative Compromise of 1850, elements of which his constituents strongly opposed. On July 22, 1850, Webster resigned his Senate seat and accepted appointment as secretary of state. He died two years later at his home in Marshfield, Massachusetts." - US Senate online biographies.
Owned by Richard Watrous Couper (1922-2006), b. Binghamton, NY; d. New Hartford, NY. He was educated at Hamilton College (B.A.) and at Harvard (M.A. - History), and after service in the Army during WWII, was an insurance executive (1948-1962). Mr. Couper was associated with Hamilton College in the 1960's, serving as provost, vice president, and acting president. He became the first full-time president of the New York Public Library (1971-1981). He was also president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (1981-1990) an educational philanthropy based in Princeton, NJ.
