Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1878 — Washington’s Will. [ARTICLE]

Washington’s Will.

Unless something is done very soon to preserve it, Washington’s will and the accompanying notes - will soon be lost. That valuable document is now on file in the office of the Clerk of the Court in Fairfax county, Va. It is kept in a glass case, and, from appearances, the writing has almost all laded away. Owing to its old age it will not bear handling. The Clerk of the Court, some years ago, had it copyrighted, so that now, under the copyright law, he is the only person who has a right to publish it. In the spring of 1876, this Clerk published the will in pamphlet form, and sold a great many copies at the Centennial, and also in other parts of the country. Recently some gentlemen, both for the purposes of a speculation and as a means of having an exact copy, in case the original faded away entirely, or was lost by fire —the building in which it is now kept not being fire-proof—made a proposition to the Clerk of the Court to have the will and accompanying notes, as also the will of Martha Washington, photo-lithographed, but the Clerk refused on the ground that in case this was done it would prevent the sale of the incomplete pamphlet which he had issued, and which does pot purport to give a sac-simile except of one page of the will. Application was then made to the Librarian of the Congressional Library, Mr. Spofford, for flUl purpose of testing the right of this Clerk of the Court of Fairfax county, under the copyright, to hold the exclusive right of control and publication of the will. Mr. Spofford answered that, so far as he knew, the Clerk of that court 'having obtained a copyright, there was no way under the law to get it away from him to have it photo-lithographed, although it was very desirable that a sac-simile should be obtained for preservation as well as for distribution. It seems strange that the law should thus put in control of one man, and his heirs or assigns, the potsession of this more than valuable document, and that the Government has no way to get it from him. The only remaining way is for the Government, or some private individual with the means, to purchase the copyright. Strange as it may seem, this will does not pppear in any of the published lives of or works on Washington, and consequently but few of the people of this country have ever read it in full. It would pay handsomely as a speculation if some enterprising publisher could get the use of the original will to have it photo-lithographed, and it will be news to many readers to know that this document can only be published by the person referred to above.— Washington Cor. Hartford Times.