Collection of the New-York Historical Society: for the Year 1886; for the Year 1887, in Two Volumes: Deane Papers: Volume I. 1774-1777; Volume II. 1777-1778 (Publication Fund Series)

xiv, 496; 499 pp. Two volume set. Papers of Silas Deane, the revolutionary who served as the first U.S. foreign diplomat to France. Silas Deane (January 4, 1738 [O.S. December 24, 1737] – September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, then as the first foreign diplomat from the United States to France. Near the end of the war, Congress charged Deane with financial impropriety, and the British intercepted and published some letters in which he had implied that the American cause was hopeless. After the war, Deane lived in Ghent and London and died under mysterious circumstances while attempting to return to America.[1]