[Washington, George, first President]

Mason L. Weems. A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits, of General George Washington, Faithfully Taken from Authentic Documents. Philadelphia: Re-Printed by John Bioren, [1800]

8vo (8 x 4 3/4 in.; 205 x 120 mm). Engraved frontispiece portrait of George Washington by Benjamin Tanner. Text browning, some staining. Nineteenth-century half black morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered gilt, marbled endpapers; rebacked with partial spine laid down. Green cloth chemise and folding-case, tan morocco spine lettered gilt.

A. M. Griffin (signature on title-page dated 16 april 1844). Acquisition: William Reese

8vo (8 x 4 3/4 in.; 205 x 120 mm). Engraved frontispiece portrait of George Washington by Benjamin Tanner. Text browning, some staining. Nineteenth century half black morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered gilt, marbled endpapers; rebacked with partial spine laid down. Green cloth chemise and folding case, tan morocco spine lettered gilt.
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Third edition, as scarce as the first and second editions of this popular biography which Weems embroidered with a good deal of hyperbole. In an article in the New York Times, Andrew Delbanco described Weems, a clergyman and travelling book salesman, as one of the "early hagiographers" of American literature "who elevated the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, into the American pantheon and helped secure a place there for George Washington" ("Bookend: Life, Literature and the Pursuit of Happiness," 4 July 1999).

Weems' name would probably be forgotten today had it not been for the tension between the liveliness of his narratives, contrasted with the "...charge of a want of veracity [that] is brought against all Weems's writings" (FamousAmericans.net).  He is best known as the source of some of the apocryphal stories about George Washington. The famous tale of the cherry tree ("I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet") is included in The Life of Washington (1800). Another dubious anecdote found in the Weems biography is that of Washington's prayer during the winter at Valley Forge. In this abbreviated biography, however, the title of the work itself stresses its veracity as it is based on "authentic documents."

Although some twenty copies of this edition are located in institutions, all early editions of the work are exceedingly rare in the market. The first edition, issued in Georgetown a few months after Washington's death, is known in only seven copies. The second and third were both published by John Bioren later in the year.