Multiple Parties Including Tho Winterbottom (1 results)

Condition: Good. 1st Edition. A substantial and historically important mid eighteenth century manuscript agreement relating to a maritime insurance settlement concerning the ship Mentor and a voyage to Martinico. The document records the negotiated resolution of a dispute arising from an insurance policy valued at £2000, a significant commercial sum at the time. Set out in a clear and accomplished secretarial hand across multiple folio panels, it details the obligations of the parties, the arbitration process, and the agreed financial settlement, offering a rare and direct insight into the mechanisms by which risk was structured and enforced in the age of sail. Executed in London at a time when British maritime trade was expanding rapidly across the Atlantic and Caribbean, documents such as this formed the legal and financial backbone of global commerce. Long before the formalisation of modern underwriting institutions, marine insurance operated through agreements of this nature, binding merchants, ship owners, and underwriters within a system of shared risk and negotiated liability. The manuscript is signed by several parties including Tho Winterbottom Calverley Bewicke and Charles Holtzendorff, and retains three original red wax seals. These seals remain well preserved and confirm the document as a fully executed legal instrument rather than a draft or copy. An additional docket panel identifies the subject and date, noting the agreement relating to the ship Mentor. Physically the document was folded as issued and shows age related wear consistent with its use as a working legal instrument, including edge wear, small losses, and handling marks. The text remains clear and legible throughout, with strong ink and a well preserved overall structure. Surviving manuscripts of this type are increasingly scarce. Unlike printed works, they were created for immediate commercial use and rarely retained beyond their practical purpose. As such, they offer an unusually direct and unfiltered connection to the functioning of eighteenth century trade, finance, and maritime risk. A compelling and highly evocative survival of early commercial history, appealing to collectors of manuscripts, maritime trade, and the development of global financial systems. Why This Matters This document represents the early foundations of marine insurance, illustrating how risk, liability, and financial settlement were structured in practice during the formative period of global trade. It is a rare surviving example of the systems that would evolve into modern underwriting and international insurance markets. Offered by Atlas Rare Books, specialists in rare and antiquarian books.…