Benjamin Franklin, as American Peace Commissioner

3 pages (11 1/2 x 8 1/8 in.;  319 x 207 mm) on a bifolium and single sheet of absorbent copy paper (watermarked J WATT & CO PATENT COPYING), Passy, 10 July 1782, to Benjamin Vaughan; about five lines of text affected by over-absorption of ink, all but one remaining legible. 

3 pages (11 1/2 x 8 1/8 in.; 319 x 207 mm) on a bifolium and single sheet of absorbent copy paper, Passy, 10 July 1798, to Benjamin Vaughan; about five lines of text affected by over-absorption of ink, but all but one remain legible.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In this early example of letterpress correspondence, Franklin discusses peace negotiations to end the Revolutionary War and outlines his thoughts on the laws of nations for war and peace. A few years later, Franklin used a copy press to make a duplicate of his Autobiography, which he also sent to Vaughan. Copy pressing remained uncommon until well into the nineteenth century. THIS LETTER, THEREFORE, REFLECTS NOT ONLY FRANKLIN’S HUMANITARIAN VIEWS ON THE CONDUCT OF WAR, BUT HIS TIRELESS CURIOSITY FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES.

"I have before me your several Favours of June 7, June 17, & July 9. The Box sent to Mr. Bowens at Ostend is also come to hand. It contain’d a Dozen 4to Vols. of my Writings, and a Number of Pamphlets which you have been so good as to chuse for me; but the Remembrancers, & Registers bought for me by Mr Young, and left by him as he tells me with Mr Johnson, to be sent me, were not included, & I hear nothing of them. I beg you would inquire about them.— … Mr Laurens is gone to the South of France, and has declined acting in the Commission for making Peace. Mr Oswald has not given me the Acct you suppose he may have given, of a certain Person’s strange Behaviour. When you have Leisure, acquaint me with it.—

"I shall confer with Mr Jay concerning the Bills. There will be no Difficulty in getting them paid if he approves of it. Should his first Opinion continue, I cannot interfere, the Bills being drawn on him. What you tell me, of the first Indorser’s going out with a Passport from me, and that these Bills were remitted as part Payment, shows me that I was imposed on by that man; my Passport was obtained on Assurance that the Goods to be carried over were bona fide the Property of the intended Settler; and should not have been used as a Cover for the Goods of English Merchants intrusted to him, to carry on a contraband Commerce.— The Bills of Harley & Drummond which you mention as having been enclosed in the same Letter, afford farther Suspicion of his Situation in that Country, & that the Bills have not been fairly come by.—"

Franklin then moves to the crux of his letter, his proposals for eliminating the "Encouragement to war which arises from Spirit of Rapine": "Your Sentiments relating to Privateers appear to me very just, & those concerning Arbitrators not less so, tho’ perhaps less likely to be adopted. I go with you as far as you go, in Proposals for diminishing the Occasions & Mischiefs of War, & perhaps a little farther.— By the Original Law of Nations, War & Extirpation was the Punishment of Injury. Humanizing by degrees, it admitted Slavery instead of Death. A farther Step was, the Exchange of Prisoners instead of Slavery. Another, to respect more the property of private Persons under Conquest, & to be content with acquir’d Dominion. Why should not this Law of Nations go on improving? Ages have interven’d between its several Steps; but as Knowledge of late encreases rapidly, why should not those Steps be quicken’d? Why should it not be agreed to as the future Law of Nations that in any War hereafter the following Descriptions of Men should be undisturbed, have the Protection of both sides, & be permitted to follow their employments in Surety, viz

"1. Cultivators of the Earth, because they labor for the Subsistance of Mankind.

"2. Fishermen, for the same Reason.

"3. Merchants & Traders, in unarm’d Ships; who accommodate different Nations by communicating & exchanging the Necessaries and Conveniencies of Life.

"4. Artists & Mechanics, inhabiting & working in open Towns.

"It is hardly necessary to add that the Hospitals of Enemies should be unmolested; they ought to be assisted.

"In short, I would have nobody fought with but those who are paid for Fighting. If obliged to take Corn from the Farmer, Friend or Enemy, I would pay him for it; the same for the Fish or Goods of the others.

"This once established, that Encouragement to war which arises from Spirit of Rapine would be taken away, and Peace therefore more likely to continue & be lasting.— …" 

Franklin himself put these principles into practice. "The most famous example," writes biographer Ronald W. Clark, "is probably his call to commanders of armed ships on commission from Congress to treat Captain Cook and his crew 'with all civility and kindness, affording them, as common friends to mankind, all the assistance in your power which they may happen to stand in need of.'" 

This letter was made on a copy press by Franklin from his original immediately after it was written. Franklin sent this duplicate, along with another letter, to Vaughan the next day. In an era of uncertain mail delivery, several copies of important letters were often sent to the same recipient. The original of this letter is unknown, and its text is known only from the present press copy.

The letter-copying press was invented by James Watt, best known for his improvements to the steam engine. He patented his invention (also called sponge-paper copying) in 1780. Watts's invention "revolutionised office practice in a way probably not to be matched until the advent of the typewriter" (Nicholas Kingsley, "Introduction to the Papers of James Watt and his family," Birmingham Central Library). In essence, an original ink-written page was placed upon a dampened sheet of a special, absorbent tissue paper, and the sheets then pressed together so that a "true" copy of the writing was transferred to the back of the tissue, which could then be read through the papers from the front. Washington and Jefferson also frequently used the invention.

Benjamin Vaughan was a longtime correspondent of Franklin's; he was a diplomat and economist, who also friendly with Joseph Priestley and Thomas Paine. A colonial sympathizer, he participated in a variety of secret diplomatic missions during the American Revolution, including working with Franklin to negotiate an end to the war. Vaughan edited the first edition of Franklin’s non-scientific works, Political, Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces (London, 1779), eventually retiring to America where he indulged his agricultural and scientific interests.