American Scientists Attest to the Virtues of American Technology

(MACNEVEN, WILLIAM JAMES & SAMUEL L. MITCHILL.). Certificates of Attestation for Razor Straps Made by Daniel Fisher, 1 1/2 pages 4to, in ink, with corrections, signed in full. Accompanied by small black steel razor, imprinted "D. Fisher.". . $1,250.00

This certification of Mitchill, occupying 1/2 a page, is dated at New York, Oct. 16, 1820: "I hereby certify that I have heard Major Fisher's explanation of the materials he employs in preparing his warranted Razor Straps, that I think them well-adapted to sharpen edged tools; that I have tried the straps and the razor whetted thereby; and that I have found the apparatus admirably adapted for shaving and for rendering the face, by an easy operation, clean and smooth." Macneven's certification follows a description in another hand (Fisher's?) of "Fisher's New Improved Razor Straps Warranted," which explains that "They are made of calfskin dried for the purpose, coated with chemical paste and covered with handsome leather cases, well varnished which preserves them from wet or damp..." Fisher claims they should last a lifetime, and Macneven's testimonial which follows declares: "...he has communicated to me the Composition of his Chemical paste. I have found the strap highly serviceable in restoring the keen edge of my razor & cutting instruments..." Presumably this rough copy was meant for use only by a printer, although both attestations are signed in full by their authors. The razor which accompanies appears to be a blackened steel with a curved blade of about three inches, with a small handle at the opposite end of which is stamped Fisher's name. Fisher was the 1805 author of A System of Military Tactics. Macneven and Mitchill certainly qualify as among the most important American scientists of the day, and their autograph materials are very scarce. It is said that Macneven opened the first chemical laboratory in New York (1815); Mitchill, author of works on chemistry and mineralogy, a founder of scientific societies, was also a Senator from New York and surgeon general of the New York militia (1818). In 1826 he joined with Macneven and other colleagues to form Rutgers Medical College. A marvelous example of early American entrepreneurship, bringing together a soldier-inventor and two eminent scientists.