The issue of The New-York Morning Post from November 7, 1783, "Vol. III, Numb. 155," contains George Washington's farewell to the army, and for this reason it has been reprinted several times. The Library of Congress has five different reprints but no complete original. Comparison of these reprints with a photostat from the original belonging to the American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, Massachusetts) shows that they differ in numerous respects.
The following details are sufficient to distinguish the originals from the reprints:
- The rules (parallel lines) immediately above and below the date line in the original have breaks near the right-hand end.
- The index hand at the left of the printer's notice in the heading of the original is small and in outline; that in the reprints shows the closed fingers.
- In the fourth column of page 1, Samuel Loudon's "To the Public" is divided into six paragraphs in the original; reprints have five paragraphs only.
- On page 3 of the original, "General Washington's Farewel Orders to the Armies of the United States" fills column 1 and all but three lines of column 2; in reprints it continues some 2 1/2 inches into column 3.
Such reprints have small monetary value.
Source: Information Circular 13 (Revised 1955).
