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Exquisite ALS signed "B. Franklin," one page, 7.5 x 12.5, January 12, 1784. Handwritten rough draft of a letter from Franklin to Baron de Blome. In full: "The Underwritten Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Court of France, acknowledges the Receipt of the official presentation sent to him the 21st of November by his Excellency the de Blome, Envoy Extraordinary from his Danish Majesty at the same Court, respecting the capture of a Vesell called the Providence by the American Privateer Hendrick, together with the original papers accompanying the said Representation; Having perused the said papers, he returns them as desired; and he has forwarded the Representation to his Sovereign the Congress, who he doubts not will in respect to his Danish majesty take the same into immediate Consideration and do therein what shall be just & right. In the meantime an Extract of a Letter from the American Secretary for Foreign Affairs respecting the same capture & the discharge of the Ship, is herewith communicated to his Excellency who will therein find expressed the Disposition prevalent in The Government of America to maintain a good understanding with the Court of Denmark."
A note of provenance is written at the top by Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin: "Rough draft of an official note from Dr. Franklin to Baron de Blome, being entirely in his own hand writing. Given to James Wolff, Esq., by the Doctor's Grandson, W. T. Franklin, London 21st Jany 1815." Housed in a custom quarter-bound red cloth clamshell case with dark red leather spine and gilt-stamped spine title. In exceptionally fine, clean condition, with a lightly trimmed left edge.
Franklin is replying to a diplomatic complaint from Baron de Blome, envoy from the Danish court, regarding the capture of the vessel Providence by the American privateer Hendrick. Although Franklin assures the baron that Congress will “do therein what shall be just & right,” he had long supported the use of privateering during the Revolution, helping authorize commissions issued to merchant captains to seize British ships and cargoes in the absence of a powerful American navy. In this case, the privateer maintained that although the vessel carried Danish papers and a Danish crew, both ship and cargo were in fact British property.
Written in January 1784, just as Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris formally ending the Revolutionary War, the letter reflects the unresolved diplomatic and legal consequences of American privateering operations. Denmark had remained neutral during the conflict, and Franklin’s careful response underscores the new nation’s effort to preserve favorable relations with European trading powers while navigating disputes arising from wartime seizures at sea. The reference to “the discharge of the Ship” further reflects ongoing international disputes over the treatment of neutral vessels and the authority of American prize courts in the immediate aftermath of independence.
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