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Front page death report of Thomas Jefferson...



Item # 646658

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July 08, 1826

NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, July 8, 1826  Nearly two-thirds of the first column on the front page is taken up with a report which begins: "A great man has fallen--THOMAS JEFFERSON, the liberal and the just, the wise and the good, hath departed from works to rewards. He left us on the 4th instant, at 10 minutes before one o'clock, the 50th anniversary of the day, and possibly at the hour, when he stood in the presence of the revolutionary congress, and tendered to Hancock the great charter--the declaration of independence, of which he was the author..." with much more.
Ironically, John Adams would die on this very same day as well, but that report had yet to reach this publisher.
One of the inside pages has an interesting letter to John Adams inviting him to a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, to which he replied in part by saying: "...I feel very grateful for this mark of distinguished & respectful attention...the present state of my health forbids me to indulge the hope of participating..." and this is followed by a letter from Thomas Jefferson, dated June 24 from Monticello, in which he responds to the same invitation by saying in part: "...with my regret that ill health forbids me the gratification of an acceptance...".
Not only is it great to have a very timely report on his death, but also nice to have it on the front page and from a city which is much closer to Charlottesville (where he died) than most other popular newspapers of the day. And in a newspaper dated just four days after his death!
Complete in 16 pages, 6 1/4 by 9 3/4 inches, very lite scattered foxing, otherwise in very nice condition.
This newspaper began in 1811 and was a prime source for national political news of the first half of the 19th century. As noted in Wikipedia: "Niles edited and published the Weekly Register until 1836, making it into one of the most widely-circulated magazines in the United States and himself into one of the most influential journalists of his day. Devoted primarily to politics, Niles' Weekly Register is considered an important source for the history of the period."

Category: Pre-Civil War