Dickinson, Jonathan:

$5,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT, SIGNED, BEING A DEED FOR THE SALE OF PROPERTY IN COLONIAL PHILADELPHIA INVOLVING NOTED MERCHANT AND POLITICIAN EDWARD SHIPPEN, AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY JONATHAN DICKINSON AS COUNTY ... An extraordinarily rare example of Jonathan Dickinson's signature, applied to a Philadelphia real estate document near the close of the 17th century. The document itself records the sale of a "lott of land" by Daniel Van Beeke to Edward Shippen for fifty pounds sterling. The lot measured 198 by 20 feet, and its location is described by noting the names of the owners of adjoining lots, though "Delaware Front Street" is recorded as the southern border of the lot. At the time of this transaction, Philadelphia had only about 2500 residents.Edward Shippen (1639-1712) was among the most prominent of Philadelphians, serving as the second mayor of the town (though the first under William Penn's charter). The year after this purchase he served as the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and he later served as President of the Provincial Council. He has signed this document on the second page, which also notes that Van Beeke received a further payment from Shippen in 1701. The transaction is witnessed by three men, Abraham Hardman, David Lloyd, and John Cadwallader, next to William Penn's proprietary wax seal. The document is further "acknowledged in the County Court held at Philadelphia" by Jonathan Dickinson, who was serving as clerk of the Philadelphia County Court and the

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.