Description

Illustration included in Chapter II, "First Years of the Constitution." It shows President George Washington walking on a cobblestone sidewalk with his black manservant, who follows a few steps behind him. Image appears in the context of a discussion of Washington's taste for fashion and "courtly etiquette," and it relates to the following passage: "When he walked the streets his body-servant in livery followed him at respectful distance." Carrying a walking-stick, the well-dressed Washington wears breeches, a dark vest and waistcoat, and a bicorne, a type of hat commonly worn by intellectuals. His servant carries his dark-colored overcoat. The servant himself wears a lighter suit and a tricorne.; Engraving in Charles Coffin's Building the Nation: Events in the History of the United States from the Revolution to the Beginning of the War between the States (New York: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, 1883), p. 37.

Record Contributed By

The Library Company of Philadelphia

Record Harvested From

PA Digital