Extracted From:
  A LAW DICTIONARY ..., SIXTH EDITION, 1856
  by John Bouvier
  CHILDS & PETERSON, PHILADELPHIA

LETTERS CLOSE, Engl. law. Close letters are grants, of the king, and being of
private concern, they are thus distinguished from letters patent. 

LETTERS PATENT. The name of an instrument granted by the government to convey a
right to the patentee; as, a patent for a tract of land; or to secure to him a
right which he already possesses, as a patent for a new invention or discovery;
Letters patent are a matter of record. They are so called because they are not
sealed up, but are granted open....

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