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Auction: 314 - Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1111

Madison, Dolley Payne First Lady of President James Madison (1768-1849); the first woman to be described as "First Lady," she was the capital´s social center for a generation. Delightful Autograph Verse Signed "DP Madison," 1 page, 4to, on sheet with stationer´s embossed "W / R / B / A" and quill at lower right, no place, February 9, 1848. Just a year before her death, she pens "For Mrs. Burnett, ´Temper! Thy power more magical / Than that which graced of old Amphion´s lyre, / Can savage hearts with wond´reous spell enthral; / Can clear suspicions mist with gladdening fire, / Can chain in rosy boneds impetuous ire; / Can melt the ice-bound heart of cold disdain; / Can dying love with vital breath inspire; / From every passion pluck the cancerous pain - / And seeming still to yield, lead captive all the train." Uneven toning from prior display. Mounting strips at top verso. Foxing, with two original light ink blots, one affecting signature, about VG. In Mrs Madison´s day, "temper" meant a calm state of mind, or one´s characteristic mood, as in "good-tempered" and "bad-tempered." This last phrase later became the dominant meaning.

Sold for
$575