 The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum: The Smithsonian Books In Print, Audio Books. |
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The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum: The Smithsonian
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The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum: The Smithsonian Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Well worth perusing
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| The first half of the book is a biography of James Smithson, the Smithsonian's benefactor, although little is really known of him. He was the illegitimate son of an English nobleman in the 18th century, and few records about him survive. It's a mystery why he left his fortune-half a million dollars in that day's currency, equivalent to about $50 million today-to the United States, and there was a lot of debate over whether it should be accepted! Then once it was accepted in theory, there was a significant challenge in physically procuring the money (eventually transported across the Atlantic in the form of gold). And finally, there was much disagreement about how the money should be used and a fair amount of graft and corruption that obliterated the principle. Quite an intriguing story. The book itself is a little too meandering for my tastes; the author tries too hard to fill in the blanks with conjecture and imagination. But well worth perusing. |
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