?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
"YOU MUST BE EITHER DAWDLING . . . OR MORALLY OR PHYSICALLY DEAD" BURR, AARON. Autograph Letter Signed, "A. Burr," to James Martin, requesting more frequent communications from him, suggesting a recently vacated house [to investigate the possibility of renting], requesting a draft of a case, discussing the possibility of submitting an application for writ of ne exeat, and reminding him not to consult the brother of one of the parties to the case, with a postscript: "The papers in Ward & Pell are said to be in the hands of R. Livingston." 1 1/2 pages, 4to, written on recto and verso of sheet with integral address leaf; moderate staining at center, folds. Albany, 13 January 1799
"You must be either dawdling . . . or morally or physically dead: in any other event I should have heard frequently from you. I venture however a second time to attempt to awaken you from your lethargy or to attract you to town. "The business of the house . . . --that which Sam Jones used to occupy in Nassau St & one next Door to (South of) Alderman Furman's in Broad Way deserve your attention. "With all possible dispatch, prepare and send me a Draft of Bill, John S. Robertson vs Ja's Scott Smith. You have the agreement & my letter to Dr Robertson of the 28th Ult. . . . Mr. R. seems apprehensive that Smith will elope--if these apprehensions should appear to be well founded, application must be made for a Ne exeat. P.R. Livingston, the Reg'r will tell you our mode . . . . You need not be warned against consulting Tho's Smith, the brother, on this business." In a letter to James Martin dated January 4, 1799, Burr requested that Martin seek out on his own behalf a house in Manhattan that would be suitable for him. Later that year, Burr founded the Manhattan Company, ostensibly with the purpose of providing water for Manhattan, but operating increasingly over the years as a bank. The company later became the Bank of Manhattan Company, which, in 1955, merged with the Chase National Bank, to form the Chase Manhattan Bank.
