[GROUP OF AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, SIGNED, FROM WILLIAM BUELL SPRAGUE, SOME DISCUSSING HIS AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION]

Sprague, William Buell

Published by Albany, N.Y., 1862

About this Item

Five autograph letters, signed, and one manuscript letter, signed, for a total of [9]pp. One cabinet card, 4 x 2 1/2 inches. Old folds. One letter with two-inch closed tear along a fold (no loss of text) and old repair to margin; one letter with small closed tear along a fold and old repair to margin (a few words affected), a few spots of soiling. Very good. A group of six letters by eminent pastor, biographer, and autograph collector, William Buell Sprague (1795-1876). All of the letters are written from Albany, where Sprague served as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. In the first letter, dated January 11, 1838, he thanks his unidentified recipient for his help in acquiring a signature of Wolff (Wolfe?) which he considers "among the gems of my collection." and then provides a list of several names of Rhode Island men for whom he is still seeking signatures. In 1847, Sprague began work on the publication he is best known for, THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN PULPIT. (1857-1869), "a nine-volume work in which he either edited the personal reminiscences or himself wrote biographies of hundreds of U.S. clergymen active in the years from 1629 to 1850. Magisterial in scope, these volumes remain a major source for information on the ministries of Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian, Lutheran, Reformed, Quaker, Moravian, Swedenborgian, and Universalist leaders in colonial and antebellum America" (DAB). A letter here from October 11, 1854, to one Mrs. Winchester, may have been part of his research program as he asks follow-up questions about her recently deceased husband, in particular about the funeral sermon, and the "dates and titles of his several publications." Another letter to one Dr. Todd, dated May 10, 1855, asks for "a testimony concerning old Dr. [Jedidiah] Morse." about whom Sprague wrote an independent biography as well in 1874. Work on this publication even overtook his collecting, as found in a dictated letter dated October 11, 1860, in which he explains that he has been "obliged to decline correspondence & exchanges, even at the expense of foregoing some good opportunities of adding to my collection." Over the course of his collecting, William Sprague became the first person ever to gather a complete set of the autographs of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He also gathered a collection of the signatures of all members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a complete set of the autographs of the Presidents of the United States, and all the officers of the federal government during the administrations of Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and John Quincy Adams. He collected signatures of military officers involved in the American Revolution, from multiple nations, as well as signatures of Reformation figures and notable theologians and philosophers. By his death, his collection numbered nearly 100,000 pieces, likely the largest private collection in the world at the time. The cabinet card by Frederick Gutekunst (Philadelphia) features an older Sprague seated and slightly looking off to his right. An intriguing glimpse into the research methods and collecting habits of one of the great biographers and collectors of the 19th century. ANB 20, pp.501-02. DAB XVII, pp.476-77. Seller Inventory # WRCAM55927

Bibliographic Details

Title: [GROUP OF AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, SIGNED, FROM ...

Publisher: Albany, N.Y.

Publication Date: 1862