Diplomats 19th century
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).
Joel Barlow was an American statesman, diplomat, French politician and poet.
A graduate of Yale University, he briefly served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary Army. In 1784, Barlow founded the American Mercury, a weekly newspaper in Hartford, Connecticut, and was admitted to the bar in 1786. Along with John Trumbull and Timothy Dwight, he was a member of the Hartford Witters, a group of young writers.
Joel Barlow's fame was brought to him by his poetic work The Vision of Columbus (1787). It is a dialog between Christopher Columbus and an angel and covers the entire history of America to the end of the American Revolution. The poem was signed by many leading figures of the time, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, and was popular on both sides of the Atlantic. The author later reworked the poem into a more cynical epic called Columbiad.
In 1788, Barlow traveled to France as an agent for the Scioto Land Company and persuaded a group of Frenchmen to emigrate to America, who eventually founded the town of Gallipolis, Ohio. In Paris he became a liberal in religion and an advanced republican in politics; he took part in the French Revolution and was granted French citizenship.
In the literary field, Barlow is also known for his work The Hasty Pudding (1796). It is a humorous poem inspired by a longing for New England and cornmeal, containing vivid descriptions of rural scenes.
In 1795-97. Barlow was sent to Algeria on a diplomatic mission and returned to the United States in 1805. In 1811 he was appointed U.S. plenipotentiary to France. Barlow participated in Napoleon's retreat from Russia and died in Poland.
William Clark, an American frontiersman, is best known for co-leading the epic Lewis and Clark Expedition alongside Meriwether Lewis from 1804 to 1806. This journey was a monumental exploration of the American West, extending to the Pacific Northwest, which laid the foundation for westward expansion and significantly contributed to the nation's knowledge of the vast territory.
Before his fame as an explorer, William Clark had a substantial military career, beginning with his service in the militia and the U.S. Army during the Northwest Indian War. His experiences in the military, including participation in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, honed his leadership and survival skills, which were crucial for the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Following the expedition, William Clark continued to serve in significant roles, including as the governor of Missouri Territory and as a superintendent of Indian Affairs. His later years were dedicated to managing relations with various Native American tribes, navigating the complexities of the expanding American frontier.
For collectors and experts in art, history, and antiques, William Clark's life and contributions offer a fascinating lens through which to explore the early 19th-century American narrative. His maps, journals, and other related artifacts provide a unique perspective on this formative period in U.S. history.
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Charles d'Éon de Beaumont, known as Chevalier d'Éon and with many other names, was a French nobleman, diplomat, and secret agent who belonged to the Royal Secret diplomatic network. This amazing and versatile man was forced to live the second half of his life as a woman by virtue of his activities.
D'Eon participated in the Seven Years' War and spied for France while in Russia and England. In France and England he was known for his adventurous life and his many talents: he was an ambassador and secret agent in the service of Louis XV, a captain of dragoons during the Seven Years' War, a skilled swordsman, and a man of letters. After several missions to Russia, more often under the guise of a woman, he was sent to London in 1762 to assist the ambassador in the peace negotiations with England. For his contribution to the Treaty of Paris, signed the following year, he became a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis.
Needing money, and in order to receive a pension, he increasingly entered the role of a woman. In 1777 he received an order: "By order of the King: Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timotheus d'Eon de Beaumont is ordered to remove the dragoon uniform she wears and to dress in accordance with her sex. Henceforth he always wore women's dress. Returning to London in 1785, d'Eon died there 25 years later. An autopsy conducted two days after his death found him to be male.
François Joseph de Pons, full name François Raymond Joseph de Pons, was a French traveler, writer, and diplomat.
De Pons, during his stay in Venezuela in the early 19th century, served as a political and diplomatic correspondent in Caracas, gathering information for the French government. This prompted him to write a book entitled: "A voyage through the eastern part of Terre Ferme, North America, made in 1801, 1802, 1803 and 1804; containing a description of the general chapter of Caracas and the provinces of Venezuela, Maracaibo, Varinas, Española Guiana, Cumana and Margarita Island", which also included a geographical map and plans of the capital Caracas and the main ports.
Contemporaries praised the work as "an important account of Venezuela, containing a description of the country and people, as well as a description of the growth and production of cacao, indigo, sugar, cotton, coffee, and tobacco." The first edition was published in Paris in 1806. This work was so popular and significant that in the same year it was translated by the writer Washington Irving and published in New York and London.
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy. Giraudoux's dominant theme is the relationship between man and woman—or in some cases, between man and some unattainable ideal.
Sir William Douglas Hamilton was a British diplomat, archaeologist and volcanologist, a famous collector, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
He served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800, but most importantly, he was a passionate researcher of history, art and natural sciences and was a member of the Society of Dilettantes, established for the purpose of studying ancient art.
In Naples, Hamilton amassed a unique collection of antique vases and published an illustrated book about them. In parallel, Sir Hamilton studied the volcanoes Vesuvius and Etna, local volcanic and seismic activity, and the causes of earthquakes in the Neapolitan territory. As a corresponding member of the Royal Society, he sent the results of his research to London. His publications were very valuable for the time.
William Henry Harrison, an American military officer and politician, became the ninth President of the United States in 1841, making history with the shortest presidency due to his death just 31 days after taking office. Born on February 9, 1773, in Charles City County, Virginia, Harrison was the last U.S. president born as a British subject and the paternal grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president.
William Henry Harrison's early military career was marked by notable achievements, including participating in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, which concluded the Northwest Indian War. His leadership against Tecumseh's confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 earned him the nickname "Old Tippecanoe." He was later promoted to major general during the War of 1812, securing a significant victory at the Battle of the Thames, which effectively ended the Indian confederation led by Tecumseh.
Before his presidency, William Henry Harrison had a prolific political career, starting in 1798 when he became the secretary of the Northwest Territory. He was then elected as the territory's delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1799. In 1801, he became the governor of the Indiana Territory, where he negotiated numerous treaties with Native American tribes, acquiring vast tracts of land for the United States. Harrison's political journey also included terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and as the U.S. Minister to Colombia before being nominated by the Whig Party for the presidency in 1840.
His presidential campaign was famous for the "Log Cabin Campaign," where Harrison was presented as a man of the people, in stark contrast to the incumbent President Martin Van Buren, who was portrayed as an elitist. This strategy proved successful, and William Henry Harrison won the presidency with a significant margin. However, his time in office was cut short when he died of presumed pneumonia, making his wife, Anna Harrison, the first presidential widow to receive a pension from Congress.
Harrison's legacy is complex, marked by his military and political contributions that significantly impacted the United States' expansion and development during its early years.
For those interested in learning more about William Henry Harrison, signing up for updates is a great way to stay informed about new discoveries and interpretations of his life and contributions to American history. This subscription will alert you to new product sales and auction events related to this significant historical figure, providing a unique opportunity for collectors and experts in art and antiques to deepen their understanding of American history.
Joseph Coleman Hart was an American author, lawyer, and public servant of the first half of the 19th century.
Hart had a law degree, served as a colonel in the National Guard and as a school principal. During this period he wrote a number of geography textbooks that were widely used. He was a longtime resident of New York City and was friends with several literary men and worked as a journalist. At the end of his life, he served as the American consul in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Joseph Hart is best known today as the author of the novel Miriam Coffin, or The Whale Fishermen (1834). America's first whaling novel was originally written in part to encourage congressional support for whaling. But it is better known today for being the precursor to Herman Melville's famous novel Moby Dick.
David Humphreys was an American soldier, statesman, diplomat, writer, poet, and biographer.
He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University, where he became a member of the Hartford Witters and taught, and went to serve in the Continental Army in the summer of 1776.
A close friend and aide to George Washington, Humphreys was an eyewitness and active participant in the early years of the United States. During his long career, Col. David Humphreys served as a soldier, secretary, diplomat, and was a writer, poet, orator, biographer, and industrialist. His speeches, poems, literary works, and correspondence with Washington and others of the founding generation serve as a valuable source for historians of the early republic in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Because of his intelligence and diligence, David Humphreys had a long record of service and held many public offices, among others serving as U.S. minister to Spain from 1797 to 1801. He was a member of the Royal Society of London and the American Antiquarian Society.
Washington Irving was an American Romantic writer, historian, and diplomat.
Irving has been called "the first American writer" to be recognized in Europe. In 1815, he traveled to England on family business. A huge success in England and the United States was The Sketch Book, published in several installments during 1819-1820, which contained two of the author's most famous works, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and which made him a literary star in both England and the United States.
He continued his literary endeavors and worked at the U.S. Embassy of Great Britain. Returning to the United States in 1832, Irving visited some little-known territories near the western fringes of the country, and this journey inspired his works Journey on the Prairie (1835), Astoria (1836), and The Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1837). Late in life he published several historical and biographical works, including the five-volume Life of George Washington (1855-1859).
John Jay was an American lawyer and diplomat, statesman, and one of the founding fathers of the United States.
Jay came from French Huguenots, after graduating from King's College (now Columbia University) he entered law school and was admitted to the bar in 1768. After the outbreak of hostilities in the spring of 1775, Jay continued to serve both in New York and in the Continental Congress, which elected him president in late 1778.
In the fall of 1779 he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Spain, which had recently entered into an alliance with France against England. In May 1782 he traveled to Paris, where a treaty was concluded that formally ended the war with Great Britain in 1783. Before returning to America in July 1784, Jay was appointed secretary of foreign affairs.
In 1788, Jay actively advocated for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by the state of New York. Together with future President James Madison and economist Alexander Hamilton, he participated in the creation of the famous book The Federalist (1788). Under the new Constitution, President Washington appointed John Jay Chief Justice of the United States in 1789, and in July 1795 he became Governor of New York. After completing his second term as governor in June 1801. Jay retired to his farm in Bedford, New York.
Thomas Jefferson was an American politician and statesman, the third President of the United States (March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809).
Jefferson was the son of a planter and received a law degree. In 1774, he wrote A Summary of the Rights of British America, which attracted public attention, and he soon gained a reputation as one of the first advocates of American independence from the authority of the British Parliament. In the spring of 1775, the Virginia legislature appointed him a delegate to the Second Conference of the Continental Congress. A year later he was appointed to a committee of five, which also included Adams and Benjamin Franklin, to draft a formal statement of reasons to justify a break with Great Britain. Jefferson thus became one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France in 1785, was secretary of state (1790-1793) under Washington, and vice president (1797-1801) under John Adams.
A Democratic-Republican, Jefferson, who believed that the national government should play a limited role in the lives of citizens, was elected president in 1800. One of the most significant accomplishments of Jefferson's first administration was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million dollars in 1803 (from the Gulf of Mexico to present-day Canada), effectively doubling the size of the United States. During his second term, Jefferson was focused on trying to keep America out of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. After his second term as president, he was succeeded by James Madison in 1808.
Upon leaving office, Jefferson retired to his plantation in Virginia, pursued his favorite pastimes, and helped found the University of Virginia. In addition to politics, he is known as a writer, farmer, horticulturist, inventor, book collector, art historian, architect, and scientist. He died at the age of 83 on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
James Russell Lowell was an American poet, educator, and diplomat.
From 1845 to 1850, he wrote about 50 articles against slavery for periodicals. Two of Lowell's other two most important works were also published in 1848: the poem "Sir Launfal's Vision," praising the brotherhood of man, and "A Fable for Critics," a witty appraisal of contemporary American authors. These books, together with the publication in the same year of a second series of his poems, made Lowell the most popular new figure in 19th-century American literature.
John Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, Secretary of State, and one of the founders of the American legal system.
During the Revolutionary War, Marshall served first as a lieutenant and after July 1778 as a captain in the Continental Army. In 1781 he left the service, studied law, and began practicing law in Virginia, in Fauquier County, and then in Richmond. He soon became head of the Virginia bar and was a member of the Virginia assembly. In 1788 he took a leading part in the Virginia convention convened to discuss the proposed U.S. Constitution. In 1797-98, along with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Elbridge, Gerry Marshall was appointed by John Adams to negotiate with France.
He was Secretary of State under President Adams from June 6, 1800 to March 4, 1801. At the same time he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1801 and served in that position until 1835.
John Marshall was a personal friend of Washington, he announced his death in 1799, organized his funeral, and delivered his eulogy. Washington's relatives soon asked Marshall to write a biography of the late president. "The Life of George Washington" was published in London in 1804-1807. It includes illustrations, portraits, facsimile letters, and folding maps.
James Mario Matra, born James Magra, was an American of Corsican descent, diplomat and sailor.
Matra became famous for accompanying James Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific and for painting the voyage, although his participation in it was accompanied by scandal. In 1783 he proposed settlements in New South Wales, Australia, for American Loyalists and British convicts. But Matra's hopes for an official position in the proposed colony failed, and in 1786 he accepted the post of consul in Tangier, where he remained until his death.
Francis Picabia, born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia, was a French avant-garde painter, poet, and typographist, whose work is celebrated for its diversity and innovation. His journey through various art movements, including Impressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism, showcases his refusal to be confined by any one style. Picabia's art is known for its eclectic nature, often blending mechanical elements with organic forms, thereby challenging traditional perceptions of art and beauty.
Picabia's significant contribution to the art world lies not just in his varied artistic output but also in his philosophical approach to creation. He believed in the freedom of expression, often using his art to critique societal norms and the art establishment itself. This rebellious spirit made him a pivotal figure in the Dada movement, where his works were celebrated for their irony and disdain for conventional art values.
Among his notable works, "Amorous Parade" and "I See Again in Memory My Dear Udnie" stand out, housed in prestigious institutions like the Museum of Modern Art in New York. These pieces exemplify Picabia's mastery over blending different elements of art movements, creating works that remain influential to this day. His legacy is not just in the pieces he created but also in his attitude towards art, encouraging future generations to challenge and redefine the boundaries of creativity.
For collectors and experts in art and antiques, Picabia's works represent not only significant artistic achievements but also valuable insights into the evolution of modern art. To stay informed about new product sales and auction events related to Francis Picabia, sign up for updates. This subscription is an essential resource for enthusiasts looking to enrich their collections with pieces from one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century.
William Turner was a British diplomat and writer.
For five years, beginning in 1812, Turner was attached to the British Embassy in Constantinople, from where he traveled to Egypt, the Holy Land, Albania, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek Islands. In his diary he noted local manners, customs, and costumes, and described a meeting with Ali Pasha (1740-1822), the ruler of Ottoman Albania. Turner's travel narratives include images engraved from early Turkish drawings in the author's collection. He published this diary in 1820 under the title Journal of a Journey through the Levant. During his travels, Turner also amassed a large collection of ancient coins.
Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. Denon was a diplomat for France under Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was appointed as the first Director of the Louvre museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801, and is commemorated in the Denon Wing of the modern museum and in the Dominique-Vivant Denon Research Center. His two-volume Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte ("Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt"), 1802, was foundational for modern Egyptology.
