Books and Manuscripts

No place, March 16, 1795. One sheet, 9 3/4 x 12 in. (248 x 302 mm). Partially-printed document, signed by Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Pennsylvania, Robert Morris, as President of the North American Land Company, granting four shares of the company to Bird, Savage & Bird of London; counter-signed by James Marshall, Morris's son-in-law (brother of future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall). Foxed. In mat and in frame, unexamined out of frame, 17 x 20 in. (432 x 508 mm).

Robert Morris (1734-1806), commonly known as the "Financier of the American Revolution", was a founder of the North American Land Company along with James Greenleaf and John Nicholson. The three men owned a vast amount of real estate, and sold stocks secured by the land in order to raise money. The company failed when it was unable to sell land fast enough to turn a profit, and it was one of Morris's many ventures in the 1790s which led to his bankruptcy, and ultimate incarceration in debtors' prison.