Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Lewis and Clark Lead Fine Autographs Auction

Benjamin Franklin's June 15, 1748, autograph letter written from Philadelphia during the aftermath of the British capture of Louisbourg leads RR Auction's latest Fine Autographs & Artifacts.

Addressed to merchant Nathaniel Sparhawk, Franklin acknowledges the receipt and delivery of funds while forwarding correspondence connected to the Pepperrell family. Written the year Franklin retired from active printing to devote himself to public affairs and scientific inquiry, the letter reflects his already well-established role within the financial and administrative networks of colonial America.

Elsewhere is a January 3, 1787, Potowmack Company payroll document recording wages for more than 50 laborers working at Shenandoah Falls. Signed by George Washington as president of the Potowmack Company, the document reflects one of his most ambitious post-Revolutionary War projects. Washington regarded the Potowmack Company as more than a commercial enterprise, believing improved transportation routes would strengthen the fragile Union.

Other highlights include:

• autograph documents signed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark created before the two men led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806; Lewis's handwritten note written around 1801 while serving as Thomas Jefferson's private secretary refers a matter to James Monroe, while Clark's 1794 document signed during his service under General Anthony Wayne authorizes the delivery of whiskey for the Chickasaw
• a handwritten October 25, 1803, letter signed by John Quincy Adams written shortly after he arrived in the Senate discussing the Louisiana Purchase
• an 1804 vellum land grant signed by President Thomas Jefferson and countersigned by Secretary of State James Madison conveying federal land to Elias Boudinot of Philadelphia, the former president of the Continental Congress

Fine Autographs & Artifacts Featuring Revolutionary War and Military ends on July 15.