[GEORGIA] Collection of 14 letters and documents.
Official copies of papers relating to the affairs of Georgia and the dispute with Spain, including a secretarially accomplished letter signed from Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, the Secretary of State, to Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, for submission to King George II, dated 2 July 1736. Housed in a morocco-backed slipcase and chemise. 12 x 7 5/8 inches (30.5 x 19.5 cm); 43 pp., stitched together at the head and endorsed "from the Duke of Newcastle, 2 July 1736," on a cover sheet, otherwise unbound. Slight toning, gilt foredges evidencing having once been bound, in all in excellent condition.

The collection consists of the letter signed from the Duke of Newcastle, two copies of letters exchanged between General Oglethorpe and the Duke, one copy of a memorial about Georgia, two copies of memorials from the Georgia trustees and eight copies of documents executed for General Oglethorpe in Frederica, South Georgia.
Taken together, this significant gathering of state documents shows General Oglethorpe's attempts to reconnoiter and secure the southern frontiers of Georgia in 1736 against possible attack by the Spanish forces in Florida, in the runup to the conflict that would be known as The War of Jenkin's Ear. This was the same year that Oglethorpe constructed Fort Frederica on St. Simon's Island in Georgia as a southern defense against Spanish incursion.
Oglethorpe's letters give details of his dispute with the Spanish governor at Fort St. Augustine, who alleged that the British had made a raid on Spanish territory, which Oglethorpe denied. In his letter of 17 April, 1736, he writes forcefully:
I will alive or dead, keep possession of it [i.e. Georgia and part of Carolina] ... I can assure your Grace that the fidelity of the Indians to his Majesty ... is such, that with the same assistance which we had last year from Parliament, I shall not only be able to keep possession of all the force of Florida, Cuba and Mexico, but ... should entirely conquer them...
The Duke of Newcastle's letter to Walpole discusses Oglethorpe's disputes, which he has communicated to the Queen (then acting as regent) who has commanded him to send all the relevant matter on to the King in Hanover.

Provenance:
Sotheby's New York 4th December, 1961, lot 394.

C The Collection of Jay I. Kislak sold to benefit the Kislak Family Foundation

Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, is an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact and Doyle New York shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. Please contact the specialist department to request further information or additional images that may be available.