Bidspirit auction | 1889 First Edition Conkling Memorial

1889 First Edition Conkling Memorial Proceedings of the New York State Senate and Assembly - This commemorative volume, titled Proceedings of the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York, in Relation to the Death of Ex-Senator Roscoe Conkling, was published in 1889 by Weed, Parsons and Company in Albany. The work serves as a formal state memorial for the influential 19th-century politician Roscoe Conkling, a notable leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party. The book features a significant memorial oration delivered at the Capitol on May 9, 1888, by the prominent orator and writer Robert G. Ingersoll. According to the Concurrent Resolutions printed on page 53, the New York State Legislature authorized a total print run of 8,000 copies for distribution to state officers, members of the legislature, and reporters. The volume is bound in dark green cloth with blind-stamped borders and a central gilt-stamped laurel wreath on the front cover enclosing the title CONKLING MEMORIAL. The interior includes a frontispiece portrait of Conkling with a printed black facsimile signature reading Roscoe Conkling below the image. The text pages are set within black ruled borders. A pencil notation reading 3.50 is present in the upper right corner of the front flyleaf. The cloth binding shows heavy surface wear, extensive scuffing, and prominent white spotting and staining across both the front and back covers (photos 1 and 2). Significant shelf wear and minor fraying are visible at the corners and the head and tail of the spine (photo 3). The interior text block remains intact, though there is heavy foxing and brown age spotting throughout, which is particularly severe on the frontispiece portrait and the adjacent title pages (photos 5 and 6).