Lot 85
[The Hamilton-Burr Duel] The Connecticut Courant, July 25, 1804. 4 pp, all black bordered, 19½ x 12½ in. Nearly the entire newspaper is taken up with the duel. Of most interest and most informative, is the twelve letter exchange between Aaron Burr, sitting Vice President, and Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury and a Founding Father, and their seconds in the days that preceded the duel. Also printed is Hamilton's Last Will, dated July 8, 1804, only three days before the duel. On the last page, "Funeral Obsequies" runs 2 2/3 columns with a woodblock of the casket. In a paper accompanying his will, to be read only in the event of his death, Hamilton had written that he was opposed to dueling, which was illegal, but felt that it was "imposed" on him. He also said, "I am conscious of no ill will to Col. Burr, distinct from political opposition…."
Burr was indicted for murder in New York and New Jersey and although not convicted, his political career was ruined. Ironically, Hamilton's son, Philip, had been killed in a duel three years earlier at the same site along the Hudson River in Weehawken, New Jersey, where his father received his mortal wound. A moving account of the senseless death of a great man.
Estimated Value $600 - 800.
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| Realized $570 |
