(AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1780) Andre John Contemporary copy of

Sale 2391 - Lot 46

Price Realized: $ 2,750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION--1780.) Andre, John. Contemporary copy of the British spy's final letter from an American prison. Manuscript transcript in an unknown 18th-century hand. 2 pages, 10 x 7 1/2 inches, on two leaves of a folding sheet; minimal wear. Tappan, NY, 29 September 1780

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In this copy of a well-known letter, the captured spy makes his final report to British general Henry Clinton. While awaiting his imminent death sentence, he received permission from General Washington to inform his commander that "I am perfectly tranquil in my mind, and prepared for any fate," adding that "I have a mother and three sisters to whom the value of my commission would be an object," and absolving his commander of any guilt for his fate. He concludes by noting that "I received the greatest attention from his Excellency General Washington and from every person under whose charge I happen to be placed." Provenance: Sotheby's London sale, 12 June 1973, lot 607, to the Forbes Collection.