Burr, Aaron; Davis, Matthew L. Memoirs of Aaron Burr. With miscellaneous selections from his Correspondence. In two volumes. New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1838. [12522]
Two volumes bound in cloth, original printed paper spine title labels, binding is faded, edges worn with some fraying, 9 x 5 3/4 inches. Vol I. with steel-engraved frontispiece of Burr as Vice-President, with tissue guard; Vol. II. with same of his daughter Theodosia. 436 & 449 unmarked pp., plus a 32-page publisher's catalogue at the end of vol. ii. Light foxing throughout, both text blocks are tight. Good. Hardcover.
Howes D126. The first printing was in 1836.
"During a period of forty years I was intimately acquainted with Colonel Burr, and have reason to suppose that I possessed his entire confidence. Some time after his return from Europe in 1812, on different occasions, he suggest casually a wish that I would make notes on his political life. When the Memoirs and Correspondence of Mr. Jefferson were published, he was much excited at the statements which were made in his Ana respecting the presidential contest in Congress in 1801. He procured and sent me a copy of the work...From this time forward he evinced an anxiety that I would prepare his Memoirs, offering me the use of all his private papers, and expressing a willingness to explain any doubtful points, and to dictate such parts of his early history as I might require...I soon discovered that Colonel Burr was far more tenacious of his military, than of his professional, political, or moral character. His prejudices against General Washington were immovable..." - Preface.
Aaron Burr (1756-1836), was the grandson of the famous American clergyman Rev. Jonathan Edwards; he graduated at the College of New Jersey at the age of 16; earned military honors during the Revolutionary War; served as an aide to General Washington; and was nearly elected President of the United States - a tie in the Electoral College after 35 attempts were made - who on the 36th ballot lost to Thomas Jefferson. As the Constitution was originally written, the man with the second highest number of votes became Vice President of the United States, and so Adam Burr was the 3rd VP of the United States. Infamous as the man who killed Alexander in a duel, he fled to Europe for some years. Burr's great conspiracy was his plot to seize by force the Spanish dominions west and south of New Orleans, and to install himself as a King over those territories. He advanced as far as having his own troops at New Orleans, but was betrayed by a co-conspirator and tried for treason under Chief Justice John Marshall at Richmond, where he was acquitted.
Matthew Livingston Davis (1773-1850), b. & d. New York City, a printer and journalist, he was editor of the Evening Post, and a correspondent for the London Times. A close associate of Aaron Burr, he was present at the duel with Hamilton. Livingston served in the United States Congress and was eyewitness to many early events in American history. Burr trusted him explicitly: Davis wrote his Memoirs and edited an edition of Burr's papers.
