Sir John Franklin Writes to Colleague & Future Nephew-In-Law, Dr. Richardson

1p of a bifolium, measuring 7.5" x 9", [London] 55 Devonshire St., undated [postmarked 1830]. Signed "John Franklin" and addressed to Dr. John Richardson. Franklin writes his friend to invite him to stay with his family and inquires about Richardson's uncle. With docketing and a postscript on the address leaf. The letter has mail folds, with light edge toning and soiling. Mounting residue on verso at the vertical edge. Two patched holes from where the wax seal was opened on the address leaf. Boldly signed.

The letter reads in full:
"We are very glad that we have the prospect of meeting you on Wednesday at Lord Tyrconnel; and also that our spare room is entirely at your service - so that you had better dress at our house & go with us. The dinner hour is seven. We are going down to Stanmore today - but shall return on Wednesday before 3. my wife deems her kindest regards to Mrs. Richardson and sister. We regretted to find your Uncle fought off on the day we looked for the pleasure of his company at dinner. He perhaps found that as the President of the Royal Society pronounced him to be on [illegible] the Naturalists who were of the party he was invited to meet would have proceeded to a closer examination out of respect to the President's direction."

John Franklin (1786-1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer, credited with discovering North America's Northwest Passage at a great personal cost. He led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic in 1819 and 1825, prior to venturing into the Northwest Passage in May 1845. His two ships became trapped in the ice off King William Island, and the expedition was seemingly lost. After two years of not hearing from her husband, Jane Franklin demanded that a search party be launched. A crew finally set out in 1850 and discovered that Franklin had died in 1847. It is believed that some men had tried to reach safety on food but succumbed to the cold or resorted to cannibalism. Franklin's two "ghost ships" were never found, but an additional three bodies of crew members were discovered in 1984 frozen in the ice.

Sir John Richardson (1787-1865) was a Scottish naturalist, naval surgeon, and Arctic explorer. He was a close friend to poet Robert Burns and attended the medical school at the University of Edinburgh. Upon gaining his medical license, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and saw action during the Napoleonic Wars. His first Arctic expedition was in 1819 when he joined John Franklin's crew as a surgeon and naturalist. He would later go on to marry Mary Booth, the niece of Franklin. Richardson was also part of the first team that set out to find Franklin's lost expedition in 1848, but no signs of his missing colleague would be found until 1853.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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