Four Newly Discovered Cryptic Words in President Washington’s Hand May be All That’s Left of a Historical Artifact Now Lost to Time
For Sale at Raab on Presidents’ Day, Valued at $10,000
The Raab Collection announced today that it has discovered and will offer for sale for Presidents’ Day a mysterious relic of a long-lost document in the hand of George Washington, containing four enigmatic words. In the surviving fragment, whose origin confounds scholars, Washington writes a declaration, borrowing from the Ancient Romans: “Fathers of the Senate!” No other documents exist in which he used this phrase. The snippet was excised from a now-lost George Washington historical document sometime in the early-mid 19th century and sent to an autograph seeker by the prominent Washington collector and biographer Jared Sparks.
Nathan Raab, historian, president of The Raab Collection, and author of the book, The Hunt for History, in consultation with The Papers of George Washington at the University of VA, endeavored to discover when and for what intention Washington penned these words, which do not appear in any of Washington’s published works. Were they edited out of a now-lost draft of a speech? Perhaps they were part of Washington’s notes in his study of Ancient Rome or an Ancient Roman author.
“This is a true mystery,” said Raab, “and an exciting reminder that there remains things yet to discover in our understanding of our nation’s first president.”
The historical document is valued at $10,000.
Fathers of the Senate!
The line “Fathers of the Senate!” in Washington’s hand attests to the Ancient Roman influence on the Founding Fathers, who looked to the early republic as a model when designing their new republic.
In Ancient Rome, the expression “Fathers of the Senate” came from the Latin phrase patres conscripti, the formal mode of address used when speaking to the Roman Senate. The expression thus conveyed both seniority and authority, presenting the Senate as a body of wise, paternal figures entrusted with the preservation of the Republic.
The phrase, however, does not appear in any extant manuscript connected to the first President. It is possible that Washington and his aides experimented with language that he ultimately changed in a later draft, opting instead for the language of a democracy. Or in his study of Cicero, the Roman author who used this phrase in his speeches, Washington copied the phrase. Or another unknown reason. The mystery remains.
Jared Sparks: The Man Who Took a Knife to the Historical Documents of George Washington
Why was this cut in the first place? Jared Sparks (1789-1866), a longtime teacher, editor, publisher, and Unitarian pastor, produced several biographies of Founding Fathers, including his most important work, The Writings of George Washington (12 volumes) and his Life of George Washington (2 volumes). He later served as president of Harvard from 1849 to 1853. Sparks was considered a pioneer in the large-scale collecting of historical material on American history, and his primary collections can now be found at Harvard and Cornell.
While editing the Washington Papers, Sparks was known to “clip” or remove pieces of the original manuscripts given to him by Washington’s nephew Justice Bushrod Washington and distribute them to autograph seekers. Notably, Sparks cut up the draft of Washington’s undelivered first Inaugural Address, fragments of which occasionally reach the market. (Raab sold one in 2014.)
Nathan Raab is available for interviews.
