The Burning of Books and Washington
Reports from the Departments of State, Treasury, War and Navy and General Post-Office, in relation to the destruction of Official Books and Papers in Consequence of the Incursion of the Enemy on the 24th of August Last. November 17, 1814. Printed by order of the House of Representatives.
Washington: A. & G. Way, Printers, 1814.
Price: $150.00
About the item
18 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. The Burning of Books and Washington. Disbound, some light marginal soiling and chipping, leaves separated, else a very good copy.
Item #23241
Books and papers Burned.: Reports from the various departments on the losses occurred when General Robert Ross and his troops burned the White House and department buildings as well as public buildings. The government reports from these departments note losses mostly of minor importance most of the important documents having been evacuated. There is a note in Tobias Lear's report of the loss of “papers and army accounts appertaining to the revolutionary war” as they were placed in a fire-proof room and remained uninjured by the flames but after the building was destroyed some persons broke into the room and removed or destroyed some of the documents. There is a comment of the burning of the law books used by Congress but not a mention of the some 3,000 volumes in the Library of Congress that were burned. This is Report 18 of the House of Representatives Reports.
