Lot 2ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY
Autograph letter to his father, former president John Adams. No place: 3 February 1804. A single-page autograph letter on a long sheet of watermarked laid paper, the letter to "John Adams, Esq.", addressed in J.Q. Adams' hand on the address panel and docketed in another hand, the letter unsigned. 12 3/4 x 8 inches (32 x 20 cm). Some brown spotting around the edges, losses from rough opening affecting a few letters at head and the left extremity, small loss to lower left corner affecting the name, small punctures touching a few words in the body of the text.

Provenance: Dr. Herbert Ernest Klingelhofer (1915-2015), collector and former President of the Manuscript Society

A rare letter from then Massachusetts Senator John Quincy Adams to his father, John Adams, in the early years of his post-presidency. The letter opens regarding a bill being debated by the Ways and Means committee. The letter then moves swiftly to the governance of the newly acquired Louisiana territory: "The Government of the Second Louisiana Territory is under consideration ... a Section is now offered to make the territory of Upper Louisiana part of the Indiana Territory ... There is all probability this will pass. The subject has become so thoroughly tedious to every part of the Senate; that they are now prepared to agree to anything for the sake of getting rid of the subject." The letter then closes with a remarkable comment on President Thomas Jefferson's provocations towards England: "Our Executive is conjuring up and fostering with tenderest love every possible occasion or pretense to quarrel with England - Mr. and Mrs. Merry receive such treatment that they begin to talk of going home again. The external cavils and quibbles of female etiquette are only the bubbles that indicate the boiling of waters in the Cabinet. There is so much danger in this quarter that it gives me serious concern."


C Dr. Herbert E. Klingelhofer, former President of the Manuscript Society

Sold for $4,725
Estimate $2,500-3,500


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