Signed book: Letters on the Masonic Institution. First edition. NY: T. R. Martin, 1847. Hardcover handsomely bound in later polished gilt-ruled calf, spine gilt with morocco title label, 6 x 8.75, 284 pages. Boldly signed and inscribed on the first free end page in ink in his old age, "Hon. John G. Palfrey, from his friend, John Quincy Adams." Below is a note by Palfrey, "This volume was given to me by Mr. Adams at his house, this day, August 5th, 1847, J.G.P." Autographic condition: very good to fine, with scattered light staining and foxing. Book condition: VG+/None, with scuffing to the spine and a "Library of Lawrence E. Miller" blindstamp to a rear page.
Palfrey was a Unitarian clergyman who served as minister at the Adams family's parish, Boston's Brattle Street Church, from 1818-1831, and taught as a professor at his alma mater, Harvard Divinity School. He later became involved in politics, serving as Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth from 1844-1848 and representing Massachusetts's 4th district in the US House of Representatives from 1847-1849. He and Adams were aligned in their political ideologies as anti-slavery members of the Whig Party. A marvelous, handsomely bound presentation volume from one Massachusetts politician to another. From the collection of Dr. Lawrence E. Miller.
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