Partly-printed vellum DS, signed "James Monroe" as president and "John Quincy Adams" as secretary of state, two pages, 12 x 14.5, April 7, 1821. A patent issued to Abraham O. Stansbury for a "new and useful improvement of the Printing Press called the American or approximating Spiral Press." Signed at the conclusion by President Monroe and countersigned by Secretary of State Adams. The nicely embossed seal affixed to the lower left remains mostly intact, with partially intact red ribbon. The second page contains Stansbury's description of his invention. In very good condition, with soiling, toning, foxing, and vellum loss along the edges.
Abraham Ogier Stansbury (1776-1829), merchant, publisher, inventor, educator, and Presbyterian minister, was born in Philadelphia and moved to New York City by 1800. He received patents for an Egyptian lock and an improved printing press in 1807 and 1821, respectively, and was the superintendent of a school for the deaf and dumb late in the 1810s.
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