Beschreibung:

HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY President . Engraved document signed ("W.H. Harrison") as President, COUNTERSIGNED BY SECRETARY OF STATE DANIEL WEBSTER, issued at Philadelphia, 29 March 1841. 1 page, folio, 370 x 290mm. (14 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.), original papered great seal of the United States at lower left, scalloped head, elaborately engraved with two vignettes at top: one of a fully rigged, three-masted sailing vessel, the other of a lighthouse in a harbor with a port-city in the background , ON FINE VELLUM, accomplished in manuscript. In very good condition. HARRISON IN OFFICE: A SHIP'S PASSPORT DATED JUST SIX DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH A highly decorative ship's passport, ornamented with two fine marine scenes. The calligraphic text requests that an American vessel, "...the Brigantine Virginia Trader of Philadelphia" be allowed "...to Pass with her Company Passengers, Goods and Merchandise without any hindrance, seizure or molestation..." A document dated only six days before Harrison's death. He fell ill after delivering his one hour and forty minute inaugural address on a cold March day without an overcoat and after being caught in a downpour. He remained bedridden for several days before finally succumbing to "bilious pleurisy" on 4 March 1841, exactly one month after assuming office. His last words are recorded as "I wish you to understand the true principles of government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." Harrison was the first President to die in office. Documents signed by Harrison while President are extremely rare as a result of his short term. It is thought that no more than two dozen documents exist today (one from the FORBES Magazine Collection was sold here last December and another remains in the collection). Most authorities estimate that there are as few as half a dozen Harrison letters in office (the FORBES Magazine Collection possesses a fine example). Provenance : Nathaniel E. Stein (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 25 January 1979, lot 85).