An eloquent reflection on his public career - photo 1
An eloquent reflection on his public career - photo 2

An eloquent reflection on his public career

Lot 45
22.04.2021 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 125 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 517691
Lot 45 | An eloquent reflection on his public career
Estimate value
$ 25 000 – 35 000
WASHINGTON, George. Autograph letter signed to Jean Luzac, Mount Vernon, 2 December 1797.

Two pages, bifolium, 230 x 188mm (small marginal loss affecting several words at the lower right corner of first page, light marginal wear, hinge remnants along top margin).

Washington eloquently reflects on his career in his final retirement from public life. Washington responds to a laudatory note and the gift of a book from the influential Dutch republican editor, and in so doing, takes stock of his lengthy and eventful public career: "To have steered my Bark amid the intricacies of variegated public employment, to a haven of rest with an approving conscience; and while receiving the approbation of my own country for the part I have acted, to meet similar proofs of it from many of the moderate & virtuous of other countries consummates my greatest wish and all my ambition and in my eye is more precious than any thing that Power or riches could have bestowed."

Luzac (1746-1807) was, like Washington, a critic of the violent excesses of the French Revolution. In his 30 September 1797 letter to Luzac, who had been persecuted for his writings by the pro-French Batavian Republic, wrote that "…my attachment to the true repubican principles authorise me to testify to you my way of thinking—Defender of these principles I have been the victim of them, when I have combatted the usurpations of Despotism, I am the victim at this time, in combatting the opposite extreme, that our unhappy Europe runs into, but to see the illustrious Washington, the founder of the glorious American liberty, march between these two extremes, upon the same line that I have constantly traced—there is my justification, my consolation…" (Luzac to GW, Leyden [30] September 1797, Papers of George Washington, Digital Edition). To this sentiment Washington responds: "In times of turbulance, when the passions are afloat, calm reason is swallowed up in the extremes to w[hi]ch measures are attempted to be carried; but when those subside and the empire of it is resumed, the man who acts from principle—who pursues the paths of truth, moderation & justice, will regain his influence. Such, I persuade myself will be, if it has not already been, your case.–"

Luzac's had sent Washington a copy of his recently-published Oratio De Socrate Cive: Publice Habita which was dedicated to John Adams, who had provided him with reports on the constitutional debates taking place in Massachusetts. Luzac would publish a Dutch translation of the Massachusetts Constitution, which helped bolster popular support for the American Revolution in the Netherlands. (See McCullough,John Adams, p. 249). Washington acknowledged as much in closing: " To the writings & conduct of men of this description (amongst whom you have always been placed) America is much indebted. And ⟨as a private citizen,⟩ for that is the class in which I now move, I offer you my thanks for the part you avow to have acted—and for the Annals you have been pleased to record of one who with pleasure subscribes himself …" Published from the letterpress copy in the Papers of George Washington, Digital Edition: Luzac to GW, [30] September 1796, fn 2. Provenance: Rosenbach, Catalogue 9, No. 212, 1926.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
08.04.2021 – 22.04.2021
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.