1To Benjamin Franklin from Clark & Cie.: Bills for Tableware, 3–4 June 1780 (Franklin Papers)
(I) and (II), printed forms with MS insertions, signed: American Philosophical Society This invoice and lettre de voiture , or consignment note, signal the first significant purchase of tableware for an American foreign mission, one perhaps connected with the upcoming celebration of the Fourth of July. In previous years Franklin had rented tableware and other necessities, but by 1780, possibly...