Short Addresses.
N.p. Privately printed, n.y. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Black cloth with gilt lettering. 133pp. Very good. Faintest of wear only; tight and internally fine. Item #51051
First edition, undated but likely 1911, of this self-published eclectic collection of addresses and speeches delivered on a variety of topics (Abraham Lincoln, ideals in education, Judge Lawrence Weldon, etc.) -- handsomely inscribed and signed large and bold in brown ink on front flyleaf: "To my dear cousin / Mrs Letitia G. Stevenson / With every good wish. / Jas. S. Ewing / Jan 22, 1911." James Stevenson Ewing (1835-1918) was a prominent attorney in Bloomington, Illinois, and cousin to fellow Bloomingtonian Adlai E. Stevenson I (1835-1914) -- Congressman, U.S. Postmaster General, U.S. Vice President under Grover Cleveland from 1893 to 1897, which not coincidentally is when Cleveland appointed Ewing as extraordinary envoy and minister plenipotentiary to Belgium (1893-97)! The "cousin" to whom he inscribes this was technically not his cousin, but rather the wife of cousin Adlai -- Letitia Green Stevenson (1843-1913), who as wife of Grover Cleveland's Vice President was Second Lady from 1893-97. Interestingly, laid into this volume -- probably used as a bookmark -- is a Typed Letter Signed, 1p, 8½" X 11", Bloomington, IL, 6 February 1911. Addressed to Adlai Stevenson. Near fine. Mailing folds. On letterhead of "J.F. Humphreys & Co. Wholesale Grocers," prominent local businessman and civic leader Howard Humphreys (1859-1932) writes the former vice president on a local hotbed political issue: "I am wondering this morning if your good nature and civic interest might not prompt you to give a little assistance in helping to influence the result of the election... which will decide the question of our JOINT PARK DISTRICT." He asks the ex-veep to "write an article for the Pantagraph or Bulletin over your signature, in which you would as strongly as possible set out the advantages and necessities of having a Joint Park Board in order to properly carry on this desirable and needful work...." Further details about the plan follow, with Humphreys' bold signature at the close. Whether Stevenson wrote the requested article is not known, though the huge pencilled "ans" (for "answered") on the verso shows he did reply.
Price: $125.00