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Captain Kidd's Letter of Marque


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There is a photo in books and online of Captain Kidd's original Letter of Marque [privateering commission] that I'm sure many of you are familiar with.

Does anyone know of a larger readable version of it?

And does anyone know of a correct word for word transcription of it?

The transcription I keep seeing online is obviously incorrect with the sole use of "Robert Kidd" throughout the transcription. One can plainly see "William Kidd" in a couple of places on the original vellum document. There are also other discrepencies in the trascripition I have been seeing online.

It looks like the original vellum document has been badly trimmed for some unknown reason. King William III's large seal is cut off from where it had been hanging at the bottom, as are the decorative sides of the document. The blue British Revenue Stamp is still affixed to the left side of the document, but I cannot make out the embossed seal and the number of shillings and pence. Nor can I see if the revenue stamp has the silver tag with reverse crown helping to affix the stamp to the vellum document.

I'd also like to know the size of this original document, if anyone knows where to find this information.

Other similar documents are quite large --- roughly about 33" x 29".

And one final question:

Where is the original of Captain Kidd's Letter of Mark kept?

The Lords of the Admiralty also granted Kidd with a privateering commission, but I do not know what this document looks like.

Thanks for any assistance any of you can provide.

-Tar Bucket Bill

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