Beschreibung:

WASHINGTON, George. Engraved document signed ("G:Washington") as President, countersigned by Henry Knox, Philadelphia, Pa., 5 May 1784. 1page, oblong folio, 360 x 510 mm. (14 1/8 x 20¼ in.), accomplished in manuscript, PRINTED ON FINE PARCHMENT. A CERTIFICATE OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI. The certificate elaborately engraved by Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (1729-1786) after an original design of Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825) as drawn by Augustin-Louis La Belle (1757-1841); with complex allegorical vignettes surrounding the calligraphic text: naval warships under sail, Brittania and a British lion fleeing bolts of lightning from an American eagle, and circular medallic emblems of the Society of the Cincinnati, the ink accomplishments slightly faded, particularly the last few letters of Washington's signature, otherwise a fine example of a document often found in very mediocre state. Washington and Knox approve the membership of Colonel Thomas Nixon in the Society of the Cincinnati. A FINE, CLEAN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI CERTIFICATE The Society of Cincinnati, as the engraved text explains, was "...instituted by the Officers of the American Army, at the period of its Dissolution...to commemorate the great Event which gave independence to North America," and "for...inculcating the Duty of laying down in Peace arms assumed for public defence..." The Society, open to all former officers of the Continental Army and its foreign allies, was founded with Washington's approval by Henry Knox, Jedidiah Huntington and Baron von Steuben. Its constitution was formally adopted on 13 May 1783. The order took its name from "that illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus," who had left his prosperous farm on two occasions to take up arms in defense of his homeland. Washington agreed to become president of the Society; Alexander Hamilton filled the post after Washington's death.