2. JENKS,
William.
An Eulogy, illustrative of the Life, and commemorative of the Beneficence of the late Hon. James Bowdoin, Esquire, with notices
of his family; pronounced in Brunswick, (Maine) at the request of the Trustees and Overseers of Bowdoin College, on the Annual
Commencement, Sept. 2d, 1812. By William Jenks, A.M. Pastor of a Church in Bath, and Secretary of the Board of Trustees . . .
Boston: Printed by
John Eliot,
Jun. 1812.
F69 .B78
First Edition. 4to. 20 leaves. The text ends on page 28 and is followed by the notes.
Contemporary sheep. With the Library of Congress 1815 bookplate.
Presentation copy from Mrs. Bowdoin, to whom Jefferson wrote on February 4, 1813, from Monticello: “
I have recieved Madam, with thankfulness, the copy you have been so good as to send me, of the Eulogy of the late honourable
m
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Bowdoin, by m(
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Jenks, and have read it with great satisfaction. I participate with the writer in all the sentiments he expresses of esteem
and veneration for a character of so much excellence, and of regret for a loss so afflicting to us all . . .
”
On page 24 of the book is a notice of the appointment of Bowdoin by the President [Jefferson] as Minister Plenipotentiary
from the United States to the Court of Madrid. Note J at the end (page 35) quotes in full his commission from Thomas Jefferson, dated November 22, 1804, and the later modification,
dated March 17, 1806. Note K reprints the letters to and from Jefferson on Bowdoin’s retirement.
The publication of Bowdoin’s translation of Daubenton’s
Advice to Shepherds and owners of flocks on the care and management of Sheep
is mentioned on page 26, and note N quotes the letters of thanks from various recipients of this volume, including the letter
of Thomas Jefferson (see no. 794).
William Jenks, 1778-1866, Congregational minister, was one of the earliest members of the American Antiquarian Society. In 1805 he was
ordained at the First Church in Bath, Maine, and in 1812 became Secretary of the Board of Trustees, and later professor of
Oriental languages and English literature in Bowdoin College.
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