1786 LETTER SIGNED BY PATRICK HENRY AS GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA

HENRY, Patrick. Letter signed. Richmond, VA, May 16, 1786. One leaf, measuring 9 by 15 inches, writing on recto, folded; floated, matted and framed with an engraved portrait, entire piece measures 16 by 22 inches. $7500.

Letter signed by Patrick Henry as Governor of Virginia directing the "Keeper of the Public Lead" to deliver "five hundred weight of the the Public Lead" to the Kentucky counties (still part of Virginia until 1791), handsomely framed with portrait.

Henry is among the most famous of our nation's forefathers, remembered above all else for having spoken the timeless words, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" A lawyer by trade, he was a fiery orator and early radical whose 1765 Resolutions of the Stamp Act are seen by a number of historians as having initiated the Revolutionary War. "With Virginia and most of the colonies moving by early 1776 toward independence, Henry won election to the last of the extralegal provincial conventions, which met in Williamsburg on 6 May… As it turned out, Henry had immediate reason to rue the establishment of a governorship he had termed a 'mere phantom,' for before the convention adjourned, he found himself elected as the first occupant of the office. He served for the allotted three years, from 6 July 1776 to 1 June 1779, and later from 30 November 1784 to 30 November 1786. The weakness of the office was a continuing problem for him, especially in his efforts to raise and equip soldiers for the prosecution of the war" (ANB).

Fold lines, a bit of discoloration, signature bold and clear. Handsomely framed.