Lot 7
  • 7

Hamilton, Alexander

Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Hamilton, Alexander
  • Autograph letter signed ("Alex Hamilton"), to James Duane, offering legal advice
  • paper
1 page (11 7/8 x 7 5/8 in.; 302 x 193 mm), [New York,] 24 August 1796, also signed by attorney Abraham Van Vechten; a few words lost to surface abrasion. Matted, framed, and glazed with an engraved portrait of Hamilton.

Literature

Not in The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett

Condition

see cataloguing
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.

Catalogue Note

Hamilton counsels a client to avoid the uncertainty of a jury trial. "The Counsel for Vocht proposes to us the submission to Referees of the whole question between you & him. If there are competent parties on the spot to make the submission with security that the event will be abided by, we are of opinion that [it is] an expedient course. Our reasons are these, that in a cause like yours, there is more safety in the opinion of Referees unquestionably independent and discerning than in that of a Jury—that a reference will terminate the controversy, while a verdict will leave it to be indefinitely renewed (a course in which the value of the property may easily be expended). …" The case in questions evidently concerns the estate of James Duane, Revolutionary leader and mayor of New York City, who died in 1794.