Books and Manuscripts

Washington, (D.C.), March 21, 1837. Printed military commission on vellum, partially executed in a secretarial hand, and signed by Martin Van Buren as 8th President of the United States, appointing Edward R. Thomson a Lieutenant in the United States Navy; counter-signed by Secretary of the Navy, Mahlon Dickerson; registered in MS. along bottom left edge. Original white paper seal at bottom intact. Creasing from contemporary folds; small loss at top and bottom folds at right. Approximately 17 x 14 in. (432 x 356 mm) (sight), and finely framed with a portrait of Van Buren; unexamined out of frame, 23 3/8 x 28 in. (594 x 711 mm).