[ Autographs ] PIERRE AUGUSTIN CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS (1732 -1799) French agent who organized a massive program of providing covert financial assistance to America during the Revolution, without which the Independence movement may well have failed. L.S. 2pp. 4to., Paris,Feb. 17, 1779, a retained copy of a letter from Baumarchais to Comptroller General Necker, requesting immediate assistance for the American cause, stating, in part: "...I have already relied on your patriotic resolution often enough, to hope that you would reject...allthe efforts that are made to annihilate Commerce with America. But thetime to fit out ships is nearly over , the season nearly through ... if one thing can facilitate and complete the indulgence that you wouldgrant to commerce in the name of the king, it is the speed with which you make a decision in this important matter...". At the top of the letter Beaumarchais has written: " ...I certify this to be the letter to M. Sartines, this June of 1788, Caron de Beaumarchais". At the conclusion of the letter a notary also certifies that the record is accurate. Ironically, at the time that he certified this document, Beaumarchais was involved in litigation against the American Congress,with both claiming that the other owed them huge sums of money. The suit was finally settled in 1835, when Congress gave a settlement to his heirs. In all likelihood, this document is related to these legal negotiations. With transcription, very good to fine.