TRUMBULL, Jonathan. Letter signed (“Jonth. Trumbull”), to John Derk van der Capellen, Lebanon, Connecticut, 31 August 1779. 32 pages, folio, some closed tears at ends of fold . Marked triplicate and presumably a retained copy. Text in hands of Trumbull’s sons. In a green clamshell folding case.
TRUMBULL, Jonathan. Letter signed (“Jonth. Trumbull”), to John Derk van der Capellen, Lebanon, Connecticut, 31 August 1779. 32 pages, folio, some closed tears at ends of fold . Marked triplicate and presumably a retained copy. Text in hands of Trumbull’s sons. In a green clamshell folding case. “TO CONVINCE THE WORLD AS WELL AS OUR ENEMIES THAT LIBERTY OR DEATH WAS OUR DETERMINATION” Van der Capellen, a Dutch nobleman friendly to the American cause, requested Trumbull to provide him a history of European settlement in America and the independence movement that led to the Revolutionary War with Britain. This remarkable, lengthy history was Trumbull’s response, written while that war still raged and the outcome uncertain. But Trumbull writes with a patriotic gusto that brims with confidence and defiance. “Many parts of the subsequent history of the military affairs of this country will appear almost incredible even to our Friends, and by our enemies will understandably be reprobated as ridiculously false. I shall dare however to oppose a simple narrative of facts to the cavils of an enemy known to be equally fruitful in arts of deception, as in cruelty and insolence.” He devotes a few opening pages to the early settlements starting with Jamestown in 1608, but most of the narrative is a gripping insider’s account of the fighting at Lexington and Concord, the actions around Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point in the summer of 1775, the ill-fated Canadian expedition and the Battles for Long Island and New York City in the summer of 1776. That same year, “On the fourth of July, the Congress convinced that the fix’d resolution of the British Court was conquest, despairing of any accommodation on rational or even tolerable terms, and willing to convince the World as well as our enemies that Liberty or Death was our Determination, publish’d their Manifesto and declaration of Independence, abjuring all future connextion with G. Britain in the view of a parent state forever…” A remarkable early history of the Revolution. It would have an important impact on Van der Capellen’s own political career. His 1781 pamphlet, “To the People of the Netherlands,” urged his countrymen to follow the American example and abolish hereditary power and establish a representative republic.
TRUMBULL, Jonathan. Letter signed (“Jonth. Trumbull”), to John Derk van der Capellen, Lebanon, Connecticut, 31 August 1779. 32 pages, folio, some closed tears at ends of fold . Marked triplicate and presumably a retained copy. Text in hands of Trumbull’s sons. In a green clamshell folding case.
TRUMBULL, Jonathan. Letter signed (“Jonth. Trumbull”), to John Derk van der Capellen, Lebanon, Connecticut, 31 August 1779. 32 pages, folio, some closed tears at ends of fold . Marked triplicate and presumably a retained copy. Text in hands of Trumbull’s sons. In a green clamshell folding case. “TO CONVINCE THE WORLD AS WELL AS OUR ENEMIES THAT LIBERTY OR DEATH WAS OUR DETERMINATION” Van der Capellen, a Dutch nobleman friendly to the American cause, requested Trumbull to provide him a history of European settlement in America and the independence movement that led to the Revolutionary War with Britain. This remarkable, lengthy history was Trumbull’s response, written while that war still raged and the outcome uncertain. But Trumbull writes with a patriotic gusto that brims with confidence and defiance. “Many parts of the subsequent history of the military affairs of this country will appear almost incredible even to our Friends, and by our enemies will understandably be reprobated as ridiculously false. I shall dare however to oppose a simple narrative of facts to the cavils of an enemy known to be equally fruitful in arts of deception, as in cruelty and insolence.” He devotes a few opening pages to the early settlements starting with Jamestown in 1608, but most of the narrative is a gripping insider’s account of the fighting at Lexington and Concord, the actions around Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point in the summer of 1775, the ill-fated Canadian expedition and the Battles for Long Island and New York City in the summer of 1776. That same year, “On the fourth of July, the Congress convinced that the fix’d resolution of the British Court was conquest, despairing of any accommodation on rational or even tolerable terms, and willing to convince the World as well as our enemies that Liberty or Death was our Determination, publish’d their Manifesto and declaration of Independence, abjuring all future connextion with G. Britain in the view of a parent state forever…” A remarkable early history of the Revolution. It would have an important impact on Van der Capellen’s own political career. His 1781 pamphlet, “To the People of the Netherlands,” urged his countrymen to follow the American example and abolish hereditary power and establish a representative republic.
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
