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Lot 59: George Clinton Signed Document 1778

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Lot   59: George Clinton Signed Document 1778
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>1778 Engraving of New York State Seal Signed With The EngraverÕs Name !</b>

<b>GEORGE CLINTON, Here the Revolutionary general, and first governor of New York, signs a commission bearing an extremely rare HENRY DAWKINS engraving. </b>
Document Signed, as Governor, partially-printed and accomplished in manuscript; engraved, signed in type and dated by Henry Dawkins - a New England engraver and designer of seals. 1 page, 13' by 8', Poughkeepsie, New York, 1778. With wafer seal intact; neither wear, or a stain in the blank lower portion, detract from the otherwise Very Fine appearance of this exceptional document... The facts are simple: George Clinton, on behalf of 'The People of the State of New York, by the Grace of God Free and Independent' appoints Coenradt Ozendorph a First Lieutenant in a Tryon County Militia Company - in which, most probably, he took part in guarding against enemy incursions, performing garrison duty, and building fortifications, such as the Sacondaga Blockhouse. What makes this document rare and unusual, then, is not the nature of the appointment, but the printed document upon which it is recorded...

Most of the early American engravers were relatively obscure men. Often the only record of their existence as engravers was the few impressions of a plate accidentally preserved. About Henry Dawkins just a little is known: in 1776 he was imprisoned for counterfeiting Connecticut currency, which he blamed on something to do with the loyalist printer James Rivington; and he designed seals. Perhaps then, the New York State Seal, designed in 1778, was his work - the Coat of Arms crested by an American eagle, wings outstretched.; the eagle standing upon a globe, showing the North Atlantic Ocean.; the female figures of Liberty and Justice standing upon a scroll that proclaims "Excelsior"; Liberty and Justice framing a scene of two ships on a river, with the sun gloriously rising above the mountain...