JEFFERSON PROMOTES DISTILLATION OF SEAWATER FOR THE SEAFARING TRADE. JEFFERSON, THOMAS. 1743-1...

JEFFERSON PROMOTES DISTILLATION OF SEAWATER FOR THE SEAFARING TRADE. JEFFERSON, THOMAS. 1743-1826. Printed Document Signed ('Th: Jefferson'), 'Resolved ... That the Secretary of the Treasury cause to be provided for the use of the several collectors of the United States, printed clearances on the back whereof shall be a printed account of the methods ... for obtaining fresh from salt water,' 1 p, folio (393 x 222 mm), Philadelphia, May 8, 1792, with professional repairs and reinforcement to horizontal folds on reverse, several small repaired areas of paper loss, scattered light toning and staining, and professional cleaning resulting in a slightly fuzzy appearance to Jefferson's signature. Accompanied by several supporting pieces of documentation, including a newspaper article on this very document from the Phoenix Gazette dated March 28, 1956, and a detailed letter from the Department of Interior dated February 10, 1954, which details the history of this Act and conversion invention. Provenance: James Strohn Copley (bookplate to clamshell box); sold Sotheby's, 2010; sold Swann Galleries, 2013. In August of 1790 Jacob Isaacs of Newport approached George Washington and Thomas Jefferson with his invention (probably some sort of powder) designed to produce fresh water from salt water easily and efficiently. The world had long known about distillation, the method of desalination that involves boiling salt water to separate the salt, capturing the steam, and then cooling the steam back into water. What seems exciting about Isaac's invention is the promise of a super-efficient system that could create freshwater faster and with less energy—a revolutionary act for the sea trade. No longer would seamen have to carry large tankards of water or pray for rain while at sea. Jefferson first called upon David Rittenhouse, James Hutchinson, and Caspar Wistar, Jr., college professors and fellow members of the American Philosophical Society, to observe tests of Isaac's experiment. In an affidavit signed March 26, 1791, Jefferson reports that he ran several distillation experiments, ones including Isaac's materials, and control groups with salt water only, and the differences between the two were statistically insignificant. In the larger report submitted to Congress in November of 1791, Jefferson reiterated that Isaac's invention did not work, but that desalination by distillation should be promoted for use at sea. To that end, he recommended that instructions for desalination be printed on the reverse of the permit issued for every vessel sailing from a U.S. port. Congress enacted such legislation in May of 1792, and the present document represents the final printed version of the law, signed by Jefferson and prepared for distribution. The document reads: 'Second Congress of the United States: At the First Session, begun and held at the City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, on Monday, the twenty-fourth of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one. Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury cause to be provided, for the use of several collectors in the United States, printed clearances, on the back whereof shall be printed an account of the methods, which have been found to answer for obtaining fresh, from salt water, and of constructing extempore stills, of such implements, as are generally on board of every vessel....' Signed at the conclusion by Jefferson, and also signed in type by House Speaker Jonathan Trumbull, Senate President Richard Henry Lee, and President George Washington. See monticello.org, 'Desalination of Sea Water,' where all links to the mention of Isaacs' invention in the Thomas Jefferson Papers have been collated. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing