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1792 Rare DOCTOR BENJAMIN RUSH Autograph Letter Signed Founding Father + Signer!

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:3,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 4,500.00 USD
1792 Rare DOCTOR BENJAMIN RUSH Autograph Letter Signed Founding Father + Signer!
Autographs
Founding Father Doctor Benjamin Rush Autograph Letter Signed - Signer of the Declaration of Independence
BENJAMIN RUSH (1745/46-1813). Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Physician, Revolutionary War Continental Army’s Surgeon General, and Political Leader.
April 20, 1792-Dated. Autograph Letter Signed, “Benj.n Rush”, 6.25” x 7.75”. 2 pages, at Philadelphia, Choice Very Fine. Here, Dr. Rush writes to offer words of encouragement to the family of a sick young girl. This example has a lovely quality, is well penned in deep rich brown upon laid period paper with just a few inking smears. This heartfelt, very personal Letter reads, in full:

“My much esteemed friend, --- I sincerely sympathize with you in the alarming indisposition of your daughter, but hope the same kind Providence which restored your daughter who was threatened with a Consumption will spare your present afflicted child to be a Comfort and support to you in the desire of life. I have intensely considered her case, and tho’ I think her in great danger, yet I do not despair of her recovery. Dr. Morris will inform you of what has been the result of our consultation in her case, and I have only to request that you would implicitly follow all his directions. Hitherto they have been exactly such as I would have presented in her case had I seen at the time he first saw her. With great respect -- I am your sincere friend --- (Signed) Benj. Rush.” Noted at lower left, “Philade. 20th April 1792”.

A wonderful letter of encouragement to a family worried about their daughter’s health. It is quite clean with expected mailing folds and tear where the wax seal was opened, not affecting any text. The signature, “Benj.n Rush” is well written, sharp and clear in deep brown measuring 2” long, located at the conclusion. This highly desirable, great American’s autograph is missing in most historic Revolutionary War era collections.
Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1746 [O.S. December 24, 1745] – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. He served as Surgeon General in the Continental army, and was blamed for criticising George Washington. Later in life, Rush became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rush was a leader of the American Enlightenment, and an enthusiastic supporter of the American Revolution. He signed the Declaration of Independence, and was a leader in Pennsylvania's ratification of the Constitution in 1788. He was prominent in many reforms, especially in the areas of medicine and education. He opposed slavery, advocated free public schools, and sought improved education for women and a more enlightened penal system. As a leading physician, Rush had a major impact on the emerging medical profession. As an Enlightenment intellectual, he was committed to organizing all medical knowledge around explanatory theories, rather than rely on empirical methods. Rush argued that illness was the result of imbalances in the body's physical system and was caused by malfunctions in the brain. His approach prepared the way for later medical research, but Rush himself undertook none of it. He promoted public health by advocating clean environment and stressing the importance of personal and military hygiene. His study of mental disorder made him one of the founders of American psychiatry.