The oak that hid a charter
William Henry Gocher’s 1904 history retells the legend of Joseph Wadsworth protecting Connecticut’s royal charter, and weaves in Wadsworth genealogy, colonial documents and early Hartford landmarks.
The story
In 1687 Connecticut’s royal charter was at stake in a confrontation between Governor Sir Edmund Andros and the colony’s authorities. As the legend has it, Joseph Wadsworth kept the charter safe by hiding it, and the tree that sheltered it became the Charter Oak. William Henry Gocher published this book on the story himself, in Hartford, in 1904.
Gocher gives the legend plenty of company. His chapters trace the Wadsworth family down to his own day, set out the colony’s patent, charter and deed, tell of the hiding of the charter, turn to Connecticut’s governors, and end with the man and the tree. He also sets the Charter Oak beside the English story of the Royal Oak. Portraits, pictures of historic Hartford buildings and printed facsimiles of Wadsworth family signatures fill out its 399 pages.
This is the first edition, in the publisher’s blue cloth stamped in gilt, with a gilt top edge and deckled pages. It still has its old paper dust jacket, printed with the title and an oak tree, though the jacket is strongly browned, chipped and torn, with losses at the edges and spine ends; a loose clear protector sits over it. The signatures printed in the text are facsimiles, not autographs.
Details
- Date
- 1904
- Publisher
- W. H. Gocher, Hartford, Conn.
- Edition
- First edition (1904)
- Binding
- cloth: Publisher's blue gilt-stamped cloth under old tan/brown pictorial dust jacket; separate loose removable archival plastic protector, not adhered to paper jacket
- Condition
- Original publisher's blue cloth, mostly covered by an old brown/tan illustrated paper dust jacket featuring the title and oak tree. The paper jacket is strongly browned, with chips, tears, loss along edges and spine ends. A separate clear archival plastic protective cover is loosely placed over the paper jacket, is not glued or adhered to it, and is removable without separating anything from the jacket (confirmed by owner). Deckled page edges and gilt top edge; minor interior spotting/toning. Binding/hinges and all 399 pages not fully collated. Small penciled old price mark on initial blank; printed facsimile signatures in text are not autographs.
