The slightly larger than life bronze work depicts a middle-aged man, standing, holding a sword with his left hand, wearing colonial garb. His large hat shades his bearded face. It is set on a square plinth which has the inscription:
"WILLIAM BRADFORD
GOVERNOR AND HISTORIAN
OF THE
PLYMOUTH COLONY
BORN IN AUSTERFIELD, ENGLAND - 1590
DIES IN PLYMOUTH, NEW ENGLAND - 1657"
and the Smithsonian Inventory (
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Artist:
Dallin, Cyrus Edwin, 1861-1944, sculptor.
di Biccari, Adio, 1914-2008, caster.
Cascieri, Arcangelo, 1902-1997, caster.
Paul King Foundry, founder.
Title:
William Bradford, (sculpture).
Dates:
Modeled 1920. Cast 1976. Dedicated nov. 25, 1976.
Medium:
Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.
Dimensions:
Sculpture: approx. 6 ft. x 32 in. x 21 in.; Base: approx. 45 x 38 x 38 in.
Inscription:
(Sculpture base, near figure's proper left foot:) Dallin (Sculpture base, rear:) Enlarged by/Adio Di Biccari / PAUL KING FOUNDRY (On front of base:) WILLIAM BRADFORD/GOVERNOR AND HISTORIAN/OF THE/PLYMOUTH COLONY/BORN IN AUSTERFIELD, ENGLAND - 1790/DIED IN PLYMOUTH, NEW ENGLAND - 1657 (On left side of base:) SO THEY LEFT YE GOODLY & PLEASANTE CITIE, WHICH HAD BEEN THEIR/RESTING PLACE NEAR 12 YEARS, BUT/THEY KENW THEY WERE PILGRIMS, &/LOOKED NOT MUCH ON THOSE THINGS, BU TLIFT UP THEIR EYES TO YE HEAVENS, THEIR DEAREST COUNTRY, AND QUIETED/THEIR SPIRITS/WILLIAM BRADFORD/"OF PLIMOTH(sic) PLANTATION" (On rear of base:) PLACED BY THE/PLYMOUTH/BICENTENNIAL COMMISSION/THANKSGIVING DAY/NOVEMBER 25, 1976 (On right side of base:) "LASTLY (AND WHICH WAS NOT LEAST)/A GREAT HOPE, & INWARD ZEAL THEY/HAD OF LAYING SOME GOOD FOUNDATION/(OR AT LEAST TO MAKE SOME WAY/THERUNTO) FOR YE PROPAGATING & ADVANCING YE GOSPEL OF YE KINGDOM/OF CHRIST IN THOSE REMOTE PARTS OF/YE WORLD; YEA, THOUGH THEY SHOULD, BE BUT EVEN AS STEPPING - STONES, UNTO/OTHERS FOR YE PERFORMING OF SO/GREAT A WORK."/WILLIAM BRADFORD/"OF PLIMOTH(SIC) PLANTATION" signed Founder's mark appears.
Description:
A standing portrait of Governor Bradford holding a sword in his proper left hand. He is dressed in Colonial attire that includes buckled shoes, stockings, breeches, and a hat with a buckle on the side. Around his shoulders he wears a long cape with a large collar. The sculpture rests on a square base."
Wikipedia (
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"William Bradford (c.1590 – 1657) was an English Separatist leader in Leiden, Holland, and in Plymouth Colony. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact while aboard the Mayflower in 1620. He served as Plymouth Colony Governor five times covering about thirty years between 1621 and 1657. His journal, Of Plymouth Plantation, covered the period from 1620 to 1657 in Plymouth Colony...
Literary works
The front page of the Bradford journal
William Bradford's most well-known work by far is Of Plymouth Plantation. It was a detailed history in manuscript form about the founding of the Plymouth colony and the lives of the colonists from 1621 to 1646. Bradford's journal is described as a retrospective account of his recollections and observations. The first work was written in 1630; the second was never finished, but "between 1646 and 1650, he brought the account of the colony's struggles and achievements through the year 1646." As Walter P. Wenska states, "Bradford writes most of his history out of his nostalgia, long after the decline of Pilgrim fervor and commitment had become apparent. Both the early annals which express his confidence in the Pilgrim mission and the later annals, some of which reveal his dismay and disappointment, were written at about the same time." In Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford drew deep parallels between everyday life and the events of the Bible. As Philip Gould writes, "Bradford hoped to demonstrate the workings of divine providence for the edification of future generations."
In 1888 Charles F. Richardson referred to Bradford as a "forerunner of literature" and "a story-teller of considerable power;" Moses Coit Tyler called him "the father of American history." Many American authors have cited his work in their writings; for example, Cotton Mather referenced it in Magnalia Christi Americana and Thomas Prince referred to it in A Chronological History of New-England in the Form of Annals. Even today it is considered a valuable piece of American literature, included in anthologies and studied in literature and history classes. It has been called an American classic and the pre-eminent work of art in seventeenth-century New England." The Of Plymouth Plantation manuscript disappeared by 1780, "presumably stolen by a British soldier during the British occupation of Boston" and reappeared in Fulham, England.[48] Philip Gould states, "In 1855, scholars intrigued by references to Bradford in two books on the history of the Episcopal Church in America (both located in England) located the manuscript in the bishop of London's library at Lambeth Palace." A long debate ensued as to the rightful home for the manuscript. Multiple attempts by United States Senator George Frisbie Hoar and others to have it returned proved futile at first. According to Francis B. Dedmond, "after a stay of well over a century at Fulham and years of effort to [e]ffect its release, the manuscript was returned to Massachusetts" on May 26, 1897.
Bradford's journal, even though it did not become Of Plymouth Plantation, was also published. It was contributed to another work entitled Mourt's Relation which was written in part by Edward Winslow, and published in England by one of Bradford's contemporaries. Published in 1622, it was intended to inform Europeans about the conditions surrounding the American colonists at the Plymouth Colony. As governor of the Plymouth Colony, his work was considered a valuable contribution and was thus included in the book. Despite the fact that the book included a large amount of Bradford's work it is not typically referenced as one of his significant works due to the fact that it was published under someone else's name.
Bradford's Dialogues are a collection of fictional conversations between the old and new generations. In the Dialogues, conversations ensue between "younge men" and "Ancient men," the former being the young colonists of Plymouth, the latter being "the protagonists from Of Plymouth Plantation" (Sargent 413). As Mark L. Sargent states: "By bringing the young from Plymouth Plantation and the ancients from Of Plymouth Plantation into 'dialogue,'...Bradford wisely dramatizes the act of historical recovery as a negotiation between the two generations, between his young readers and his text." Today, only a small portion of the Dialogues remain; however, a modified copy made by Nathaniel Morton exists."