Letters, documents and manuscripts — Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts including Americana
Thomas More was a British lawyer, humanist philosopher, writer and statesman.
As the son of a London judge of the Royal High Court, Thomas studied at Oxford and then in London with the best lawyers. More also studied the works of the ancient classics, improved in Greek and Latin languages, composed his works. In 1497 More met and became friends with Erasmus of Rotterdam, became a member of his humanist circle.
In 1510-1518 Thomas More was deputy sheriff of London, and in 1517 entered the service of the king, becoming one of the most effective and trusted civil servants of Henry VIII. He acted as his secretary, interpreter, speech writer, chief diplomat, counselor, and confidant. He was knighted in 1521, became Speaker of the House of Commons in 1523, and in 1525. - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Around 1515. More wrote The History of Richard III, and in 1516 he published his most significant work, Utopia, in which he described an imaginary ideal state.
Thomas More opposed the divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon and refused to recognize the king as the head of the Church of England, as required by the Act of Supremacy in 1534. For his refusal, he was beheaded in the Tower of London in 1535. 400 years later, in 1935 Thomas More was canonized by the Catholic Church, and in 1980 the Church of England recognized him as a "saint and hero of the Christian Church."
John Quincy Adams was an American politician and statesman, the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 - March 4, 1829).
John Quincy Adams was the son of John Adams, the second President of the United States, and, of course, public service was his destiny. As a child, in 1778 he traveled to France with his father, who was then U.S. Commissioner to France. At the age of 14, Adams became personal secretary to Francis Dana, the U.S. Minister to Russia, serving as his father's secretary as well during the negotiation of the Treaty of Paris (1783). In 1787, the twenty-year-old Adams graduated from Harvard University and, after studying law, began practicing in Boston.
In addition to numerous diplomatic appointments, Quincy Adams served as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1803 to 1808. President James Madison appointed Adams U.S. minister to Russia in 1809, and Adams served until 1814. And under President James Monroe, he served as Secretary of State from 1817 to 1825 and is considered one of the best Secretaries of State in U.S. history.
John Quincy Adams won the 1824 presidential election in a four-way race against Henry Clay, William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson. As president, Adams supported a program to modernize the U.S. economy. But his popularity declined because of his approach to Native Americans, whom he supported against the demands of settlers from the west.
After losing the 1828 presidential election to Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served as a representative from Massachusetts for the next 17 years. In the House of Representatives, Adams became one of the most vocal opponents of slavery. He consistently defended abolitionist views and policies, denouncing slavery as an immoral institution and attacking the interests of Southern slaveholders. During the U.S.-Mexican War of 1848, Adams was a leading opponent of the annexation of Texas, farsightedly predicting that it would lead to civil war.
After suffering two strokes, Adams died on February 23, 1848, at the age of 80. Had fate not predestined him to pursue politics, John Quincy Adams would have become a famous poet. He spent his life composing poems in various genres. After his death, many of his poems were collected and published in Poems on Religion and Society (1848).
Robert Louis Stevenson, born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, was a Scottish poet and writer, a major exponent of Neo-Romanticism.
He began studying engineering at the University of Edinburgh, but later began to study law. However, he was fascinated by literature, and already during his studies the student printed in periodicals. Stevenson was an avid traveler and also published several books about his travels. In 1881, he began serializing pirate stories, which were formalized into a book, Treasure Island, in 1883. The book became an instant bestseller. Next were adventure novels "Kidnapped" (1886), "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886), "The Master of Ballantrae" (1889) and others, as well as many novels and short stories, ballads.
Robert Lewis Stevenson was very sickly from early childhood, and readers would not have guessed that he wrote his most exciting adventures while nearly bedridden. He died at the age of 44 from a cerebral hemorrhage. And Treasure Island remains one of the greatest and most popular adventure novels in the English language. It has been translated, reprinted and screened around the world many times.
Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and politician, the 16th President of the United States (March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865).
The son of a frontiersman and a Kentucky farmer, Lincoln worked hard from an early age and struggled to learn. He was a militiaman in the Indian War, practiced law, and sat in the Illinois legislature for eight years. He was an opponent of slavery and gradually gained a national reputation that earned him victory in the 1860 presidential election.
After becoming the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln turned the Republican Party into a strong national organization. In addition, he drew most Northern Democrats to the Union side. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared permanently free those slaves who were in Confederate territory. Lincoln considered secession illegal and was prepared to use force to defend federal law and the Union. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy, but four remained in the Union, and the Civil War of 1861-1865 began.
Lincoln personally directed the military action that led to victory over the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln was reelected in 1864, and on April 14, 1865, he was fatally shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln is a national hero of the American people, he is considered one of the best and most famous presidents of the United States until today.
Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and politician, the 16th President of the United States (March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865).
The son of a frontiersman and a Kentucky farmer, Lincoln worked hard from an early age and struggled to learn. He was a militiaman in the Indian War, practiced law, and sat in the Illinois legislature for eight years. He was an opponent of slavery and gradually gained a national reputation that earned him victory in the 1860 presidential election.
After becoming the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln turned the Republican Party into a strong national organization. In addition, he drew most Northern Democrats to the Union side. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared permanently free those slaves who were in Confederate territory. Lincoln considered secession illegal and was prepared to use force to defend federal law and the Union. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy, but four remained in the Union, and the Civil War of 1861-1865 began.
Lincoln personally directed the military action that led to victory over the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln was reelected in 1864, and on April 14, 1865, he was fatally shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln is a national hero of the American people, he is considered one of the best and most famous presidents of the United States until today.
Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and politician, the 16th President of the United States (March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865).
The son of a frontiersman and a Kentucky farmer, Lincoln worked hard from an early age and struggled to learn. He was a militiaman in the Indian War, practiced law, and sat in the Illinois legislature for eight years. He was an opponent of slavery and gradually gained a national reputation that earned him victory in the 1860 presidential election.
After becoming the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln turned the Republican Party into a strong national organization. In addition, he drew most Northern Democrats to the Union side. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared permanently free those slaves who were in Confederate territory. Lincoln considered secession illegal and was prepared to use force to defend federal law and the Union. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy, but four remained in the Union, and the Civil War of 1861-1865 began.
Lincoln personally directed the military action that led to victory over the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln was reelected in 1864, and on April 14, 1865, he was fatally shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln is a national hero of the American people, he is considered one of the best and most famous presidents of the United States until today.
Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and politician, the 16th President of the United States (March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865).
The son of a frontiersman and a Kentucky farmer, Lincoln worked hard from an early age and struggled to learn. He was a militiaman in the Indian War, practiced law, and sat in the Illinois legislature for eight years. He was an opponent of slavery and gradually gained a national reputation that earned him victory in the 1860 presidential election.
After becoming the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln turned the Republican Party into a strong national organization. In addition, he drew most Northern Democrats to the Union side. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared permanently free those slaves who were in Confederate territory. Lincoln considered secession illegal and was prepared to use force to defend federal law and the Union. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy, but four remained in the Union, and the Civil War of 1861-1865 began.
Lincoln personally directed the military action that led to victory over the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln was reelected in 1864, and on April 14, 1865, he was fatally shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln is a national hero of the American people, he is considered one of the best and most famous presidents of the United States until today.
Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and politician, the 16th President of the United States (March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865).
The son of a frontiersman and a Kentucky farmer, Lincoln worked hard from an early age and struggled to learn. He was a militiaman in the Indian War, practiced law, and sat in the Illinois legislature for eight years. He was an opponent of slavery and gradually gained a national reputation that earned him victory in the 1860 presidential election.
After becoming the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln turned the Republican Party into a strong national organization. In addition, he drew most Northern Democrats to the Union side. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared permanently free those slaves who were in Confederate territory. Lincoln considered secession illegal and was prepared to use force to defend federal law and the Union. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy, but four remained in the Union, and the Civil War of 1861-1865 began.
Lincoln personally directed the military action that led to victory over the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln was reelected in 1864, and on April 14, 1865, he was fatally shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln is a national hero of the American people, he is considered one of the best and most famous presidents of the United States until today.
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an American politician and statesman, the 32nd President of the United States (1932-1945).
Franklin was educated at Harvard University and Columbia Law School. His cousin was President Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin also went into public service, but as a Democrat. He was elected to the New York Senate in 1910, President Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Roosevelt became Governor of New York in 1928.
In November 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the United States. Taking office in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt, with his "Hundred Days" and "New Deal" programs, helped the American people regain faith in themselves. In 1936, he was re-elected by a large margin. During this difficult political period, he sought through neutrality legislation to keep the U.S. out of the war in Europe, but at the same time to strengthen countries that were threatened or attacked. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, drew the country into the war.
In 1944, as Hitler's Germany was nearing its collapse, an ailing Roosevelt managed to win the presidency again. The following February, he met with Churchill and Stalin at the famous Yalta Conference. His health was deteriorating, and on April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was the only U.S. president to be elected to office four times. Roosevelt successfully led the United States through two of the greatest crises of the 20th century: the Great Depression and World War II.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American politician and statesman, 35th President of the United States (1961-1963).
John was born in a family of natives of Ireland, his father - Joseph Kennedy - a Democratic politician, who headed the Securities and Exchange Commission in the 1930s, was U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. John studied at Harvard and Princeton Universities and traveled to Europe in 1937. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy and received a number of awards, and immediately after the war he entered politics.
In 1946, John F. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts, in 1952, with the help of financial support from the Kennedy family won election to the Senate and held the post until the end of 1960. In the presidential election of 1960, 43-year-old Kennedy with a small margin of victory over Richard Nixon, becoming the 35th President of the United States.
The time of Kennedy's presidency was marked by the escalation of the Cold War. Its peak was the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the confrontation between Washington and Moscow almost led to nuclear war. With great difficulty the parties managed to reach a compromise - during the negotiations the USSR undertook to remove missiles from Cuba in return for the dismantling of American missiles in Turkey. Since the beginning of 1963, the U.S. President increasingly spoke out in favor of peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union. In August 1963, the U.S., USSR and Great Britain signed a treaty banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater, which entered into force in October 1963. In the same 1963, when the country was hit by a wave of protests of the colored population, he introduced a bill in Congress that banned segregation in public places.
On November 22, 1963, during a trip to Dallas, Texas, John F. Kennedy was fatally wounded. He was 46 years old. Lee Harvey Oswald was held as the prime suspect in the assassination, who was shot and killed two days later by Jack Ruby in the garage of the Dallas police station. There are various versions of the reasons for the President's assassination, but none of them has been fully proven so far.
In his free time from politics, John F. Kennedy managed to write a book "Stories of Courage", for which he received the Pulitzer Prize in 1957. These are biographies of people whom he considered to be models of courage in politics. In 1958, Kennedy published a book called A Nation of Immigrants.
