JOSEPH STORY | AUTOGRAPH LETTER TO WILLIAM JOHNSON (1824)
1824. A one-sheet letter in Very Good minus condition. Folded to create four pages, with the body of the letter extending across three pages and the recipient's address and a docket on the final page. Dated December 7, 1824.
An autograph letter signed by Joseph Story to William Johnson, the law reporter responsible for publishing the judicial works of James Kent. In the letter, written after Kent's retirement and as Johnson's own career was drawing to a close, Story praises both Kent's work as judge and Johnson's as court reporter. Story writes, in part: "This volume fills me with alternate melancholy & pleasure—the latter, because I see in it so many proofs of admirable learning & judgment in the Chancellor's decisions, & so much of accuracy & sound taste & finish in the Reporter—With melancholy—because it closes a career so honorable to both, so full of glory, talent, & pure devotion to the best interests of the public."
Lightly age toned with light soiling to the page containing the address. A seal tear has resulted in two small losses to the second leaf of the letterset, affecting about five words of text (sense intact). Folded dimensions: w 8 in. x h 9.75 in. RW Consignment. Shelved in Room A Ephemera.
1353486
Special Collections
Price: $4,500