Jefferson, Thomas | A signed congressional act

Jefferson, Thomas

Printed document signed ("Th: Jefferson") as Secretary of State, being an official printing of "An Act concerning certain Fisheries of the United States, and for the Regulation and Government of the Fishermen employed therein." [Philadelphia: Printed by Francis Childs and John Swaine, 1792]

3 pages (383 x 242 mm) on a bifolium (watermarked posthorn | HS Sandy Run), the act approved 16 February 1792; leaves separated at central fold, light browning at edges, some very faint marginal spotting, horizontal fold-creases reinforced and lightly discolored, with a couple short marginal separations.

A significant Act establishing the principles and parameters for commercial fishing in American waters and addressing an issue between the United States and Great Britain that was unresolved by the Treaty of Paris. The present copy of the fisheries act bears the printed signatures of President George Washington, Vice President John Adams, and House Speaker Jonathan Trumbull, as well as the holograph signature of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Individual acts and bills of Congress were routinely printed for public distribution, but there was a provision to print a few large-paper copies of each act for official dissemination to the states; these copies bore the Secretary of State's signature. 

REFERENCE:

Evans 24875