Beschreibung:

WILLIAMS, ROGER, Founder and President of Rhode Island and Chief Officer of Providence Plantations . Autograph document signed ("Roger Williams") PRESIDENT OF THE COLONY, 1654-1657, countersigned by WILLIAM BRENTON, BENEDICT ARNOLD (great-grandfather of the traitor), William Raulston and John Froster(?), "Newport on Rode Island," 5 July 1667. 1 page, 168 x 204mm. (6 5/8 x 8 in.), irregular dampstain along right-hand portion, minor discoloration at left , on the back is a portion of a letter in a typical seventeenth-century court hand, (the text unrelated to the document). VERY RARE. ROGER WILLIAMS SENDS DELEGATES TO THE KING WITH A "HUMBLE PETITION & ALLEAGIANCE" ON "BEHALFE OF YE WHOLE COLONY" An exceptionally rare colonial document written and signed by the founder of the colony, designating two fellow Rhode Islanders to travel to England with an official petition from the colony to King Charles II: "At a Consultation held at Newport on Rode Iland in N[ew] Eng[land]: [next six words lined out] according to order of ye Colony, concerning ye sending of an Agent or Agents to present our humble peticion & Alleagiance to ye Kings Ma[jes]tie in England: We whose names are hereunder written doe agree to request our WellbeLoved & Worthy Friends Mr W[illia]m Dyer of Newport & Mr John Green of Warwick to undertake this hono[ra]ble service in ye name & behalfe of ye whole Colony..." The document, written entirely in the attractive and distinctive italic hand of Williams, carries the signatures of several other eminent colonial figures including William Brenton (President, 1660-1662; Governor, 1666-1669), Benedict Arnold, great-grandfather of the traitor (President 1657-1660; 1662-63; Governor, 1663-66, 1669-72, 1677-78), William Raulston and John Froster(?). Roger Williams (1603-1683) came to America in 1630 as pastor of a church in Plymouth but his outspoken attacks on abuses of power by the civil authorities led to his banishment from Massachusetts in 1635. Accompanied by a small group of supporters, he trekked to Rhode Island, founding a settlement at Providence in 1636. The colony, founded on principles of religious freedom and liberalism, received a royal charter in 1643. DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY ROGER WILLIAMS ARE VIRTUALLY UNOBTAINABLE ON THE MARKET. Since 1916, only five letters signed or documents (including the present) have appeared at auction according to American Book Prices Current ; none have been offered since 1992. Provenance : Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 14 November 1978, lot 595, illustrated).