Oliver Goldsmith.
Washington, DC: The Neale Company, 1900. Hardcover. 16mo. Quarter burgundy cloth and cream paper over boards with gilt lettering and decoration. 72pp. Frontispiece. Very good. Internally tight and fine, with bit of rubbing and age toning to binding (only); hand-lettered paper shelf label near foot of spine. Item #49806
Attractive first edition of this slim biography of the 18th century English-Irish writer and playwright -- and a fascinating presentation copy, bearing this large and bold inscription and signature on frontispiece verso: "Presented to Col. / Wm. B. Allison with / the abiding friendship / of the Author. / John A. Joyce. / Washington D.C. / Nov. 20, 1900/" Joyce (1842-1915) was a colorful Irish-American author and poet who served valiantly with the 24th Kentucky Infantry Regiment during the Civil War; wounded and discharged, he resumed doing what he had done before the war -- studying law -- and somehow did so in 1864 in the Dubuque, Iowa law office of then-Representative (later Senator) William B. Allison; he "graduated" on November 8, 1864 and that same month dedicated his poem "The Leaves Are Falling" (see "Complete Poems of Colonel John A. Joyce," 1900) to Allison; becoming an I.R.S. agent, he got caught up in the Whiskey Ring scandal and was briefly imprisoned in 1875, though later pardoned by President Rutherford Hayes and presumably exonerated, for he clerked at the Treasury Department for the rest of his life. It's amusing that Joyce gives Allison's earned rank of "Colonel" in his inscription (Allison rose to lieutenant colonel while raising state regiments on the staff of the Iowa governor) -- a title Joyce used for much of his life though he never earned it. From the library of William B. Allison (1829-1908), the powerful Iowa Republican who, as U.S. senator from that state (1873-1908), was one of the "big four" who controlled the Senate; as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for most of those years, he championed tariff legislation and co-authored the Bland-Allison Act of 1878; as member of the Senate Finance Committee he was often courted by U.S. presidents to hold cabinet positions. Early 20th century bookplate on front pastedown notes "This book is part of Allison Memorial Collection Gift of Mrs. Jennie A. Brayton" and until deaccessioned was part of Allison's non-circulating collection at his hometown public library across the street from his Dubuque residence. According to Sage, Allison owned "hundreds of books on government, economics, history, banking, finance, and the tariff.... An omnivorous reader, Allison doubtless read most of these volumes, if only for relaxation from the strain that accompanied his efforts to solve the many problems facing the Nation...."
Price: $195.00