Christie's to sell Declaration of Independence

[Hazcat]

[DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE]. In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. When in the Course of Human Events... [Washington, D.C.] Engraved by W.I. Stone, for the Dept. of State, by order of J.Q. Adams, Secty. of State. July 4 1823.

 Lot Description

[DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE]. In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. When in the Course of Human Events... [Washington, D.C.] Engraved by W.I. Stone, for the Dept. of State, by order of J.Q. Adams, Secty. of State. July 4 1823.

Folio broadside (30¼ x 26¾ in.), PRINTED ON FINE PARCHMENT. Slight soiling at left-hand and right-hand margins, top edge slightly trimmed, torn with small losses in blank lower right-hand corner, two small holes mended.

"WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS": THE OFFICIAL 1823 ENGRAVING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Stone's meticulously prepared, actual-size, engraved facsimile of America's founding document remains the most accurate of existing facsimiles and the only one officially authorized by Congress. In 1820 -- forty-four years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress and signed in Philadelphia by 56 delegates to the Continental Congress -- Secretary of State John Quincy Adams (the son of a Signer), commissioned William J. Stone to execute a full-scale facsimile of the historic document, the original of which had already suffered fading and wear during its vicissitudes since 1776. The engraving of the very large copperplate, it is reported, took Stone a full three years. Some have contended that a transfer process he used caused "some physical harm to the parchment" of the original (National Archives, Declaration of Independence: The Adventures of A Document, 1976, p.17).

On January 2, 1823, Adams formally notified the Senate that 200 copies had been printed, all on large sheets of parchment similar to that used in the engrossed original. Congress, in a Resolution of 26 May, directed that these be distributed to honor the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The President (James Monroe) and Vice-President were each to receive two copies, two more were allocated to former President James Madison, twenty copies to the two houses of Congress, two copies to each surviving Signer (Jefferson, John Adams and Charles Carroll), and two copies to the Marquis de Lafayette, who was shortly to visit the country whose independence he had helped to secure (one of Lafayette's copies was sold at Christie's, 22 November 1985, lot 194). Congress presented additional copies to colleges and libraries, and few remain today in private hands. A 1991 census counted 31 examples of which 19 were in institutions and twelve privately owned. J. Bidwell, "American History in Image and Text," in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, vol.98, part 2 (October 1988), no.7; W.R. Coleman, "Counting the Stones--A Census of the Stone Facismiles of the Declaration of Independence," in Manuscripts, vol.43, no.2, pp.97-105. Provenance: Joan B. Kroc (1928-2003) -- The present owner.


http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5273985&sid=9c8ace2f-490c-4c55-865e-99a497a9120a

[crusader rabbit]

Is this really surprising?  Our government has been selling off aspects of our Independance and God Given Rights for generations.  At least this time they might get a decent price.

[Hazcat]

I was gonna say "Why not, the Constitution has been going to the highest bidder for years!"

[MikeBjerum]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I can't find who is selling the engraving.  Is it the gov., or is it in a private collection?

[Timothy]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I can't find who is selling the engraving.  Is it the gov., or is it in a private collection?

Says..."Property of a midwestern gentleman".....

Guess that means it ain't TT.....

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

So what ?Historic documents get bought and sold every day, Gutenberg Bibles, Da Vinci Manuscripts, etc.
Big deal, it's not like it's the original from the National Archives, There are 30 other editions of this printing in existance.
I hope he gets a good price .

[MikeBjerum]

So what ?Historic documents get bought and sold every day, Gutenberg Bibles, Da Vinci Manuscripts, etc.
Big deal, it's not like it's the original from the National Archives, There are 30 other editions of this printing in existance.
I hope he gets a good price .

That is the direction I was going.  Wasn't sure if it was private or public ownership, but since it is private I'm with you!

[tt11758]

Says..."Property of a midwestern gentleman".....

Guess that means it ain't TT.....

Thank you very little. 

Must be m58!!

[philw]

well it sold

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/historic-washington-letter-sold-for-35-million/story-e6frfku0-1225807213931

A FOUR-PAGE letter in which the first US president, George Washington, urges adoption of the country's then brand new constitution sold for a record $US3.2 million dollars ($3.5 million) at auction.

The letter from Washington to his nephew smashed the previous auction high of $US834,500 for a Washington letter and handily surpassed Christie's pre-sale estimate of $US1.5 million to $US2.5 million.

The letter was star of an auction of manuscripts and books at Christie's in New York that also featured a hard-to-get first edition of the first book by legendary 19th Century US poet and fiction writer Edgar Allen Poe.

Poe's Tamerlane and Other Poems, of which only a dozen copies are believed to have survived, sold for $US662,500 dollars, within the pre-sale estimate of $US500,000 to $US700,000.

The manuscript of Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished final novel, The Original of Laura, failed to sell - a surprise unhappy ending for a rare piece of literary history.

Christie's had estimated the 138 index cards crammed with Nabokov's handwriting would go for $US400,000 to $US600,000, but bidding petered out at $US280,000 and the sale was abandoned.

The unexpected sensation of the auction was an Olivetti manual typewriter on which contemporary US novelist Cormac McCarthy, author of No Country for Old Men and The Road, has written every one of his books.

Estimated to sell for no more than $US20,000, the battered, pale blue machine eventually went for $US254,000.

The winner won't just have the pleasure of owning McCarthy's faithful Olivetti - there's also an invitation to lunch with the author himself in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Christie's called the Washington letter the most important to come to auction.

In the November 9, 1787 letter, Washington strongly urges ratification of the proposed constitution that would become the bedrock of the US state, but which at the time had far from unanimous support.

He tells his nephew Bushrod, who was to be a delegate in the Virginia state ratification convention, that the then two-month old document was the key to uniting the newly independent territories.

The question, he asks in the letter, was: "Is it best for the States to unite, or not to unite?''

But the auction house was disappointed not to see more bidding for the Nabokov manuscript, which came to auction in a flood of publicity.

Nabokov's dying wish was for The Original of Laura to be destroyed.

Instead, the Nabokov family kept the densely filled index cards in near secrecy for three decades before having the work published last month in New York and London.

The publication caused controversy as the literary world debated whether Nabokov's wishes should have been respected.

But there was even more excitement at a new glimpse of the Russian-born author's genius.

[PegLeg45]

Well hell, boys and girls, I know this was just a copy, but while they are at it they ought to go ahead and sell the Constitution too...... 'cause as far as those clowns in DC are concerned, it just another piece of paper.