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727

Noah Webster

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Noah Webster

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Auction Date:2012 Oct 17 @ 18:00 (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
Author and lexicographer (1758-1843) who published the first comprehensive dictionary of American English. DS, three scallop-topped pages on two adjoining sheets, 9 x 14.5, February 2, 1796. In part: “Articles of Agreement…Between Noah Webster of the City of New York Esquire of the one part and John Peshine of said City Cordwainer [shoemaker] of the other part as follows to wit The said Noah Webster in consideration of the sum of fifteen hundred and fifty pounds Current Money of New York to be paid to him…That the said Noah Webster together with his wife will…Convey by a good and sufficient Deed unto the said John Peshine and his Heirs and assigns for-ever in fee simple clear of all Incumbrance whatsoever exception a Mortgage bearing date the fourteenth of November 1795 executed by him the said Noah Webster and his Wife to Lindley Murray Esquire.”

On the reverse of the second page, Webster adds a lengthy handwritten endorsement, signed at the conclusion “Noah Webster,” and signed again in the text, dated November 14, 1796. Webster writes “New York Nov 14 1796. The within named John Peshine, having complied with the conditions of the within indenture, except as to the Bond of the said Noah Webster to Lindley Murray, & also the mortgage on the within premises, which are payable Novr 1, 1799, I hereby permit & authorize the within named Ezekiel Robins to deliver the deed herein named to said John Peshine.” Reverse also bears an endorsement from Ezekiel Robins. In very good condition, with intersecting folds, scattered toning and soiling, some lightly affecting endorsement signature, scattered creases, and some light spotting to text.

When attorney Lindley Murray left New York for England in 1795, he sold a property to Noah Webster, then writing for the city’s first daily newspaper, American Minerva, which he founded two years prior. A fellow grammarian, Murray was an admirer of Webster’s earlier works, especially his 1789 ‘Dissertation on the English Language.’ When he published his own ‘Grammar’ in 1795, he shared a copy with the American from afar, both as a token of his respect for Webster’s work, and in hopes of receiving feedback for further editions. This document, with such a lengthy excerpt in Webster’s hand and the wonderful connection to a well-known fellow grammarian, is a wonderful addition to any literary collection.
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