(WASHINGTON, GEORGE). A FAIR COPY OF A DEED CONVEYING PROPERTY, 1771

Manuscript copy of a deed, 1 1/2 pages on a single sheet of paper (8 7/8 x 7 1/8 in.; 226 x 182 mm), written in a clerical hand, Fairfax County, ca. 1771; browned, several fold separations, with artless early repairs on the verso. Matted, framed, and double-glazed with a portrait of Washington.

Cowan's Auctions, 2 December 2011, lot 218

Manuscript copy of a deed, 1 1/2 pages on a single sheet of paper (8 7/8 x 7 1/8 in.; 226 x 182 mm), written in a clerical hand, Fairfax County, ca. 1771; browned, several fold separations, with artless early repairs on the verso. Matted, framed, and double-glazed with a portrait of Washington.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

This clerical copy of 1771 land deed is evidence of Washington's long activity in land speculation and his particular effort to add  land to his Mount Vernon estate. "Know all men by these Presents that I George Washington of Mount Vernon in Fairfax County am held and firmly bound unto Philip Pendleton of Frederick County in the full and just fund of eight hundred pounds current money of Virginia to be paid to the said Philip Pendleton his Ex[ecuto]rs. Adm[instrato]rs. & Assigns. To which payment well and truly to be made I bind myself, my Heirs, Executors & Adm[instrato]rs. firmly by these presents sealed with my seal and dated this 7th day of December 1771."The Condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the said George Washington hath bargained & sold unto the said Philip Pendleton the fee simple Estate of and in a certain tract of land lying and being in the said county of Frederick adjoining the lands of James Keith the orphans of Joshua & Abraham Hains and the Tract of land which the said Philip Pendleton purchased of Owen Thomas, being that Neck of land by a line to be run from a small locust at corner of the said land patented by Owen Thomas to a corner of the line which divided Hains' land from the said George Washington. …" The deed was witnessed by, and bears the clerical signature of, Samuel Washington, Vali Crawford, and John Park Custis.