from the library of Bushrod Washington, George Washington's nephew and a Supreme Court Justice
(WASHINGTON, BUSHROD.) [Ballow, Henry.]. A Treatise of Equity … with the addition of marginal references and notes by John Fonblanque. Volume the Second
Dublin: Byrne, Moore, Jones, and Watts, 1795
Contemporary calf, rebacked preserving spine. Some mear, foxing and browning. Cloth case.
Bushrod Washington’s copy, with his signature on the title-page. George Washington’s favorite nephew, Bushrod (1762-1829) was executor of his uncle’s estate and inherited Mount Vernon. He inherited Washington’s library and papers, and this volume was surely shelved side-by-side with those books at Mount Vernon. Bushrod Washington gave John Marshall access to Washington’s papers when the chief justice was writing his Life of Washington.
George Washington took a special interest in his nephew’s legal education, sponsoring his studies with George Wythe and James Wilson. Bushrod Washington practiced law from 1784 to 1798, when John Adams appointed him to the Supreme Court. He served for thirty-one years, concurring with Marshall so often that another member of the Court observed that they “are commonly estimated as a single judge.”
John Fonblanque (1759-1839 was an English politician and barrister. Bushrod Washington cited his edition of the Treatise of Equity in a number of cases. The influential work appeared in five editions from 1792 to 1820. Thomas Jefferson paid $7 for the third edition in 1807.
$6,000