Pair of Historical Receipts for the USS Constitution
Boston, 1798 - Frame: 6½ x 8⅛ inches; sight: 5¼ x 7 inches 
 
A significant pair of manuscript receipts associated with the construction of the USS Constitution, issued to Henry Jackson, Naval Agent at the Boston Navy Yard. One document, signed by David Cobb, concerns ironwork for gun carriages and explicitly references the frigate; the other, signed by Benjamin White, records the surveying of timber and forms, part of Jackson’s documented accounts relating to the vessel’s construction.
 
Launched in 1797, the Constitution emerged as the most celebrated American warship of the early republic, securing her place in national memory through her decisive victory over HMS Guerrière in August 1812. Manuscript material directly tied to her construction is rarely encountered and provides an unusually tangible link to the naval foundations upon which the most celebrated victories of the War of 1812 were built.
 
Condition: Very fine; writing slightly faded on one document.