Books and Manuscripts

Morris, Robert
Printed Document, signed
Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, October 9, 1794. Bifolium leaf, 13 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (336 x 238 mm). Partially-printed Asylum Company share (No. 156), signed by Founding Father Robert Morris, as president of the company, and issued to John Nicholson, Comptroller General of Pennsylvania; counter-signed by secretary James Duncan. Separated along center fold; scattered sello-tape repairs along original folds; trimmed.

Together with:

Printed Document, signed
(Philadelphia), April 7, 1802. Single sheet, 8 1/4 x 7 in. (209 x 178 mm). Partially-printed Asylum Company share (No. 1), signed by Archibald McCall, as president of the company, and issued to William Crammond; counter-signed by secretary James Gibson; MS on verso transfering the share to Phineas Bond and Thomas Astley, signed by secretary John Reed, dated April 25, 1805. Creasing from original folds, repairs to same; scattered wear along edges. The first share issued for the Asylum Company after it was reorganized by Crammond and McCall in 1801 after the bankruptcies of Morris and John Nicholson.

The Asylum Company was founded in 1794 by Founding Father Robert Morris (1734-1806), John Nicholson (1757-1800), and others, to develop and settle tracts of land in Pennsylvania, and to establish a colony for French refugees. Due to Morris' and Nicholson's bankruptcies, due to their other land speculation schemes, it was reorganized in 1801 by other Philadelphia merchants. Lot includes ephemera relating to Morris.