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Steamboat Inventor Robert Fulton and Six Other Commissioners Ask the Governor of Georgia to Support Federal Funding of the Erie Canal

ROBERT FULTON, Printed Document Signed, October 8, 1811, New York. Letter to the Governor of Georgia David Brydie Mitchell announcing the formation of what would become the Erie Canal Commission. Also signed by GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, DEWITT CLINTON, SIMEON DE WITT, WILLIAM NORTH, THOMAS EDDY and ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. 2 pp., 10 x 15½ in. Together with: ELISHA JENKINS Document Signed as New York Secretary of State. “An Act to provide for the Improvement of the Internal Navigation of the State,” April 8, 1811, Albany, NY; certified, sealed, and signed, July 10, 1811. 1 p. with docketing, ordered to be filed, Nov. 4, 1811, 8 x 10 in.

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“this Canal … will encourage agriculture, promote commerce and manufactures, facilitate a free and general intercourse between different parts of the United States, tend to the aggrandizement and prosperity of the country, and consolidate and strengthen the Union.

Item #26559, $17,500

President Washington Approves Establishment of Mint and Issues First Veto

[GEORGE WASHINGTON], Columbian Centinel, April 21, 1792. Boston, MA. 4 pp, 10.5 x 16.75 in.

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This newspaper includes the full text of “An Act establishing a Mint and regulating the Coins of the United States” of April 2, 1792, signed in print by Speaker of the House Jonathan Trumbull, Vice President John Adams, President George Washington, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. The bill established a mint, specified its officers, and reaffirmed the Congress of the Confederation’s adoption of decimal currency in 1785 (p1/c1-p2/c1). President Washington appointed David Rittenhouse of Pennsylvania as the first director of the mint on April 13, 1792.

It also includes President George Washington’s first veto message, in which he vetoed “An Act for an Apportionment of Representatives among the Several States, according to the First Enumeration” on April 5, 1792 (p3/c1). The bill introduced a new plan for dividing seats in the House of Representatives that would have increased the number of seats held by northern states. After consulting with his divided cabinet, Washington decided that the plan was unconstitutional because the Constitution provided “that the number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every 30,000; which restriction is, by the context, and by fair and obvious construction, to be applied to the separate and respective numbers of the States; and the bill has allotted to eight of the States more than one for 30,000” (p3/c1). Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson had suggested that apportionment be derived from arithmetical calculations.

When Washington’s veto arrived, Congress considered overriding the veto by a two-thirds vote, but only 28 representatives still favored the bill, while 33 opposed it (p3/c1). Ultimately, they threw out the bill and passed a new one that apportioned representatives at “the ratio of one for every thirty-three thousand persons in the respective States.”

Item #26258.01, $3,250

Jefferson-Signed Act of Congress Funding the Federal Government for 1791

THOMAS JEFFERSON, Document Signed as Secretary of State. An Act making appropriations for the support of government during the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety one, and for other purposes, February 11, 1791. [Philadelphia: Childs and Swaine, 1791]. Signed in type by George Washington as President, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and John Adams as Vice President and President of the Senate. 2 pp., 9¼ x 15 in. Variant of Evans 23860.

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Also see the Alexander Hamilton Collection: The Story of the Revolution & Founding.

Secretary of State Jefferson signs an Act making appropriations for the federal government in 1791. The figures cited—expenses of the “civil list” and the War Department—were taken directly from Treasury Secretary Hamilton’s Estimates for 1791 Report to the House of Representatives.

This is the only Jefferson-signed copy known in private hands. The only two known institutional copies are at the Library Company of Philadelphia and the New York Public Library.

Item #23982, SOLD — please inquire about other items

An Act to Incorporate the Subscribers to the Bank of the United States

[GEORGE WASHINGTON], Newspaper. Gazette of the United States, March 2, 1791. Philadelphia: John Fenno. 4 pp. (765-768), 10½ x 17 in. Includes full text of February 25 Act to Incorporate the Subscribers to the Bank of the United States.

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Also see the Alexander Hamilton Collection: The Story of the Revolution & Founding.

“The establishment of a bank for the United States … upon the principles which afford adequate security for an upright and prudent administration.”

Item #23392, $2,500

Hamilton Seeks Information from Pennsylvania Loan Officer for Report to Senate

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Manuscript Letter Signed, to Thomas Smith, September 10, 1792, [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. 1 p., 7¾ x 9⅛ in.

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With this circular letter, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton requests financial information to respond to an order from the U.S. Senate. This copy went to Commissioner of Loans for Pennsylvania Thomas Smith. Hamilton submitted the report titled “List of Civil Officers of the United States, Except Judges, with Their Emoluments, for the Year Ending October 1, 1792” to the Senate on February 27, 1793.

Item #27441, SOLD — please inquire about other items

Hamilton LS on Declaration-Signer Philip Livingston's Estate, Ten Years After His Death

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Autograph Letter Signed, to [William Livingston], December 15, 1788, New York, New York. 3 pp., 6¼ x 7¾ in. Together with an engraving of Hamilton, 6 x 8½ in.

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Item #27212, $11,000

Benjamin Franklin, President of Pennsylvania, Signs Deposition of John Rice Against His Bankrupt Brother, During Constitutional Convention

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Document Signed, August 18, 1787, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1 p., 6½ x 8¼ in.

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Joseph Rice is become Bankrupt within the meaning of the Acts of Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

John Rice, a ship’s carpenter in Kensington, a neighborhood of Philadelphia, filed this deposition stating that his brother, Joseph Rice, owed him more than £200 and had become bankrupt within the meaning of the Acts of the Pennsylvania Assembly. Franklin signed the deposition as President of the Council of Pennsylvania, a position he held from 1785 to 1788.

When he signed this document on Saturday, August 18, 1787, Franklin was also the oldest member of the Constitutional Convention, which was meeting in Philadelphia. The Convention agreed to a committee consisting of one member per state to consider the assumption of state debts and continued its discussion of Article VII, Section 1, the enumeration of Congressional powers.

Item #26405, SOLD — please inquire about other items

Congress Authorizes a Mint, and President Washington Proclaims the Location of the Permanent Seat of Government

GEORGE WASHINGTON, Columbian Centinel, April 23, 1791. Newspaper. Boston: Benjamin Russell. 4 pp. (pp. 45-48), 10¼ x 16¼ in

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Including two March 3, 1791 Acts of Congress: Resolution to Establish U.S. Mint, and Act that President be requested to report to Congress on “the quantity and situation of lands not claimed by the Indians, nor granted to, nor claimed by any of the citizens of the Unties States within the territory ceded to the United States by the State of North-Carolina, and within the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio.” Also the March 30, 1791 Proclamation of Permanent Seat of Government, signed in type by Washington and Jefferson.

Item #30027.45, $3,250

Act of Congress Attempting to Mitigate Brewing Whiskey Rebellion, Signed by Edmund Randolph

EDMUND RANDOLPH, Document Signed as Secretary of State. An ACT making further provision for securing and collecting the Duties on foreign and domestic Spirits, Stills, Wines and Teas, June 5, 1794. Philadelphia: Childs and Swaine. Signed in type by George Washington as President, Ralph Izard as President pro tempore of the Senate, and Frederick Muhlenberg as Speaker of the House. 4 pp., 8 x 13⅜ in.

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Excerpts

all spirits which shall be distilled in the United States, in stills which shall not have been previously entered at some office of inspection, shall be liable, together with the stills or other vessels used in the distillation thereof, to seizure and forfeiture.” (sec. 2)

any person or persons, who shall counterfeit the certificates for, or the marks or numbers to be set upon any cask, vessel or package containing wines, teas, or foreign or domestic distilled spirits, or upon stills... shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars.” (sec. 7)

That it shall and may be lawful for the judicial courts of the several states, and of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and of the territory of the United States south of the river Ohio, to take cognizance of all and every suit and suits, action and actions, cause and causes, arising under or out of the laws for collecting a revenue upon spirits distilled in the United States, and upon stills, which may arise or accrue at a greater distance, than fifty miles from the nearest place established by law for holding a district court.” (sec. 9)

That the judicial courts of the several states, to whom, by this act, a jurisdiction is given, shall and may exercise all and every power… for the purpose of obtaining a mitigation or remission of any fine, penalty or forfeiture, which may be exercised by the judges of the district courts, in cases depending before them... ” (sec. 18)

Item #24317, SOLD — please inquire about other items

Alex Haley Signed Check

ALEX HALEY, Signed Check, September 20, 1988. Drawn on the First Tennessee Bank in Knoxville. To “Patricia Alexander”. With “Love!” in the memo field and on the back is her endorsement and a note that says “Thanks!”.

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Item #20432.02, $350

The Depression Causes Community Funds to Struggle to Meet Increased

[GREAT DEPRESSION], Archive of 18 pamphlets and pledge cards and 7 typed lists, drafts, and guidelines, all related to Community Fund campaigns in Utah, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York, 1933-1934. 110 pp., 4 x 6 in. to 8½ x 11 in.

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The economic hurricane has wrecked homes, disrupted family life, destroyed health, lowered morale, crushed the spirit of courage and stifled enterprise and ambition … It has made more pitiful the plight of those many hundreds who continually are charges of the chest agencies.

This small archive of pamphlets for the public and subscription cards, guidelines, and suggestions for fundraisers illustrates the tactics local Community Fund and Community Chest organizations employed across the United States from New York to Utah.

Item #22789, $950

John Marshall’s Supreme Court Decides Osborn et al. v. The Bank of the United States, landmark 11th Amendment Case

[JOHN MARSHALL], Newspaper. Daily National Intelligencer, March 22, 1824. Washington, DC: Gales & Seaton. Opinion for the Supreme Court in Osborn et al. v. The Bank of the United States fills pages 3 and 4. 4 pp.

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[T]he Eleventh Amendment, which restrains the jurisdiction granted by the Constitution over suits against States, is, of necessity, limited to those suits in which a State is a party on the record.

Ohio levied taxes on each branch of the U.S. Bank in the state. The Court had already ruled in McCulloch v. Maryland that such taxes were unconstitutional, but Ohio persisted in enforcing the tax. Ralph Osborn, the State Auditor, seized funds from the Bank. The circuit court ordered Osborn and his colleagues to repay the amount seized. The question is Osborn was, did the federal circuit court’s assertion of jurisdiction violate the Eleventh Amendment? In a 6-to-1 decision, the Court upheld the circuit and ruled that the Ohio law was “repugnant to the Constitution.” Osborn and his colleagues were thus “incontestably liable for the full amount of the money taken out of the bank.”

This issue includes a first printing of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Osborn et al. v. The Bank of the United States. The Court announced its decision on Friday, March 19, 1824, and this printing appeared on Monday, March 22.

Item #24689, $1,950

A Mining Engineer’s Journal Recounting His Role in Nome, Alaska Gold Rush

TREVE M. GIBSON, Autograph Manuscript, c. 1915, on Hotel Cadillac (Los Angeles, CA) stationery, 59 pp. 6 x 9½ in. With six Phoenix Consolidated Mining Co. stock certificates issued to Gibson in October and November 1896 for a total of 24,000 shares. Four are signed by President and lumberman James E. Poupore; two are signed by Vice President and broker Charles D. Rand; and all six are signed by Secretary and physician Milton W. Bruner, all of British Columbia. Also with a later 57-page typescript that includes more detail of Gibson’s mining career, c. 1956. A revised version of the story presented in the manuscript appears on pages 9 to 25 of the typescript.

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There is no word in our language which will grip the listener’s attention quicker, than the word, gold. No story is more likely to arouse the spirit of adventure than an authentic report of the discovery of new and exceptionally rich goldfields.

A reminiscence of the early stages of the Nome Gold Rush (1899-1909) written by a mining engineer with fascinating and sometimes tragic details about his voyage to Alaska, wildlife, native Americans, traveling along the wild rivers, and the raw and curious world inhabited by miners hoping to strike it rich.

Item #24373, $1,750

John Brown cashes $50 to check slavery in Kansas

JOHN BROWN, Endorsement Signature on verso of Syracuse City Bank check filled out and signed by GERRIT SMITH to “Pay Captain John Brown of Kansas or bearer, fifty Dollars.” May 16, 1857, 2 pp. 7.6 x 2.6 in.

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Item #24777.99, $35,000

Robert Morris Promissory Note,
Used As Evidence In His Bankruptcy Trial

ROBERT MORRIS, Autograph Document Signed, December 12, 1794. 1 p., 7⅛ x 3¾ in.

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Financier of the Revolution forced into bankruptcy court: “Sixty days after date, I promise to pay unto Mr. Mathias Kurlin Junr or Order Thirteen Hundred & forty six Dolls & Sixty Seven Cents for value recd.”

Item #20892, $2,800

Documenting Declaration of Independence Signer
Robert Morris’s Financial Troubles

ROBERT MORRIS, Partially-Printed Document Signed. Promissory Note. Philadelphia, Pa., May 12, 1795. 1 p., 4 x 6¾ in. Endorsed on verso by Morris. Ink burn through the “R” and “b” in “Robt.” Left edge irregularly cut.

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Item #23148.01, $2,950

An Act to Incorporate the Ohio Insurance Company

CARTER B. HARLAN, Manuscript Document Signed, as Secretary of State of Ohio, attesting that this is a true copy. February 4, 1826 [December 5, 1839]. 3 pp. Double Folio ribbon tied at head. With: WISON SHANNON. Document Signed. December 5, 1839. 1 p.

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Item #20483, $450

Alexander Stephens, Future Confederate Vice President,
Rants Against Congress Refunding Andrew Jackson’s
War of 1812 Fine

ALEXANDER STEPHENS, Autograph Letter Signed, to John L. Bird, January 8, 1844, Washington, D.C. With integral address leaf franked “Free A.H. Stephens MC.” 3 pp., 8 x 10 in.

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Today is the ‘memorable 8th’ and the Party in Power chose this as the day to pass in the House the Bill to refund to Genl Jackson the fine imposed on him at New Orleans. I tried hard to get the floor to make a speech upon an amendment I had proposed – which was to pay the amount of the fine without reFlection [?] upon the judge – but the Locos would not let me. They ‘gagged’ all discussion and I was not permitted to say anything on my amendment. A more outrageous proceeding I hardly ever witnessed. I was the more anxious to make a speech…misstated by the Globe reporter.

Item #21096, $1,250

Henry Du Pont Signed Stock Certificate

[HENRY DU PONT], Printed Document Signed (“H. du Pont”). January 22, 1897. 1p. oblong quarto.

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Item #20061, $500

William K. And Harold Vanderbilt Signed
World War I Veterans Bonus New York State Bond

[WILLIAM K. VANDERBILT], Partially Printed Document Signed. $50,000 World War Bonus Bond, issued to William K. Vanderbilt, Harold S. Vanderbilt, and Frederick W. Vanderbilt as trustees for Anna H. Vanderbilt, signed by first two. Certificate #64, with engraved vignette of the state seal. October 16, 1944.

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Item #23087, $450
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