1From Benjamin Franklin to All Captains and Commanders of American Armed Ships, [10 March 1779] (Franklin Papers)
Three LS : Yale University Library, American Philosophical Society, Joseph Y. Jeanes, Jr., Wilmington, Delaware (1955); AL (draft) and two copies: Library of Congress Franklin issued this passport for Captain James Cook, the famed British explorer, at the suggestion of the duc de Croÿ, who had paid the American minister a visit to discuss the matter on March 1. The pass was distributed to all...