Nov 14, 2024 - Sale 2686

Sale 2686 - Lot 85

Price Realized: $ 10,625
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
INTRODUCING THE MAN "WELL KNOWN AS THE LATE SECRETARY OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON" JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Autograph Letter Signed, "Th:Jefferson," as Secretary of State, to unofficial U.S. Chargé d'Affaires at the Hague Charles William Frederick Dumas, letter of introduction for Tobias Lear. 1 page, 4to, with integral address leaf addressed in holograph; faint offsetting overall, folds. Philadelphia, 5 November 1793
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"The bearer hereof, Mr. Lear, proposing to establish himself in commerce in the new city of Washington, he now sets out to visit such parts of Europe as he supposes may furnish him either articles or connections in the mercantile line useful for his position. He is well known as the late Secretary of President Washington, and I can further assure you with good faith that he is a person of great understanding, discretion, activity & of the most perfect integrity. . . . [A]ny attentions or services you can render him . . . will be considered as particular favors . . . ."
Tobias Lear (1762-1816) served as George Washington's personal secretary during his presidency and was a friend to him in his final years; Lear's journal provides a first-hand account of Washington's death, and he shaped the first president's legacy by attending to the funeral arrangements and personal papers after his death.