MONROE, JAMES
Autograph letter signed as President. Washington: 30 April 1821. Dark brown ink on recto of a single sheet. 10 x 7 5/8 inches (25 x 19 cm), 15 lines, plus salutation and felicitation, apparently to his banker or attorney. Usual folds, slightly toned, small tissue restoration on verso repairing a short tear.
Monroe's financial difficulties while President were legion, and indeed continued even after he left office. His sense of exigency is reflected in the present letter:
"I have received your letter with a deed renewing the former one, which Mrs. Monroe & I will execute, when required, with pleasure.
I have also rec'd a notice for the payment of two thousand dolls., and another of 404., on the 4th of May, which it will accommodate me, much, if the bank will aid me, to arrange, in three monthly payments, by equal installments. I will give my checks on the bank of Columbia, in that manner, including the interest, which become due on each. The large sums, which the settlement of the remaining accounts for the winter, require from me, at this time, is my motive for this request..."
Monroe's financial ills were ultimately resolved some years after this letter was penned, when the federal government finally paid him a portion of the large amount he was owed for his services. Sold with an engraved portrait.