5 ms·

Found: Stolen Alexander Hamilton Letter to the Marquis de Lafayette

55 points by agronaut 7y ago

twblalock 7y ago
The contents of the letter: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-02-02-0775 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-02-02-07...
- justsayinstuff 7y ago
  >I am My Dear Marquis with the truest affection Yr. Most Obedt What does Obedt mean here? Was Hamilton really literally a servant?
  - dailyrorschach 7y ago
    Obedient.
  - dflock 7y ago
    No - it's just a very polite/formal way of singing a letter to royalty/gentry. Like "Yours sincerely" turned up to 11.
  - unknownkadath 7y ago
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-mO1o1uHk https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-mO1o1uHk A relevant song from the Broadway show
  - sparky_z 7y ago
    No more than saying "yours truly" means you are literally that person's property. A more modern phrasing of the same sentiment might go something like "happy to be of service, as always".
  - geofft 7y ago
    https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/362307/where-did-the-term-your-obedient-servant-originate https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/362307/where-did... has some examples, including a case where a letter ending "your obedient servant" got a reply from "your humble servant." It's a style, a formal way of showing respect through humility, not meant to be taken literally.
kennywinker 7y ago
Chorus: “32,000 troops in new york harbour”
- Asparagirl 7y ago
  Immigrants, they get the job done!
y96V89C668e7Q74 7y ago
When something like this is found, is the family just out of luck as far as the value of the item goes, or do they somehow get compensated? Obviously they didn't know it was stolen when they bought it from the rare document dealer. Is there insurance for cases like that?
- pkaye 7y ago
  They can sue the dealer that sold them the object. I'm sure they can get insurance too but possibly the insurer would do some research on the object before underwriting. Kind of like title insurance.
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    I bought title insurance last week because I had to. But I'm curious what it's about. Is it in case someone shows up and is like, "no I'm the actual owner of the house. The seller defrauded everyone, look at all this evidence."?
    - bardworx 7y ago
      Yes, that’s exactly what it’s for. A more realistic scenario is a family member sold a house but didn’t own the rights. Next thing you know, another family member shows up and tries to dispute the sale. That’s how I understand it.
    - pkaye 7y ago
      Yes the title insurer does their research for any discrepancies and then insures you and the lender against certain risks.
    - sparky_z 7y ago
      The other replies are correct, but there are also subtler problems that title insurance can cover. One example I remember reading about was an old surveying error that resulted in an inlaw unit encroaching 6 inches on a neighbor's property. If such a problem is discovered, the insurance company might negotiate with the neighbor to purchase a perpetual easement or, failing that, pay to have the inlaw unit either moved or altered to correct the problem.
hirundo 7y ago
Note to self: don't steal stuff that will still be scorching hot 80 years later. Except kisses.
- cududa 7y ago
  ...dude if you ever get accused of some form of sexual assault or gender discrimination, you know this will probably be a part of the evidence. And on the other hand: that’s gross.
  - hirundo 7y ago
    A stolen kiss isn't necessarily unwanted, just unexpected. But for the record in all my future tribunals, yes, stealing other people's stuff or giving them unwanted kisses is bad.
  - antidesitter 7y ago
    Evidence of what? And kissing is “gross”? Try to keep your inane thought-policing to yourself.
    - dang 7y ago
      Please don't get abusive in HN comments, regardless of how annoying or wrong another comment was. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - dang 7y ago
    "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

55 points by agronaut 7y ago

The contents of the letter: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-02-02-0775 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-02-02-07...

justsayinstuff 7y ago
>I am My Dear Marquis with the truest affection Yr. Most Obedt What does Obedt mean here? Was Hamilton really literally a servant?
- dailyrorschach 7y ago
  Obedient.
- dflock 7y ago
  No - it's just a very polite/formal way of singing a letter to royalty/gentry. Like "Yours sincerely" turned up to 11.
- unknownkadath 7y ago
  https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-mO1o1uHk https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-mO1o1uHk A relevant song from the Broadway show
- sparky_z 7y ago
  No more than saying "yours truly" means you are literally that person's property. A more modern phrasing of the same sentiment might go something like "happy to be of service, as always".
- geofft 7y ago
  https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/362307/where-did-the-term-your-obedient-servant-originate https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/362307/where-did... has some examples, including a case where a letter ending "your obedient servant" got a reply from "your humble servant." It's a style, a formal way of showing respect through humility, not meant to be taken literally.

kennywinker 7y ago

Chorus: “32,000 troops in new york harbour”

Asparagirl 7y ago
Immigrants, they get the job done!

y96V89C668e7Q74 7y ago

When something like this is found, is the family just out of luck as far as the value of the item goes, or do they somehow get compensated? Obviously they didn't know it was stolen when they bought it from the rare document dealer. Is there insurance for cases like that?

pkaye 7y ago
They can sue the dealer that sold them the object. I'm sure they can get insurance too but possibly the insurer would do some research on the object before underwriting. Kind of like title insurance.
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  I bought title insurance last week because I had to. But I'm curious what it's about. Is it in case someone shows up and is like, "no I'm the actual owner of the house. The seller defrauded everyone, look at all this evidence."?
  - bardworx 7y ago
    Yes, that’s exactly what it’s for. A more realistic scenario is a family member sold a house but didn’t own the rights. Next thing you know, another family member shows up and tries to dispute the sale. That’s how I understand it.
  - pkaye 7y ago
    Yes the title insurer does their research for any discrepancies and then insures you and the lender against certain risks.
  - sparky_z 7y ago
    The other replies are correct, but there are also subtler problems that title insurance can cover. One example I remember reading about was an old surveying error that resulted in an inlaw unit encroaching 6 inches on a neighbor's property. If such a problem is discovered, the insurance company might negotiate with the neighbor to purchase a perpetual easement or, failing that, pay to have the inlaw unit either moved or altered to correct the problem.

hirundo 7y ago

Note to self: don't steal stuff that will still be scorching hot 80 years later. Except kisses.

cududa 7y ago
...dude if you ever get accused of some form of sexual assault or gender discrimination, you know this will probably be a part of the evidence. And on the other hand: that’s gross.
- hirundo 7y ago
  A stolen kiss isn't necessarily unwanted, just unexpected. But for the record in all my future tribunals, yes, stealing other people's stuff or giving them unwanted kisses is bad.
- antidesitter 7y ago
  Evidence of what? And kissing is “gross”? Try to keep your inane thought-policing to yourself.
  - dang 7y ago
    Please don't get abusive in HN comments, regardless of how annoying or wrong another comment was. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- dang 7y ago
  "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html