1To George Washington from Colonel Israel Shreve, 26 May 1779 (Washington Papers)
Shreve enclosed two seemingly innocuous letters from New York City that after “Roasting,” or running over a flame, revealed secret letters written in invisible ink. The first letter, addressed to one “Fred. Kisselman” of Philadelphia, reads: “having an Oppertunity, I thought propper to acquaint you that I am at present in perfect good health, and have no reason to be......in invisible ink from...
2To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 15 January 1780 (Washington Papers)
Woodhull mentioned a shortage of reagent for invisible ink in his letter to Tallmadge of 12 Dec. 1779. Even though Tallmadge was in winter quarters and the Culper letters meant for GW were not passing through his hands, Townsend and Woodhull continued to address their letters to...
3To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 4 October 1780 (Washington Papers)
. The enclosure from Samuel Culper, Jr. (Robert Townsend’s alias) was written in invisible ink and is now illegible (
4To George Washington from John Jay, 19 November 1778 (Washington Papers)
...until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and was knighted by King George III in 1763 for his efforts in raising funds for King’s (Columbia) College of New York. Jay developed his invisible ink in 1775 and used it throughout the war in correspondence with his brother. He never disclosed the recipe, and although he exported small quantities to America for use in the Culper spy ring,...
5From John Jay to George Washington, 19 November 1778 (Jay Papers)
On the invisible ink developed by Sir James Jay, used previously in correspondence with Silas Deane, see
6To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 25 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
For the invisible ink, which GW sent on this date, see his
7To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 28 August 1780 (Washington Papers)
Instead of this word on his copy, Tallmadge wrote “put on the Counterpart to read,” referring to the reagent for invisible ink.
8To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 22 July 1780 (Washington Papers)
The enclosed “blank Letter,” or letter written in invisible ink, from Culper, Jr., is filed in
9To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 1 November 1779 (Washington Papers)
Tallmadge is referring to invisible ink and components (see
10To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 23 October 1780 (Washington Papers)
The letter from Samuel Culper (Abraham Woodhull’s alias) requesting “stain” has not been identified. Tallmadge means invisible ink, which James Jay supplied and called medicine. Jay had written GW from Fishkill on 19 Sept.: “I am extremely sorry it has not been in my power to supply you sooner with the Medicine. The disagreeable situation...