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WILSON, WOODROW. (1856-1924). Twenty-eighth president of the United States. ALS. (“Woodrow Wilson”). Written as a professor at Princeton University. Princeton, January 7, 1897. To Susan Lee Warner, wife of noted Connecticut writer Charles Dudley Warner.

I do not dare to write more than a few hours at a time with my own hand now, because I have been threatened of late with “writer’s cramp”; but I must indulge myself with a brief acknowledgement of your note introducing Mr. Swords and begging me to listen to his request that I should speak before the Sons of the American Revolution of Hartford. It has lain on my desk with out being forgotten. I am sincerely obliged to you for the kind way in which you speak of my address at our recent celebration: you hearten me more than you know by calling it a success. I would have spoken at the banquet, had I not been already promised for the day set, -- if only to show my appreciation of the warm invitation given me. I keep my sojourn in Connecticut in mind by the aid of all sorts of pleasant memories and associations, and know that I owe to it not a few pictures of the real life of the country…

Wilson taught at Cornell, Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, and New York Law School before joining the faculty of Princeton in 1890. As professor of jurisprudence and political economy, he penned such works as Congressional Government, Constitutional Government of the United States, A History of the American People, and a biography of George Washington, published in 1896. From 1902-1910, Wilson was president of Princeton, a post he left when he was elected governor of New Jersey. Just three years later, Wilson reached the White House, the first southerner since Lincoln to do so. Wilson was one of the most educated U.S. presidents in history, having attended law school and earned a PhD in history and political science from Johns Hopkins University. He is best remembered for guiding the nation through World War I and for the formation of the League of Nations, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

“The National Society of the ‘Sons of the American Revolution’ was organized in New York, April 30, 1889, and chartered in Connecticut in 1890. Its purposes are the same as those of the older organization, the ‘Sons of the Revolution.’ State societies exist in thirty-eight States, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii… A formal movement by this society and the ‘Sons of the Revolution’ toward a union was attempted in 1892, and again in 1897, but was not successful. The total membership of the organization, according to the report of the registrar-general made at the annual congress of the general society held in New York City, April 30, 1900, was 9,671,” (Encyclopædia of United States history from 458 A.D. to 1902, edited by Woodrow Wilson).

American writer Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) was a contemporary of Samuel Clemens, who was also a close friend of Wilson, and with whom he collaborated on the 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Additionally, he was on the editorial staff of The Hartford Press and The Hartford Courant as well as Harper’s Magazine. Like Clemens he traveled and lectured widely, but he is best known for the quotation, often attributed to Clemens, that “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

The Library of the world’s best literature, ancient and modern, Volume 39, edited by Warner, said of Wilson, “Among the younger American writers on historical and political subjects, Woodrow Wilson is conspicuous for his literary touch, suggestive thought, and thorough knowledge.” The volume also included several excerpts from Wilson speeches and essays.

Folded. Very neatly written on a folded sheet. Some separation along the vertical fold. In very good condition.

Item #17444

Price: $2,500