JAMES MONROE President from Richard Rush April 21, 1823 Uncatalogued Signed ALS For Sale

JAMES MONROE President from Richard Rush April 21, 1823 Uncatalogued Signed ALS JAMES MONROE President from Richard Rush April 21, 1823 Uncatalogued Signed ALS POB#56641An uncatalogued 4 page letter to President James Monroe from Richard Rush
(Note: asterisk and notes by seller)London, April 21, 1823Sir,

About three weeks ago, I received from Holland House* a flat box of about two feet square, to be forwarded to you, the message stating that it must be sent with care, and if possible kept free from damp. I made an immediate application to the [illegible] Aspinwall, requesting him to aid me in getting it off by the hands of some careful captain from this port, which I thought would be better than to send it by way of Liverpool. It remained in my custody, waiting for the opportunity of a ship from this port until a few days ago, when, none offering, I met with the son of Mr. Maury**, who was about going to Liverpool and promised to take it in his own trunk with the greatest care, and attend to its shipment from Liverpool with like care. 

I have therefore judged it best to deliver it over to him, the number of ships constantly sailing from that port will give a prospect of your getting it sooner, than if I had continued to wait for a London ship. He sets out for Liverpool in a day or two, and had some expectation of finding a ship on the eve of sailing for Alexandria. The contents of the box are unknown to me; but I hope that it will, under the arrangements I have made reach you safely. 

On the foreign affairs of this country, I have nothing to add to the general notices contained in one of my despatches to the Secretary of State of a few days back. 

Remain, 

dear sir, 

with the highestrespect, 

your attachedand faithful [servant?] 

Richard Rush 

President Monroe. 

REFERENCE:  

Preston, Daniel, A Comprehensive Catalogue of the Correspondence and Papers of James Monroe, Greenwood Press, 2003.  Uncatalogued in this recent comprehensive reference.

PROVENANCE & AUTHENTICATION:

Green Hill Mansion Library, Worcester, Mass.  Estate of Julia Green family.  Lot 118.  Part of a major collection dispersal that also included letters items from Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, as well as law firm files related to Andrew H. Green, Samuel Tilden, and William E. Green as well as many other Worcester, Mass notables. 

NOTES:

*Holland House - Residence of Lord and Lady Holland - at the time a London social center frequented by the diplomatic community as well as a salon for Whig politics. 

A letter dated 31 March 1823 from Lady Holland to James Monroe (NYPL, Monroe Papers, ) probably relates directly.   That letter from Lady Holland thanks President Monroe for books that he had sent to her and sends to him engravings for Joseph Bonaparte and the Monroes. Based on the dates of Lady Holland\'s letter and the present letter, the engravings mentioned by Lady Holland could very well be the \"two foot square\" box that is mentioned by Richard Rush here.   The dates work out almost precisely.

**Mr. Maury.  James Maury (1746-1840) the United States consul in Liverpool for 39 years, from 1790 to 1829.  Fired by President Andrew Jackson - presumably for his careful handling of nice engravings for Washington and London elites. 

The whole business of exchanging books and art between Holland House and the Monroes across the Atlantic is well documented in existing letters abstracted and located in Preston.  A quick perusal of abstracts from January to May, 1823 found a letter from James Monroe forwarding American State Papers to Holland House (January 16, 1823) and a reply from Lord Holland (February 26, 1823) to an earlier shipment.   On March 11, 1823, Lord Holland acknowledges the receipt of American State Papers and sends the first two volumes of Edward Brenton\'s Naval History of Great Britain, a book that was just published and eventually runs to five volumes. Brenton\'s first volume deals with Great Britain\'s reckoning with the loss of the American colonies, so it most certain to be a much discussed work.  The present letter clearly falls within the context of even more similar transatlantic letters between Rush and Monroe and others.  According to Preston\'s scope, no less than 95 letters passed between Rush and Monroe during his ministerial duties in Great Britain, with most (that we noticed) in collections at the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, and Princeton. 

The exchange of letters between Richard Rush and James Monroe numbers to over 95 in the catalog, however that correspondence underestimates traffic in communication between the London embassy and Washington. \"The Era of Good Feelings\" included momentous international events directly involving Great Britain: Latin American Wars of Independence and the collapse of Spanish America; the Monroe Doctrine; demilitarization of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River as well as detailed negotiations over state boundaries with Canada (Maine and Minnesota particularly); the Oregon question [ably tabled by the Monroe Administration]; and elimination of the Transatlantic slave trade which was codified into maritime law during the period.   Richard Rush had a full plate, so it\'s remarkable that he took the time to manage the carriage of gifts [however belatedly] between powerful families on both sides of the Atlantic. 

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