Fine Cartographic and Printed Americana

A PRESUMABLY UNRECORDED FRANKLIN PRINTED DOCUMENT, foolscap half sheet, 306 x 196 mm (12 1/16 x 7 11/16 in.), partly printed bond accomplished in manuscript for one hundred pounds issued to John Townsend from Isaac Cook, signed by Townsend, John Nicholson, and John Roberts as witnesses, wax seals. With related manuscript additions on verso, 19 September 1733, 19 lines in a secretarial hand, signed. (A few tears, some repaired, creased, a few tiny holes occasionally touching letters.) Miller illustrates two similar bonds with very minor variances (numbers 475 and 496); this example without Franklin's imprint lower margin. Franklin established his printing house in Philadelphia in 1728, when he entered a partnership with Hugh Meredith (which ended quickly thereafter). Franklin became the official printer of Pennsylvania in 1730, and the official printer of New Jersey in 1740. RARE. See Miller Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Printing, 475, 496.