American Revolutionary, pamphleteer, author and agitator. Author of Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason. He was a driving force between both the American and French Revolutions. Splendid third-person note written entirely by Paine in his own hand, with an autograph address panel. Signed "Mr. Paine of America" at the commencement, the note is a polite request for an "interview" with renowned Irish playwright RICHARD B. SHERIDAN (1751-1816), author School for Scandal among others. Sheridan served as member of Parliament for Stafford from 1780-1812. Sheridan was an influential Whig, and a friend of the American colonists at the time of the American Revolution. It was this sympathy that likely prompted Paine's visit. The only date is "Monday," but the note was probably written between 1787-1789 when Paine was living in England. Interesting and very rare. In a famous letter to General Nathaniel Greene, Paine once wrote "Thank God nobody can publish my letters after I am dead for I write none and in the present uncertainty of conveyance I feel determined to write none. Thus much by way of apology for not writing sooner." Our experience matches Paine's admission that his letters are very, very few and far between, and not many remain in private hands. $15,000*