Autographs
Richard Henry Dana Author of the Famous Novel titled "Two Years Before the Mast" Signed and Endorsed Check
RICHARD HENRY DANA, JR. (1815-1882). Author of the novel "Two Years Before the Mast," American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, Abolitionist, and defender of Seamen and Fugitive Slaves.
December 2, 1848-Dated Partly-Printed Document Signed, Original Bank Check, Choice Extremely Fine. Issued to Richard Henry Dana, Jr. and Signed by him on the back. This blue printed Check is drawn on the State Bank of Boston, Massachusetts, being written by fellow Boston lawyer William Sohier, paying Dana $50. Measures approximately 2" x 6" small cancel at center, some ink smudge at right, overall bright and clean.

Though born into a prominent family, in 1834 Richard Henry Dana chose to join a merchant ship bound for the West coast as a seaman and spent two years at various posts in California, then under Mexican rule. He returned to Massachusetts and in 1840, published Two Years Before the Mast about his experiences and travels, still one of the best descriptions of early California while under Mexican control. His book was also useful to the gold seekers of the late 1840's as one of the few useful accounts for California travellers.
Back in Boston, he became an attorney and in 1848 helped to found the Abolitionist "Free Soil" Party, which later became part of the Republican Party. In 1854, he unsuccessfully defended the escaped Slave, Anthony Burns, in a famous Federal trial held in Boston challenging the Fugitive Slave Law. Burns was sent back to Virginia, but later purchased by Bostonians to become a Free Black man.
After the Civil War, Dana helped to prosecute ex-Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He died in Rome in 1882. His son married the daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.