Lot Details
Lot 115
BURR, AARON Autograph letter signed to Major Augustin Prevost. N.p.: 5 April 1789. Two page autograph letter signed A. Burr...
N.p.: 5 April 1789. Two page autograph letter signed "A. Burr" on recto and verso of one folded sheet with integral blank, the address panel accomplished in Burr's hand. 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches (24 x 19.5 cm). Folds with some discreet tissue repair, one short split not affecting text, the blank with small losses where roughly opened, sold by Walter Benjamin.
In this rushed letter to his wife's nephew Major Augustin Prevost (1744-1821), Burr offers advice on a real estate transaction: "I cannot describe to you the distress and anxiety which it gave me. Your contract seems to involve inevitable ruin ... this goes by a private conveyance ... he waits for this letter and is danger of losing his passage." The British/Swiss Prevosts are an intriguing element of Burr's history. This Augustine Prevost was the son the Major General in the British Army who had fought against the Continentals in the Revolution and had died in 1786. At the time of this letter, Major Prevost was working on behalf of Sir Frederick Haldimand, the Swiss born Governor of Quebec, attempting to entice settlers to populate Haldimand's lands in Bedford County, PA, a likely predecessor to the Whiskey Rebellion, and this letter seems to relate to those transactions.
C
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