Antique 1862 Princeton Diploma, aka Collegium Neo-Caesariense Cliosophic Society For Sale

This is an 1862 Princeton University diploma for Joseph L. Munn. In 1862, Princeton was call the College of New Jersey, and the Latin for College of New Jersey is Collegium Neo-Caesariense.Neo-Caesarea: This is the Latin name for New Jersey. The state was named after the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel, and because the ancient Roman name for Jersey was Caesarea, New Jersey became Nova Caesarea or Neo-Caesarea. The English translation of the diploma is given below.When Princeton was founded in 1746, it was officially chartered as the College of New Jersey. During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was standard practice for American universities to use formal Latin names on official documents, diplomas, and student directories.The diploma measures 22\" X 17 3/4\" and is printed on vellum There is a beautiful large (9 1/4\" X 5 1/2\") etching at the top of the diploma. The diploma is unframed. The language is Latin. There is a pink ribbon and seal of the Cliosophic Society. The diploma is 164 years old.In Greek mythology, Clio was the Muse of History.U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was associated with the society, but with a small twist: he was actually a leader of its direct rival, the American Whig Society.The Cliosophic Society and the American Whig Society were famous, competing debating clubs at Princeton University. While Woodrow Wilson (Class of 1879) was a student, he trained in speech and debate by serving as the Speaker (president) of the Whig houseThe diploma is clearly signed by Theodore L. Cuyler, a prominent minister and religious write of the 19th century who was associated with Princeton University.Wikipedia writes:

Theodore Ledyard Cuyler (January 10, 1822 – February 26, 1909) was an American Presbyterianminister and writer. Cuyler graduated from Princeton Universityin 1841 and from Princeton Theological Seminaryin 1846.

Theodore L. Cuyler (above, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Theodore Ledyard Cuyler was born on January 10, 1822, in Aurora, Erie County, New York.His father died before he was five years old. He first became a pastor in Burlington, New Jersey.Cuyler served as the first pastor of Third Presbyterian Church in Trenton, New Jersey(now a part of Ewing Covenant Presbyterian Church) from 1849 until 1853.He was then called in 1853 as pastor of the Market Street Dutch Reformed Church in New York City. He was elected to the American Philosophical Societyin 1857.His success at the Market Street Dutch Reformed Church led to Cuyler\'s installation in 1860 as the pastor of the Park Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, from which he oversaw the construction of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Churcha block away. Completed in 1862, the church served the largest Presbyterian congregation in the United States. Cuyler\'s friends and acquaintances included a staggeringly large number of other contemporary notables, including Horatius Bonar, Samuel Hanson Cox, Phillips Brooks, Horace Bushnell, Horace Greeley, James McCosh, Gilbert Haven, Joseph Addison Alexander, Albert Barnes, William E. Dodge, Newman Hall, Richard Salter Storrs, Philip Schaff, Stephen H. Tyng, Joseph Parker (theologian), Charles Spurgeon, Benjamin M. Palmer, D. L. Moody, Charles G. Finney, President Benjamin Harrison, Vice President Henry Wilson, and Prime Minister William Gladstone.

A theological conservative, Cuyler was also an outspoken supporter of the temperance movement and an avid abolitionist. In 1872, Cuyler invited Sarah Smiley, a Quaker, to be the first woman ever to preach from a Presbyterian pulpit. Besides numerous books, Cuyler wrote more than four thousand articles, mostly for the religious press.

Cuyler Gore, a park in Brooklyn, was named after him just before the turn of the 20th century.Cuyler politely declined a proposal that his statue be erected there, instead asking only that the park continue to bear his name and \"be always kept as bright and beautiful with flowers as it is now.\"

The English translation of the diploma is:

The Clio-Sophic Society at theCollege of New Jersey sends warmest greetings to all who shall read thisletter. Whereas our society was established with the deliberate aim ofpromoting learning and the liberal arts, and whereas it took its origin and growthfrom mutual friendship and goodwill; and since the noble young man Joseph L.Munn is not only most closely bound to us all by ties of friendship andpossesses an unblemished character, but has alsodistinguished himselfthrough diligence and study in the knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences;therefore, we have unanimously resolved to honor the aforementioned Joseph L.Munn with this token of our regard, and henceforth to recognize and acknowledgehim as a brother and associate, wherever in the world he may be. Let thisdocument, authenticated by our signatures and ratified by the seal of oursociety, serve as testimony to this fact.

Given in the Cliosophic Hall, [illegible] Wilson, Secretary, on the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1862, andin the 86th year of the sovereignty of the United States of America. Theodore L. Cuyler President.