page_title: Rufus King
section_title: Library
hierarchical_section_title: Rufus King / Biography / Library
caption_attribution_description: English: Rufus King Manor museum in Jamaica, Queens - library and study
context_page_description: Rufus King was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution in 1787. After formation of the new Congress he represented New York in the United States Senate. He emerged as a leading member of the Federalist Party, serving as the party's last presidential nominee in the 1816 presidential election.
  The son of a prosperous Massachusetts merchant, King studied law before volunteering for the militia in the American Revolutionary War. He won election to the Massachusetts General Court in 1783 and to the Congress of the Confederation the following year. At the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, he emerged as a leading nationalist, calling for increased powers for the federal government. After the convention, King returned to Massachusetts, where he used his influence to help win ratification of the new Constitution. At the urging of Alexander Hamilton, he then abandoned his law practice and moved to New York City.
  He won election to represent New York in the United States Senate in 1789, remaining in office until 1796.
context_section_description: At the time of his death in 1827, King had a library of roughly 2,200 titles in 3,500 volumes.  In addition, King had roughly 200 bound volumes containing thousands of pamphlets. King's son John Alsop King inherited the library and kept them in Jamaica, Queens, until his death in 1867. The books then went to John's son Dr. Charles Ray King of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  They remained in Pennsylvania until donated to the New-York Historical Society in 1906, where most of them currently reside.  Some books have extensive marginalia.  In addition, six commonplace books survive in his papers at the New-York Historical Society.
caption: Rufus King in Library, Jamaica, Queens
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4032", "Image ImageLength": "3024", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Make": "Google", "Image Model": "Pixel 3 XL", "Image Software": "Google", "Image DateTime": "2019:04:06 10:30:42", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "231", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[40, 42, 479/50]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[73, 48, 1623/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "1", "GPS GPSAltitude": "35/2", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[14, 11, 12]", "GPS GPSDOP": "17043/500", "GPS GPSProcessingMethod": "[65, 83, 67, 73, 73, 0, 0, 0, 102, 117, 115, 101, 100]", "GPS GPSDate": "2019:04:06", "Image GPSInfo": "22181", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "252", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "189", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "66", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureTime": "25011/1000000", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "630176", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "630176", "EXIF SubSecTime": "630176", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "2", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF FocalLength": "111/25", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "593/500", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "22151", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/10", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:04:06 10:11:54", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:04:06 10:11:54", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "131/50", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF ApertureValue": "17/10", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "133/25", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100"}