1888 David Clapp Autograph Letter Signed – David Clapp & Son, Boston Publishers – To Rev. Anson Titus Jr.
Offered here is an original Autograph Letter Signed (ALS) by David Clapp (1806–1893), prominent Boston printer and publisher, and co-operator of the firm David Clapp & Son, known for publishing medical journals and historical works in the 19th century.
Dated Boston, July 17, 1888, and addressed to Rev. Anson Titus Jr., a Universalist clergyman, historian, and genealogist, actively publishing historical research in Boston during this period.
This letter provides a clear window into the Boston publishing world of the late 19th century, with Clapp discussing:
Clapp directly references Titus’s contributions, noting:
“…we shall often have your upright, legible chirography to put into the hands of our compositors.”
— a clear indication of Titus’s role as a contributing writer whose manuscripts were being prepared for print.
The letter also includes a retrospective reference to the Wilmot Proviso (1846), an early flashpoint in the national debate over slavery:
“…the phrase ‘Wilmot Proviso’… when it was upon everybody’s tongue.”
David Clapp (1806–1893)
Boston printer and publisher; co-founder of David Clapp & Son, a firm known for medical and historical publications.
Rev. Anson Titus Jr.
Universalist minister, historian, and genealogist; contributor to historical publications and records in New England.