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George Washington

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
George Washington

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Auction Date:2018 Feb 07 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, 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
ALS as president signed “Go: Washington,” one page, 7.5 x 9, October 20, 1792. Letter to "The Rev'd Doct'r Shipley," William Davies Shipley, in full: "I have been honored with your polite letter of the 23d of May, together with the works of your late Right Reverend father, Lord Bishop of St. Asaph, which accompanied it. For the character & sentiments of that venerable & amiable Divine, while living, I entertained the most perfect esteem; and have a sincere respect for his memory, now he is no more.—My best thanks are due to you for his works, and the mark of your attention in sending them to me,—and especially for the flattering expressions respecting myself, which are contained in your letter." Removably encapsulated in a mylar sleeve. In fine condition, with light stains to the edges and corners; aside from the spotted staining to the borders, this is a remarkably clean and well-preserved letter.

A beautiful, crisply penned and heartfelt letter from the sitting president to William Davies Shipley, the son of Jonathan Shipley, who had been Bishop of St. Asaph from 1769 until his death in December 1788. The elder Shipley had grown popular in the colonies thanks to his vigorous opposition as a member of the House of Lords against King George III's punitive measures against Boston following the Tea Party in 1774. In the rebellion’s aftermath, Jonathan Shipley maintained close friendships with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, and officiated the wedding of the Adams' eldest daughter in 1786. William had been convicted of seditious libel in 1784 for publishing a pamphlet advocating for political reforms, though his punishment was thrown out by the judge in the legal cause celebre which became known as 'the Case of the Dean of St. Asaph.' In transmitting his father’s newly published works to the American president, William Shipley wrote of the ‘high Esteem & Veneration’ his father held for Washington’s character, which ‘added to the near Relation which much of the Contents [of his work] bears to that glorious Cause which had ever his warmest Wishes, And which he lived to see so nobly vindicated (principally thro’ your Exertions).’ Washington clearly appreciated the gesture—he replied with this thoughtful note, and the two-volume set of Shipley’s Works remained in his personal library at the time of his death.