1. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOHN ADAMS AND ARTHUR LEE Important manuscript L.S. "B. Franklin", "Arthur Lee", and "John Adams", as American Commissioners to the Court of King Louis XVI, 1p. 4to., Passy, July 16, 1778 to Captain Abraham Whipple, commander of the Continental frigate Providence at Nantes, informing him that Lieutenant Thomas Simpson has taken command of John Paul Jones' ship, the Ranger. The Ranger had recently returned from its successful expedition in the Irish Sea in which Jones captured the English sloop Drake. Interestingly Simpson had been imprisoned aboard the Ranger by Jones for insubordination during the cruise! The commissioners write in full: "We have order'd Lieut Simpson to whom the Command of the Ranger devolves by the Destination of Capt. Jones to another Service, to join you & obey your Orders respecting his future Cruises & voyage to America. We wish you to use all possible Dispatch in getting to Sea with the Providence, Boston and Ranger. You are to use your utmost Endeavors to take, burn, sink & destroy all privateers of Jersey & Guernsey & all other British Cruisers within the command of your force as you may have Opportunity." The commissioners add in a short postscript: "You are to have all the prisoners in such place & in the custody of such persons as Mr Schweighauser shall advise." With integral address leaf addressed to Whipple at Nantes. An important letter signaling the end of John Paul Jones' tenure as commander of the Ranger. Before his arrival in France in 1777, Jones already had a great reputation as a naval commander. During his command of the American ship Providence in 1776, he captured 16 prizes including the British transport Melish which contained a valuable store of soldiers' clothing. On June 14, 1777, Congress gave Jones command of the sloop Ranger. The maritime committee directed Jones to proceed to France and report to the American commissioners in Paris for instructions. The committee promised Jones that once in France, he would be given command of the frigate Indien, then under construction in Amsterdam under American contract. Upon his arrival in Paris, he found that the commissioners, for political reasons, had transferred ownership of the frigate to King Louis XVI. Jones decided to use the Ranger in the meantime and on April 10, 1778 set sail from Brest for the Irish Sea. During the cruise he raided the Scottish coast and captured the British naval sloop Drake. Prior to taking the Drake, his lieutenant, Thomas Simpson, had staged a near-mutiny among the crew directed against Jones. Unlike Jones, who was disliked by his men for his violent temper and insistence on severe discipline, Simpson was very popular. Simpson had also assumed that he would have command of the Ranger upon first arriving in France and chafed under Jones' command. According to Jones, just before the Ranger was to engage the Drake, Simpson "held up the crew that being Americans fighting for liberty, the voice of the people should be taken before the Captain's orders were obeyed." For this, Jones placed Simpson under arrest. Upon his return to France in June, 1778 Jones traveled to Paris to again meet with the American commissioners who were quite troubled by the imprisonment of Simpson. They eventually convinced Jones to release Simpson and place him in command of the Ranger. The Ranger's surgeon recorded in his diary on July 27: "This day Thomas Simpson, Esqr. came on board with orders to take command of the Ranger, to the joy and satisfaction of the whole Ships company." Soon after, the Ranger sailed for America. Jones would remain in France awaiting a new command. On February 4, 1779 France placed in his command the 40-gun Duras, which Jones renamed Bonhomme Richard (Poor Richard) in honor of Benjamin Franklin. It would be with this ship that Jones would engage the superior British ship Serapis, which he captured at the expense of his own vessel. During the engagement he was quoted as saying "I have not yet begun to fight". The two other ships mentioned in the letter also hold significance in the American Revolution. The frigate Boston, commanded by Captain Samuel Tucker, set sail from Boston for France on February 15, 1778 but not before Tucker "...went to Braintree in his barge and brought the Honble John Adams and suite on board." Adams had just been appointed American commissioner to France to replace Silas Deane. With the new commissioner was his 11 year-old son and fellow future President John Quincy Adams. The frigate Providence (not to be confused with Jones' former sloop Providence) was commanded by Captain Abraham Whipple (1733-1819). Following his return to America, in command of a small squadron, he encountered a large British convoy in dense fog off the Newfoundland Banks. Whipple concealed his guns and ran up the British flag. Like a wolf among sheep, he cut 11 prizes out of the convoy-eight of which contained spoils of war valued together at over one million dollars, easily one of the richest captures of the entire war. This important letter also features an extraordinarily rare combination of signatures for the three commissioners only worked as a body for a short period of time: from July to September 1778. Adams arrived to replace the recalled Silas Deane in April. Arthur Lee, who had already been in Paris, was on a mission in Spain and returned to Paris in July 1778. Lee, who had engineered the recall of Deane, accusing him of financial mismanagement and embezzlement charges that were later found to be false. In September 1778, Congress named Franklin sole commissioner to the Court at Versailles leaving Adams and Lee in limbo. Adams would return to America in early 1779 only to return later to join Franklin to negotiate peace with Great Britain. Arthur Lee returned to America a year later. The letter is docketed with the notation "Copied". Copies of this letter exist, but this is the original from which all were produced. One draft of the letter appears in Adams' autobiography and diary, while two copies are at the National Archives and one at the Yale University Library. This is the only extant copy in private hands, and more desirable as this was the original transmitted copy from which all others were made (excepting Adams' draft). Usual folds, a few minor toned spots, minor damage at right margin from seal tear, long seal tear and weak folds on verso of address leaf reinforced in places with paper on verso, otherwise very good condition. $75,000-100,000