[GROUP OF EIGHT AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, SIGNED, FROM RICHARD J. CLEVELAND TO HIS FRIEND, THE LONDON MERCHANT, JOSEPH DORN].
Cleveland, Richard J.:
Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, New York, & Lancaster, Ma. 1813-1825. A total of about twenty-five pages of neatly written text. Eight a.ls.s. on folded lettersheets, often with original seal present or intact. Old fold marks. A couple small edge tears on a few of the letters. Overall condition is excellent. An interesting set of candid original letters from the American merchant adventurer and author of A NARRATIVE OF VOYAGES AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES (Cambridge, 1842). These letters, all of them addressed to a friend named Joseph Dorn, a London merchant, document Cleveland's far- flung commercial and political interests around the world. Considerable passages relate to Cleveland's schemes to carry a shipload of goods to sell in newly independent Chile. The plan, which ultimately failed, was financed by John Jacob Astor, and his ship, the Beaver, was used for the expedition (see extracts below). In one of the letters Cleveland describes his desperate attempt to regain the seized cargo. He also includes comments on world political and economic issues, privateering, the War of 1812, his humiliating experiences in New York in not being able to procure "the paltry" credit of $5000, his interests in a newly improved steam engine designed by Neville of London, etc. Mention is made of the prospects for making money on the northwest coast of America. Cleveland describes a letter he received from his friend, William Shaler, who was "heartily sick of his vegetative existence at Algiers." On the whole, a fascinating group of personal letters by an adventurous American merchant. See the excellent biography by Cleveland's son, VOYAGES OF A MERCHANT NAVIGATOR OF THE DAYS THAT ARE PAST (New York, 1886). Selected extracts from the letters follow: Hamburg, May 4, 1813: "These prodigious political changes have played the devil with my affairs; & if on the winding them up, I have enough left for the expenses of the current year, it is all I expect. I am therefore ready for any enterprise. Are the English taking advantage of the absence of the Americans from the N.W. coast, to preserve that trade? If not, what a field is here opened, particularly if it would be allowed under the Hamburg flag. Privateering however, is the business which accords best with my present feelings. It is that, which bids fairest of leading to fortune or destruction, & I wish not a medium." New York, April 10, 1817: "Besides the prospects offered in the common course of business; I have also, that of the advantages expected to arise from an improved Steam Engine, which, on a cursory view, promise to be very great; & for which, I am now applying for a patent. The inventor is my friend Mr. Js. Neville of No. 5 new broad street, London; an ingenious, liberal & amiable man...." New York, June 12, 1817: "The intelligence of the revolution in Chili reached us on a Saturday, & before 12 oclock on the monday following, I had contracted to take charge of an expedition to that country. I have a fine ship of 500 tons, & the consignment of an assorted cargo of 150,000$. If Chili remains independent, & I arrive safe in one of its ports, I shall make a great voyage...We have accounts (via Havana) of the whole coast of Brazil being in a state of revolt, & successfully following the example of Pernambuco. Vive la republique! Liberty will be triumphant in Spanish & Portuguese America, in defiance of Kingly power, or priestly arts." New York, Nov. 19, 1820: "You will probably have learned, that at the first port I arrived at in Chili, my Ship was seized & confiscated. The anxiety produced by this event, & that of executing a plan for gaining possession of the property by violent means, threw me into a fever, which came near terminating my existence." Lancaster, Ma., Jan. 25, 1821. This five-page letter contains a detailed account of the expedition to Chile: "...we entered Talcahuana. This place we found in possession of the royalists, who had been sometime closely besieged by the revolutionists. The garrison were destitute of clothing, & their pay greatly in arrears, so that apprehensions of a revolt were entertained. The commander in chief therefore, considered the arrival of the Beaver, as a divine interposition, & on pretense that we were contrabandists, immediately seized on the Ship & Cargo...Thus, immediately after the fatigues of a long passage, & the dangers of Cape Horn - the port of arrival, instead of relief, presented only ruin."
(Item ID: WRCAM25050) $2,500.00