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Description

George Clymer autograph letter signed ("Geo Clymer"). Three pages of a bifolium, 7" x 9.25", no place, [Princeton, New Jersey]; April 30, 1783. Integral address sheet. Docketed.

George Clymer, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, writes a friendly letter to another signer of the U.S. Constitution, Thomas Fitzsimmons.

Letter from Clymer to Fitzsimmons (1741-1811) concerning a report that Fitzsimmons was planning to leave Philadelphia and inquires about the report's accuracy. At the time of this letter, Clymer was staying in Princeton with Richard Stockton (1764-1828), son of Richard Stockton (1730-1781), a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The letter reads, in part:

"A report has reached me within a day or two of your design to leave Philada. but at which time, or to what place, or to what end and, whether private or publick, my intelligence is still more imperfect. In this state you will not wonder I...wish to know how much there is of truth in the report. With respect to intercourse of letters, if the parties in friendship are unmindful of it, a separation of forty miles may as fatal to it as the ocean rolling between, but there is always a pleasing sympathy which abates with increasing distance. Some interest, on this account, I claim in your now, but expected more whenever I return to town, and am loth to lose one of the links in the chain that draws me there.... My compts. to Mrs. F." Signed, "Geo Clymer".

George Clymer (1739-1813) is one of only six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In 1777 he resigned from the Continental Congress; in 1780 he was elected to a seat in the Pennsylvania Legislature. Clymer was re-elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1784 and attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was elected to the first U.S. Congress in 1789. Clymer also served as the first president of the Philadelphia Bank and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was vice-president of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.

Thomas Fitzsimons (1741-1811) was an Irish-American merchant and statesman in Philadelphia. He represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the U.S. Congress. Fitzsimmons was a signer of the U.S. Constitution. Also included is an engraving of Clymer.

Condition: Repaired paper loss to blank portion of address leaf from seal removal upon opening. Light toning.


Auction Info

Auction Dates
June, 2022
25th Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 8
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
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Sold on Jun 25, 2022 for: $1,375.00
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