Early partly-printed ship's passport document, one page, 18.5 x 15, January 11, 1798. Headed "Passport and Roll of Equipage, Agreeably to the 25th and 27th Articles of the Treaty between France and the United States, made the 6th of February, 1778," the document lists eight names along with brief descriptions of their traits, certifying them as subjects of the United States. Reverse reads, in part: "Be it known, that Samuel Rolfe Master of the said Brig Edmund having requested that the Facts, stated in the foregoing instrument might be examined and certified, the same is hereby done, in Pursuance of the said Request; but as Documents of this Nature are not required by Law, and have not been usually furnished to Vessels of the United states, it is declared, that the Want thereof, in any Case, ought not to prejudice the Rights and Interest of any of the Citizens of the Said States." In very good to fine condition, with professional archival repairs to folds and small areas of paper loss.
On February 6, 1778, France and the United States signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris: the former recognized the US as an independent nation and promoted trade between the two nations; the latter created a military alliance of the two against Great Britain. During the Quasi-War with France, the Brig Edmund would be captured by French privateers while traveling from Jamaica to its home port of Newburyport in 1798. That same month, the ship was retaken by another American vessel and returned to its owner.
