Adams Papers Digital Edition

Papers of John Adams, volume 21

From James Verling Godwin

To Wilhem and Jan Willink
John Singleton Copley to John Adams, 20 April 1792 Copley, John Singleton Adams, John
From John Singleton Copley
Dear Sir April 20. 1792.

By this conveyance I send a case directed for You, containing two prints of the Death of Lord Chatham framed and glaized; one of which you will find marked with your name; the other with General Washingtons name; the first, I beg you will do me the honor to accept; The other, I take the liberty to request You will present, in my name to General Washington; As the painting from which the print has been taken, has been a very popular work, in this Country and the production of an American; I trust it will not be, an unacceptable, though a small tribute, and expressive in a very feeble degree, of the respect I feel for such distinguished merit as General Washington possesses.1

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Mrs Copley and family unite in best regards to Mrs Adams, and Yourself, with Your Most Obt. and faithful / Humble Sert

J. S. Copley

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “Honble John Adams Esqr.”

 1.

At Copley’s request, London-based merchant Henry Bromfield Jr. sent two engravings of the artist’s 1781 oil painting “The Death of the Earl of Chatham,” which were produced by Francesco Bartolozzi in 1791. Bromfield shipped the artworks via the Polly, Capt. Reed. JA presented George Washington with his copy when he returned to Philadelphia in late November. Washington’s print hung at Mount Vernon until 1799, while the Adamses’ copy remains on display in the dining room at MQA (from Bromfield, 13 April 1792, Adams Papers; Washington, Papers, Presidential Series , 11:501–502; to Copley, 16 Nov., below; AFC , 9:324–325).