Description:

BENEDICT ARNOLD
(1741 - 1801) Revolutionary War major general and traitor, he repulsed the British in the Mohawk Valley and fought Burgoyne at Saratoga. Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to the British was discovered, and thereafter he led British raids in Virginia and Connecticut. His ownership signature "Benedict Arnold's" on the half-title page of an unidentified edition of John Langhorne's This Visions of Fancy. In Four Elegies [most likely edition is (London: H. Payne and W. Cropely, 1762), OCLC 85873998]. Above Arnold's signature in an inscription that reads, in full: "Sylvester Derings Rate at Vendue". In what appears to be yet another hand is the figure "1/8" or 1 shilling 8 pence. We believe the owner to be SYLVESTER DERING (1725-1794), a Long Island militia general. The manner in which Dering wrote his inscription would suggest he was having some fun implying that he had purchased it at "Benedict Arnold's Vendue". We believe that this "Vendue" was the public auction of Arnold's estate advertised in the Connecticut Journal in 1782. Pierpont Edwards (1750-1826), the administrator Arnold's Estate following its confiscation after Arnold crossed over to the British, announced in April 1782 that, "The very elegant Seat, lately the Property of Benedict Arnold, but now confiscated, and ordered by the Court of Probate for the District of New-Haven, to be sold for the Benefit of said Arnold's Creditors...". A terrific association piece with unusually good and interesting provenance. Small loss at center, slight dampstaining at bottom, rough margins, else very good. Simply framed with a portrait of Arnold.

Provenance: From a book in Arnold's library

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May 13, 2009 10:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

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