Transactions of the Royal Humane Society from 1774 to 1784: With an Appendix of Miscellaneous Observations on Suspended Animation, to the Year 1794.

London: Printed by Jno. Nichols and Sold for the Society by Rivingtons, Dilly, Johnson & Hookham,, 1795. From the philanthropic friend of the architect of the Capitol From the library of President George Washington, with his bold signature on the half-title. The volume was presented to Washington, accompanied by a letter dated 15 July 1795, by the English physician Dr John Coakley Lettsom (1744–1815), and remained in his library until his death. Lettsom's letter, no longer present, mentions his American sympathies and shows that he is aware of Washington's lifelong devotion to the improvement of American agriculture: "Having been born an American, and early imbibed principles of liberty as established on that continent, I have probably received a stronger disposition, to promote, its prosperity, and particularly its agriculture, and the knowledge of its natural history and mineralogy." Along with the book, Lettsom enclosed some rhubarb seeds for Washington's use. Although they never met, the President and Lettsom had a mutual friend in William Thornton (1759–1828), best known in American history as the architect of the Capitol building. Thornton had moved to the new federal capital the year before this presentation, when President Washington appointed him one of the fledgling city's commissioners. Lettsom and Thornton were born in what is now the British Virgin Islands. Both were Quakers appalled by slavery, and both studied medicine. Thornton revered Lettsom as his mentor, but while Lettsom set up a medical practice in London and built a distinguished career there, Thornton became an American citizen. When Thornton prepared to go to America in 1784, it was Lettsom who wrote an introductory letter to Benjamin Franklin. Among Lettsom's many philanthropic achievements in London was assisting William Hawes in the foundation of the Royal Humane Society, of which Thornton was also a member. The Society's aim was to resuscitate anyone in a state of "suspended animation", such as the near-drowned or attempted suicides. The Society promoted novel resuscitative techniques, such as CPR and electric stimulation. They offered rewards to those who successfully resuscitated persons, organized rapid response teams to render first aid, and published reports on successful cases. The present volume documents hundreds of such cases and includes essays and letters from RHS members. The work of the RHS was addressing a widespread, potent fear of premature burial, a fear shared by George Washington. Shortly before he died in December 1799, he requested his secretary, Tobias Lear, to "have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the Vault in less than three days after I am dead". As he lay dying, a family member invited Thornton to Mount Vernon to see if he could use his medical training to help. Thornton was grief stricken to find that he had arrived too late, finding his hero's body frozen stiff. Remembering the experimental techniques of the RHS, Thornton proposed to reanimate Washington, first by thawing him in cool water, then gradually warming him, giving him a tracheotomy and a transfusion of lamb's blood. To Thornton's consternation, Washington's family refused to sanction the attempt. George Washington's Mount Vernon library comprised only about 900 books, with pamphlets and other publications taking it to a total of more than 1,200 titles. Books from Mount Vernon command notably high prices in commerce. On 22 June 2012 at Christie's New York, Washington's annotated copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights set a then world auction record for an American book or historical document of $9,826,500. His copy of The Federalist presented by two of the authors and with his signature and bookplate in each volume was sold at auction at Sotheby's New York in 1990 for $1,430,000. Even odd volumes bring substantial prices: for example, the first volume only of Lesage's Gil Blas, $126,000 in 2021, or a mixed lot of volumes from Mount Vernon, $1,205,000 in 2013, both at Sotheby's New York. The heir to George Washington's library was one of his nephews, Bushrod Washington (1762–1829). After Bushrod Washington's death, what remained of the original Mount Vernon library and papers passed to Bushrod's two nephews, George Corbin Washington and John Augustine Washington II. George Corbin Washington sold his portion in two tranches, which eventually found their way to the Library of Congress and the Boston Athenaeum. This book was in the other half, inherited by John Augustine Washington II, which was sold at auction on 28 November 1876 by Thomas Birch's Sons in Philadelphia. It was purchased by John R. Baker, one of the sale's largest buyers. Baker's collection was resold 11–12 February 1891, again at Birch's Sons, where it was purchased by the American philanthropist Phoebe Apperson Hearst, wife of Senator George Hearst, and mother of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The book was then either sold by Phoebe before her death in 1919 or bequeathed to her son William, although it does not appear in the catalogue for the sale of his library at Sotheby's in 1963. It turns up again in 1972 at Charles Hamilton Galleries in New York and has remained in private hands until this year. Octavo (200 x 127 mm). Contemporary red straight-grain morocco, presumably for presentation, spine lettered in gilt, gilt rules, gilt rope-roll to turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Housed in a red quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. Engraved portrait of George III and 2 engraved plates. Binding rubbed, spine with small scuffs, internally clean, very good condition. Listed in the official inventory of Washington's personal property at Mount Vernon taken by appraisers upon his death (see p. 426 in The Estate of George Washington, Deceased, Eugene Ernst Prussing, 1927); Griffin, Catalogue of the Washington Collection, 554.