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Benedict Arnold

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 3,500.00 USD
Benedict Arnold

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Auction Date:2011 Apr 13 @ 19:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
One of the most well-known traitors in history, Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was a successful general from Connecticut during the Revolutionary War, up until he switched sides and got caught trying to help the British in 1780. Manuscript DS, signed “B. Arnold,” one page, 6 x 6, February 26, 1790. Legal affidavit reads, in full: “Benedict Arnold Esqr of the Plaintiff in the above cause maketh oath that Samuel Oakes the Defendant in the above cause is at this time justly and truly indebted unto him Deponent in the Sum of Eleven Pounds Seventeen Shillings for a quantity of Ship Timber sold and Delivered by him this Deponent to the said Defendant and for Cash paid and advanced for the measuring the Same.” Very nicely double cloth matted and framed with a portrait of Arnold and George Washington, and a descriptive plaque, to an overall size of 20 x 35.5. In fine condition, with light intersecting folds, a few mild strips of toning, and some scattered light edge wear.

Settling in Canada after the war, Arnold became a businessman and, as history shows, quite a fan of the Canadian judicial system, as he was more than willing to file a lawsuit over every penny owed. A postwar depression had hit Canada, and he found few people who could afford his goods, ultimately filing more than 20 similar suits to recover debts owed in Canada. Though technically in the right, suing others to recover debts heightened his unpopularity. Following the most serious, a slander suit he won against a former business partner, townspeople burned him in effigy in front of his house as his wife and the children watched. A terrific and well-preserved document from one of the American Revolution’s most famous—and litigious—collaborators.