The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces, during the War which established the Independence of his country and First President of the United States.; Compiled under the Inspection of The Honourable Bushrod Washington, from Original Papers bequeathed to him by his deceased relative, and now in possession of the author. To which is prefixed, An Introduction, containing a compendious view of the colonies planted by the English on the Continent of North America, from their settlement to the commencement of that which terminated in their Independence

Philadelphia: C. P. Wayne, 1805. Volume I and II are presumed First Edition, second or later printings; Volumes III, IV and V are presumed First Edition, First Printing. Leather bound. Fair. This work is comprised of five volumes, all listing 1805 as the publication date. Leather bindings are worn and chipped. Some hinges weak. Pages show substantial foxing and discoloration. Some ink notations inside covers and on feps. Footnotes. Volume I appears to be missing a frontispiece. Volume I, xxii, [2], 459, [1], 43 pages of Notes, [1] pages. Volume II, vii, [1], 516, 67 pages of Notes, [3] pages. Volume III, vii, [1], 527, [1], 28 pages of Notes, [2] pages. Volume IV, viii, [2], 567, [1], 16 pages of Notes,] pages. Volume V, vii, [1], 779, [1], 36 pages of Notes, pages. John Marshall (September 24, 1755 - July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. Marshall remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential justices to ever sit on the Supreme Court. After his appointment to the Supreme Court, Marshall began working on a biography of George Washington. He did so at the request of his close friend, Associate Justice Bushrod Washington, who had inherited the papers of his uncle. Marshall's The Life of George Washington, the first biography about a U.S. president ever published, spanned five volumes. The first two volumes, published in 1803, were poorly-received and seen by many as an attack on the Democratic-Republican Party. Nonetheless, historians have often praised the accuracy and well-reasoned judgments of Marshall's biography. Justice Marshall's biographer, Albert J. Beveridge, describes The Life of George Washington as "the fullest and most trustworthy treatment of that period from the conservative point of view." America's first president has captivated our interest for more than two centuries, but no biographer of George Washington knew him with the authenticity, intimacy, and depth of understanding as John Marshall exhibited in his book The Life of George Washington. This biography was begun in 1799 following Washington's death, when chief justice Marshall was granted by Washington's surviving family full access to all of his records, papers, and personal archives. The result is a story not only of George Washington, but also of America's founding. Marshall covers every major event in Washington's personal life and in his public role as a founding father, including his childhood, his early career, his resignation as colonel, his marriage to Martha, the invasion of Canada, early negotiations with the British, the crossing of the Delaware, the state of Washington's army during the Revolution, the treason of Benedict Arnold, the official announcement of the election of Washington as president, meetings of Congress, a threatened war with France toward the end of his life, his death, and his character. Marshall's biography of George Washington was first published in Philadelphia in five volumes, between 1804 and 1807, and today, copies of this largely first edition are among the rarest and most expensive of antiquarian books.