Lot #8027

[Samuel Colt] Proceedings at the Dedication of Charter Oak Hall Upon the South Meadow Grounds of Col. Samuel Colt (1856)

Description

Scarce book: Proceedings at the Dedication of Charter Oak Hall Upon the South Meadow Grounds of Col. Samuel Colt, with the Addresses on the Occasion by Messrs. Hamersley, Stuart, and Deming. Edited by J. Deane Alden. First edition. Hartford, Connecticut: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1856. Glossy blue softcover with imprinted gilt lettering, 5.75 x 9, 45 pages. The book contains an attractive color foldout engraved frontispiece entitled “Armory of Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company,” an engraving of the “Charter Oak Building,” and two folding maps (one showing the land ownership in Harford in 1640, and the other depicting the land purchased by Samuel Colt in 1853), and a single page map of the “Lands & Improvements Upon the South Meadow,” including the new Colt factory. Book condition: G/None, with heavy creasing to wrappers, repairs to spine, foxing to folding plates, and a couple small edge tears to the frontispiece.

The opening ‘Proceedings’ section reads, in part: “On the evening of May the sixth, under circumstances highly novel and imposing, the new Hall, which has been recently constructed by Col. Samuel Colt in connection with his Armory, and other improvements upon the South Meadows in Hartford, was duly dedicated. No occasion of its kind ever passed off more happily than this—and none, in Hartford, was ever so pleasantly associated with the vital interests of capital and labor, and with the material growth, prosperity, and good fortune of the city.

The building which contains the Hall, is a lofty structure of brick, triangular in form, and is situated just west of the Armory of Col. Colt at the corner of Huyshope and Charter Oak Avenues - upon a conspicuous and beautiful spot in the valley of the Connecticut. A faithful representation of it as it will appear when its extensions are completed, may be seen in the print opposite.”

On the evening of May 6, 1856, a celebration unfolded that was as much about iron and industry as it was about identity and community. Charter Oak Hall was more than a building—it was Colt’s physical and ideological anchor, uniting the interests of capital and labor, and linking Colt’s emerging empire with Hartford’s future prosperity. The orations by Hamersley, Stuart, and Deming reflect the civic pride and progressive spirit Colt hoped to instill in his enterprise. This is one of the rarest and most evocative publications associated with Samuel Colt’s empire-building years.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Old West, Outlaws, Lawmen, and Gangsters
• Dates: #720 - Ended 05/22/2025