Ellis, Joseph J. (Washington, George)

His Excellency George Washington

ISBN: 1400040310
New York, NY, USA: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. "The author of seven highly acclaimed books, Joseph J. Ellis has crafted a landmark biography that brings to life in all his complexity the most important and perhaps least understood figure in American history, George Washington. With his careful attention to detail and his lyrical prose, Ellis has set a new standard for biography. Drawing from the newly catalogued Washington papers at the University of Virginia, (Ellis) paints a full portrait of (Washington's) life and career- from his military years through his two terms as president. Ellis illuminates the difficulties the first executive confronted as he worked to keep the emerging country united in the face of adversarial factions. He richly details Washington's private life and illustrates the ways in which it influenced his public persona. Through Ellis's artful narration, we look inside Washington's marriage and his subsequent entrance into the upper echelons of Virginia's plantation society. We come to understand that it was by managing his own large debts to British merchants that he experienced firsthand the imperiousness of the British Empire. And we watch the evolution of his attitude toward slavery, which led to his emancipating his own slaves in his will. Throughout, Ellis peels back the layers of myth and uncovers for us Washington in the context of eighteenth-century America, allowing us to comprehend the magnitude of his accomplishments and the character of his spirit and mind." (From front flap) The magisterial biography of George Washington (1732-1799) by Joseph J(ohn-Michael) Ellis (III) (b. 1943), the popular & prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, historian & academician. The iconic Washington is given his due here as the foremost figure of American history, while being brought down to granular earth from the heights of legend in this biographical masterwork. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $26.95 price printed at front flap, "11/2004" at rear flap), first edition as stated at copyright page, first printing though not specified thereon per custom of publisher. From the collection of Barbara (1935-2023) & Irving (1933-2018) Nusbaum- world travellers, connoisseurs, eminent collectors of art & books- the dearly beloved late mother & father of this still-grieving writer. We found & have retained, between pgs. 46-47, an original bookmark from the late lamented Borders Bookshop, in excellent condition. A rich, rewarding Ellis collectible quite worthy of its subject, in its rarest contemporary form & with distinguished provenance. See also our item No. 6511. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; one pinprick-sized spot at upper right margin of spine. Interior very fine, appearing substantially mint. Dust jacket very fine with only a bit of rubbing, faint scratching & occasional short, faint creasing to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a hint of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; one tiny spot at upper left margin of front cover, just below Washington's rosey cheek from reproduction of Gilbert Stuart's portrait. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #8547]

Price: $60.00