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Eighteenth-Century Archive from Hartford Free Grammar School, the Second Oldest Secondary School in America
[EDUCATION],
Archive of 21 documents related to the Hartford Free Grammar School. 28 pp., 5¾ x 5 in. to 13 x 15½ in.,
0/0/0.
This small archive includes promissory notes for tuition and a series of accounts with teachers and others from the late eighteenth-century for the Hartford Free Grammar School, the second oldest school of secondary education in the United States. Items include the signatures of Thomas Seymour (1735-1829), who served as the first mayor of Hartford (1784-1812); Solomon Porter (1753-1821), principal of the school; Joshua Leffingwell (1762-1811), Hartford architect; and others.
Item #24151.01, $1,800
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Masonic Apron, Neck Sash & Medal of U.S. Mint - California Gold Refiner James Booth, with a Lithograph of Him
[JAMES CURTIS BOOTH],
Collection.
Item #23610, $1,600
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The Alexander Hamilton Collection: The Story of the Revolution and Founding
[REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND FOUNDING],
The Collection features Highly Important Original Letters, Documents, & Imprints representing not just Hamilton, but also Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Paine, Burr, the Schuyler Sisters and Brothers, & Many More. Telling political and personal tales of the brilliant and sometimes tragic Founders, this Collection of more than 1,100 original documents is offered as a whole, but can be reconstituted to make it most appropriate for Federal Hall.
Can you imagine a nation with no uniting banking system or currency? With insufficient revenue for even the most necessary expenses? With no ability to act as one nation on the world stage?
Clearly, Washington needed a right-hand man for the incredibly detailed work of building a government, formulating plans, and bringing them from conception to completion. His choice was obvious. Alexander Hamilton had revealed his unique energy and capability throughout the Revolutionary War, at the Constitutional Convention, and in the ratification battles.
On September 11, 1789, the same day Washington signed his letters transmitting the Act of Congress Establishing the Treasury Department, he made his first cabinet nomination: Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. Within hours, the Senate confirmed the appointment.
The financial system Hamilton designed created the possibility of a real United States of America, whose founding purpose was to advance the rights of the people to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Item #24685, PRICE ON REQUEST
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Brooklyn Ferry in 1666 - British Royal Governor Confirms Dutch Owners Land Grant for the Brooklyn End of the Ferry
RICHARD NICOLLS,
Manuscript Document Signed, March 12, 1666, to Egbert van Borsum. 2 pp. with attached wax seal, 12¾ x 16¼ in.
“Whereas there is a certaine Plott of Ground, with a House or Tenement there upon, Scituate and being at the Ferry, within the Bounds of the Towne of Brucklyn, in the west Riding of Yorkeshire upon Long Island…”
Item #23988.12, ON HOLD
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William Penn Sells Land in Pennsylvania to English Yeoman in 1681
WILLIAM PENN,
Manuscript Document Signed, Deed to Thomas Herriot, September 11, 1681, Warminghurst, West Sussex, England. 1 p., 8¼ x 12 in.
William Penn deeds 2,500 acres of land in Pennsylvania to English yeoman Thomas Herriot in September 1681 for £50. A year later, Herriot accompanied Penn on the Welcome, bound for Pennsylvania but died on the voyage.
Item #27208, $7,500
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Calling Deputy Governor Markham to Run the Dividing Line Between Pennsylvania and Maryland
JAMES SANDELANDS and ROBERT WADE,
Manuscript Document Signed. To William Markham. “Upland” [Chester, Pa.]. June 12, 1682. 1 page. Offered with #21752, described below.
“… there are ffour Comissionrs who by the order & command of ye said Lord [Baltimore], have beene & are waiting … ever since ye tenth day instant, for ye Running ye Division Lyne…”
Item #21621, $38,000
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The Acting Governor of New York Thanks William Penn for a Gift
ANTHONY BROCKHOLLS,
Autograph Letter Signed to Governor William Penn. New York, May 1, 1683
“As the loadstone attracts Iron, so ought acknowledgemts to pursue faviours … [I] dare not presume any further having soe lately recd soe great a marke of your bounty….”
Deputy Governor Anthony Brockholls of New York extends a cordial note to Governor William Penn in the midst of continuing deliberations between Penn and Lord Baltimore over the southern boundary of Pennsylvania and possession of Delaware.
Item #21618, $40,000
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“THE GREATEST OF EARLY AMERICAN MAPS”
THOMAS HOLME,
[Across the Top]: A Map of the Improved Part of the Province of Pennsilvania in America. Begun by Wil: Penn Proprietary and Governour thereof Anno 1681. [Decorative cartouche to right]: A Map of the Province of Pennsilvania. Containing the three Countyes of Chester, Philadelphia, & Bucks, as far as yet Surveyed and Laid out….
The “greatest of early American maps … a masterpiece” (Corcoran).
“This monumental work is without question the finest printed cartographic document relating to North America to be published to date.” (Burden). No other English American colony was mapped in the seventeenth century on such a large scale, and in such amazing detail.
Item #22133, PRICE ON REQUEST
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William Penn Wanted For Treason
[WILLIAM PENN],
Newspaper. The London Gazette, February 9, 1690, 2 pp., 6¼ x 11¼ in.
Pennsylvania founder William Penn supported James II during the Glorious Revolution, James’s attempt to regain the English throne. When William and Mary ascended the throne, Penn was suspected of treason.
Item #30000.54, $900
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Pennsylvania Founder William Penn Signs Birth Certificate for Isaac Penington, a Member of His Extended Family
WILLIAM PENN,
Manuscript Document Signed, December 13, 1700, Birth Certificate for Isaac Penington. Also signed by Penn’s second wife Hannah Callowhill Penn and his daughter Latitia Penn. 1 p. on vellum, 8⅞ x 9⅛ in.
William Penn signed this birth certificate as a witness during his final two-year sojourn in Pennsylvania. This document is signed by a midwife and five other women, including Penn’s second wife Hannah, who were present at the birth of Isaac Penington on November 22, 1700. In addition, William Penn, his daughter Latitia (1678-1746), and three others also signed the document because they were present at the naming of the child on December 13, 1700. The baby was the only child of Penn’s first wife’s half-brother Edward Penington, making William Penn the baby’s uncle by marriage.
Item #26534, $8,500
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“Oaths & Declarations”: William Penn, Jr. and Quakers Sign Separate Declaration to Sit on Pennsylvania Council with Non-Quakers
WILLIAM PENN, JR,
Manuscript Document Signed. N.p. [likely Philadelphia, Pennsylvania], n.d. [ca. February-September 1704]. 2 pp., on bifolium sheet. 320 x 198 mm. One page docketed on verso, “Oaths & Declarations / of Members of Council / Stenton.”
Document signed by Pennsylvania’s political leaders during a stormy period in the province’s history, which saw chronic tensions between Quakers and non-Quakers, between the “lower counties” of Delaware and the rest of the province, and between the proprietor (William Penn) and the Assembly. All the same, the separate signatures on two sheets of paper attests to the landmark commitment of Penn to religious tolerance.
Item #21923, $18,000
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Earliest Known Letter from John to Thomas Penn Also Signed Many Times by Thomas Penn
JOHN PENN,
Autograph Letter Signed. Bristoll, 4 Decem: 1715. 1 page, with autograph address and six examples of Thomas Penn’s signature on verso.
“all Relations have much as they ware & give their Dear Love to Father & Mother…”
15-year old John, having just left the Penn household in Ruscombe, England, writes home. He mentions his mother’s cooking and the well-documented family love of chocolate. The recipient, John’s younger brother, Thomas Penn, who later owned ¾ of William Penn’s proprietary interest in Pennsylvania, practices signing his name on the address leaf. The “Black Cap” referred to in John’s postscript is a reference to the famous Quaker hat. Quakers, as a sign of their egalitarianism, refused to take their hat off for anyone, regardless of societal rank. “Addam” was William Penn’s nickname, a reference to the biblical first man.
Item #21619.99, $25,000
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Turtle Bay Lease for Use by the Royal Navy, 1741
[NEW YORK CITY],
Manuscript Document Signed. Fifty-year lease on Turtle Bay from Captain Robert Long to Peter Warren. Signed by Peter Warren (with his wax seal), his father-in-law Stephen Delancey, and two other witnesses. New York, March 2, 1741. 1 p., 13 x 16 in. Docketed on verso, with later notes on payment through 1750 signed by Long.
A future hero of the French and Indian War leases Turtle Bay for fifty years of use by the British Navy. From the beginning of European settlement, it offered sailing vessels refuge from the East River’s treacherous currents and winter storms. Today, it helps weather different kinds of storms: it was filled in and is the site of the present United Nations complex.
Item #23647, $4,400
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A French Wall Map of the Western Hemisphere
GASPARD BAILLEUL,
Map. L’Amerique Divisee en ses Pricipales Parties ou sont distingues les ud de autres les Estats, selon quils appartiennents presentement aux Differents Souverains De L’Europe . . . Par le Sr. Bailleul le jeune Geographe. Jean Louis Daudet, Lyon, France, 1752. Approximately 31 x 40 in., on original wooden rollers.
Item #22142, $25,000
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Anti-Catholic “Test Oath” Signed by George Washington – as Required to Validate his Military Commission as Lieutenant Colonel at the Outset of the French and Indian War
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
Manuscript Document Signed, [March 19, 1754]. With signatures of more than a dozen others, dating from Feb. 3, 1754 to Aug. 19, 1755. John West, Jr. and James Towers, whose signatures immediately follow Washington’s, subscribed on the same day, and, along with several other signers, served with Washington in the 1754 campaign. The subscribers, all Fairfax County, Va. public officials and militiamen, signed starting on the right side of the paper; a second column was then added to the left.
“there is no Transubstantiation in the sacrament of the Lords supper or in the elements of Bread and wine...”
On March 15, 1754, Governor Robert Dinwiddie enclosed Washington’s commission as lieutenant colonel of the Virginia regiment in a letter directing the young officer and his men to the Ohio Valley to help defend against approaching French forces. Four days later, Washington signed this “test oath” – required of all Virginia civil and military officers – validating his commission. He would soon find himself at the center of a battle that ignited war between Britain and France, and a defeat that led him to sign the only surrender of his entire career.
Ironically, Washington’s signature on this document launched the military and political career that eventually proved instrumental in expanding the religious freedoms that this oath sought to restrict.
Note that we have agreed to steer this to a philanthropic individual, foundation or company willing to acquire and donate this to George Washington’s Mount Vernon or the Fairfax County Circuit Court Archives. Details on request.
Item #23200, PRICE ON REQUEST
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In Benjamin Franklin’s Paper, Colonel George Washington Reports as Positively as Possible on the Surrender of Fort Necessity, Which Sparked the French and Indian War
[GEORGE WASHINGTON],
Pennsylvania Gazette, August 1, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 4 pp., lacking the advertising half-sheet, 9¼ x 14½ in.
Item #22426.03, $4,500
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Pennsylvania Deputy Governor Urges General Assembly to Resist French Expansion in North America in Early Stages of the French and Indian War
[BENJAMIN FRANKLIN],
Pennsylvania Gazette, October 24, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 6 pp., 9¼ x 14½ in.
This issue of Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette reports the speech of Deputy Governor Morris of Pennsylvania to the General Assembly, urging them to prevent the French and their Native American allies from gaining control of the colony’s western border. The General Assembly responded that they were eager to assist but lacked any “Instructions from the Crown how to conduct ourselves on this important Occasion” and requested a recess until called together again.
Item #22426.07, $1,500
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Declaration Signer Francis Hopkinson Gives Address at Academy of Philadelphia
[FRANCIS HOPKINSON],
Pennsylvania Gazette, November 21, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 6 pp., 9¼ x 14½ in.
This issue of Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette reports addresses by two students at the Academy of Philadelphia, including seventeen-year-old Francis Hopkinson, who went on to write music and poetry, sign the Declaration of Independence, and design the American flag. Founded in 1751, the Academy provided classical education and instruction in practical skills. Most of the trustees had received a classical education and favored a similar curriculum for the academy, but trustee Benjamin Franklin favored an education that stressed practical skills. He advocated teaching all classes in English and emphasizing mathematics and science.
Item #22426.09, $1,800
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Pennsylvania Prepares to Meet French Encroachments at Start of French and Indian War
[FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR],
Pennsylvania Gazette, December 19, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 6 pp., 9¼ x 14½ in.
This issue of Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette includes communications between Lieutenant Governor Robert Hunter Morris and the Pennsylvania General Assembly regarding responses to the French threat on the western border of the colony. Conflict between French and English forces there erupted into the French and Indian War, and globally into the Seven Years’ War.
It also includes details of a lecture by Ebenezer Kinnersley, a partner of Benjamin Franklin in experiments on electricity, and a brief notice of George Whitefield’s sermons in New York City.
Item #22426.11, $2,800
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Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor and General Assembly Disagree over Military Funding at Beginning of French and Indian War
[FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR],
Pennsylvania Gazette, December 26, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 4 pp., lacking the advertising half-sheet, 9¼ x 14½ in.
This issue of Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette includes communications between Lieutenant Governor Robert Hunter Morris and the Pennsylvania General Assembly regarding the proper mode of funding military forces to resist the French threat on the western border of the colony. Conflict between French and English forces there erupted into the French and Indian War, and globally into the Seven Years’ War.
It also includes details of a lecture by Ebenezer Kinnersley, a partner of Benjamin Franklin in experiments on electricity, and a brief notice of George Whitefield’s sermons in Philadelphia.
Item #22426.12, $2,000
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