2022-01 Raynors HCA Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/28/2022
OTIS, JAMES (1725-1783). Revolutionary leader. At one point a servant of the Crown in Boston, Otis eventually became disenchanted with British rule of the colonies, and became an influential leader in the revolutionary movement, speaking and writing extensively on the subject. Prior to 1774, Otis writings were more influential in Britain and America than any other American except John Dickinson. Otis served in the Massachusetts legislature, 1761-69 and 1771, and as speaker, 1766. He was generally acknowledged to be the political leader of Massachusetts 1761-69. It is felt that Otis could have been much more effective than he was had he been able to control his explosive temper, the latter causing many to doubt his sanity and dismiss his views. Cut signature measuring 2 ¾" x ¾". Mounted to a larger sheet with a portrait measuring 6 ½" x 10 ¼" overall. The decline in Otis's mental health was noted by friends and foes alike. In February 1771, John Adams wrote that Otis was "raving mad, raving against father, wife, brother, sister, friend." Thomas Hutchinson wrote to Governor Bernard in December 1771 that "Otis was carried off today in a postchaise, bound hand and foot. He has been as good as his word-set the Province in a flame and perished in the attempt." Otis spent the remainder of his life battling mental illness while living with friends and family in the Massachusetts countryside.
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