Description:

Future Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton Presents His Volume to Debating Society

In 1832, Edwin M. Stanton presented this volume to the Philomathesian Society at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The Philomathesian Society was a debating society that began at Kenyon in 1827. Stanton was a student there in the early 1830s. He donated a complete ten-volume set of The Spectator to the Society, of which this item is Volume II.

EDWIN M. STANTON, Volume of The Spectator, vol. II, presented to the Philomathesian Society, 1832. The Spectator, 10 vols. New York: William Durell, 1809. 308 pp., 4.375" x 7.375". Original binding; corners and spine bumped and rubbed; foxing and toning on pages.

Historical Background
Joseph Addison and Richard Steele founded The Spectator as a daily publication in England. Beginning on March 1, 1711, they issued 555 numbers of the publication, each about 2,500 words long. The purpose of the publication was "to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality." The publication was widely read by thousands of people in London and beyond. In America, teenager James Madison read the paper, as did the older Benjamin Franklin. The publication generally promoted Whig values of family, marriage, and courtesy, as part of a general Enlightenment worldview.

The issues of The Spectator were collected into several multi-volume editions, including this one published in New York in 1809 by William Durell and Company in ten volumes. Durell published the ten volumes as part of his series, "The British Classics." The series, published from 1809 to 1814 in sixty-four volumes, included ten volumes of The Spectator, twelve of works by Samuel Johnson, six by Oliver Goldsmith, six by Joseph Addison, twenty-four by Jonathan Swift, and six by Laurence Sterne.

Ironically, a Catalogue of the Library, and Names of Members, of the Philomathesian Society of Kenyon College, from Its Formation in 1827 to 1840, published in 1840, mentions Edwin M. Stanton as both a member and the donor of the set of The Spectator but reports him as "not heard from; was a member of College about 1830; left before graduating." Stanton became, along with Rutherford B. Hayes and William Rehnquist, one of Kenyon College's most famous alumni.

Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869) was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, from 1831 to 1832 but had to leave before graduating because of lack of money. In 1836, he married Mary Ann Lamson (1813-1844), and they had a son and a daughter, though their daughter died as a toddler. Stanton commenced his political life as an Ohio lawyer and antislavery Democrat. In 1856, he married Ellen Hutchinson (1830-1873), and they had four children over the next seven years. Stanton served as U.S. Attorney General under President James Buchanan in the winter of 1860-1861, during which time he strengthened the Administration's resolve against secession. Appointed as Lincoln's Secretary of War in early 1862, Stanton brought civilian-style order to the Army and War Department, improving the efficiency of the armed forces. His earlier success as a Pittsburgh lawyer honed his skills in negotiation and communication, allowing him to work with Congress and the president to ensure appropriate involvement in the conduct of the war by each branch of government, as specified by the Constitution. Continuing in the cabinet of President Andrew Johnson, Stanton clearly articulated the Army's role as a major agent in the implementation of Reconstruction policies. Disagreements over Johnson's position on Reconstruction led to Stanton's ouster and eventually to Johnson's 1868 impeachment. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Stanton to the Supreme Court, but Stanton died before he could take the oath of office.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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