1851 – Humorously addressed letter from a student at Amherst College to his slightly younger friend who was still attending a boarding academy
Amherst, Massachusetts: 1851. Envelope or Cover. This letter was sent by John Jay Cotton in Massachusetts to Edgar Summers Dana at the Bakersfield Academical Institution in Vermont. It is datelined, “Amherst College, Oct 13, AD. 1851-“ and written on an illustrated Amherst lettersheet, it reads in part:
“You have a view . . . on this sheet, the beauty of which you can judge. . .. There are five buildings viz: the Chapel where we attend our prayers, recite &c. three Colleges for rooming and the Cabinet which you see on the large square in front of the Chapel. . .. At a cost from $15 to $20,000, it is built in the form of an octagon. The smaller one [has a top] which is made to revolve has an aperature . . . for the purpose of making astronomical observations. Directly back of these buildings is the grove in which we get our exercise. . .. The large building south of this is the President’s . . . between these two is our habitation. . .. The affairs of the College are all right. Some of the Freshies get ducked and some don’t. We attended a Levee at the President’s a few nights ago, had a fine time, saw lots of feminine women to the surprise of all, [as no women attended Amherst]. I should like to have had the opportunity of walking with that species of the softer sex . . .. I shall expect to see you down here before many days, walking the Collegiate Halls. . ..”
The envelope is franked with a three-cent Washington stamp (Scott #10A). The stamp has a wide left margin showing some of a printer’s imprint that reads, Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. It bears a circular Amherst postmark in red. Some toning. It is addressed using a humorous two-stanza poem that reads,
“I have a mind that this should go, So Uncle Sam just post it through And I will do as much for you. In Bakersfield Vermont the town, Of which you’ll find him running round. Perhaps with some fair damsel dear Whose heart is true and ever near.”
Along the bottom edge of the envelope, the sender wrote, “Ret Tempus fugit, ut tu fuge” (Time flies, so do you).
. Very good. Item #010840At the time this letter was sent, the Bakersfield Academical Institution, commonly known as the South Academy had over 360 students. Dana was a 16-year-old student and under the tutelage of his uncle, Jacob Spaulding, the school’s principal. He never made it to Amherst. After a severe case of pneumonia, he returned to his father’s farm. He eventually became a clerk in the House of Representatives and was elected to the Vermont Legislature in 1874, later becoming a state senator in 1880. After a severe fall in 1883, his health began to fail, and he died in 1886 at the age of 48..
Price: $275.00