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Washington's farewell orders to his Army... The treaty that ended the Revolutionary War...



Item # 701554

December 01, 1783

THE BOSTON MAGAZINE, December, 1783  Eighteenth century American magazines are increasingly difficult to find, let alone an issue from the Revolutionary War era.
This issue begins by printing the complete text of: "General Washington's Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States" datelined: "Rocky Hill, near Princeton, Nov. 2, 1783".
This document remains one of the more desirable from the Revolutionary War and the life of Washington.
The full text of his farewell orders is in this issue, noting in part: "...A contemplation of the compleat attainment (at a period earlier than could have been expected) of the object for which we contended, against so formidable a power, cannot but inspire us with astonishment and gratitude--The disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken, can never be forgotten--The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving, while the unparalleled perseverance of the armies of the United States, through almost every possible suffering & discouragement, for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle..." and more.
This is followed by an address of the officers of the Army to Washington, datelined at West Point.
Of equal significance is the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. Near the back is the full text of: "The DEFINITIVE TREATY Between Great Britain and the United States of America, signed at Paris, the 3d day of September, 1783".
This treaty takes 3 pages & is signed at its conclusion: John Adams, B. Franklin, John Jay, and David Hartley.
Complete in 80 pages, never bound nor trimmed, meaning the spine still has a few of the string fragments. One leaf near the back is from another of this same issue & has trimmed margins. On this leaf the treaty report begins.
One of the 3 plates called for is present.
Finding never-bound issues of such magazines is very difficult. Because as such, all of the leaves are loose and we did not rejoin them to keep the issue in its original state. These margins are quite irregular with the back leaf losing a bit of text to a corner. There are some archival mends at margins, including some of the Washington Farewell Address.

Item from Catalog 347 (released for October, 2024)

Category: Revolutionary War