WASHINGTON, GEORGE | An early printing of Washington’s First Inaugural Address in Thomas's Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette, Vol. XVIII, No. 839. Worcester: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Wednesday, May 6, 1789

Property from the Eric C. Caren Collection

WASHINGTON, GEORGE

An early printing of Washington’s First Inaugural Address in Thomas's Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette, Vol. XVIII, No. 839. Worcester: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Wednesday, May 6, 1789

Folio, 4 pages (17 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.; 485 x 287 mm) on a full sheet of laid paper, woodcut vignette incorporated into title, four woodcut vignettes among the advertisements, text in four columns; disbound. The consignor has independently obtained a letter of authenticity from PSA that will accompany the lot.

"I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love." Although George Washington did not receive official notification of his unanimous election to the presidency until 14 April 1789, his elevation to that office was essentially a foregone conclusion from the time that New Hampshire's ratification of the United States Constitution, 21 June 1788, provided the ninth-state approval necessary to put the new governmental compact into effect. As early as January 1789 Washington had begun to prepare an Inaugural Address, but advised by James Madison, he set aside that lengthy and policy-laden address for the briefer and more personal speech that he read at his inauguration at Federal Hall, New York, 30 April 1789—and which was printed in this issue of the Spy just six days later.

On pages 2 and 3, Thomas's famous newspaper provides a detailed description of the Inaugural celebrations, including the order of procession to Federal Hall, the administration of the oath of office by Chancellor Robert Livingston, the firing of a thirteen-gun salute, and the divine service and, later, fireworks that followed Washington's speech. The Inaugural Address is printed in full, including Washington's recognition of the historical significance of the American experiment: "the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."