The historical significance just pours out of this handwritten letter signed by American Revolutionary War painter Jonathan Trumbull (1756-1843). The youngest of six Trumbull children to be born to Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., a man whom George Washington called “the first of the patriots,” this individual found fame in composing masterfully detailed works of art, depictions that captured some of the most epic scenes in American history. Likely addressing one such artwork, Trumbull’s letter to publisher Antonio de Poggi reads in part, “Will you be so good as to look out and send to me the following Subscribers[’] Prints of Gibraltar— Most of the Receipts are in my hands, and I will be accountable for all … ” After listing several subscribers and their information, Trumbull concludes: “I shall send you in a day or two, Eight prints to frame—can you have them finished immediately? when you are ready, I wish to see your Account—it is time our affairs were settled … ” The handwritten message is signed “Jn. Trumbull” and the black ink writing retain all of their legibility. The letter’s content, too, is deserving of its own recognition, as the print to which Trumbull refers may have been his 1789 masterpiece, The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, which now hangs proudly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The adjacent leaf bears the address panel. In very good condition with intersecting mailing folds evident, and generally superficial toning. RRAuction COA.
