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 May, 2011 | 6 Items | July, 2011  |
| TEA ACT PRINTED BROADSIDE To the Commissioners Appointed by the East-India Company, for the Sale of Tea, in America. [Philadelphia, 1773] Printed broadside (14 x 8 1/2 in.; 355 x 217 mm, untrimmed). Text in two columns, 6 headlines; 2 pinholes at intersecting folds. NOTABLE SCRIPT "To Americans it must be a Matter of Indifference, by what Stile or Title you may think proper to demean yourselves; whether Stamp Masters or Tea Commissioners.—If you are appointed to enforce the Revenue Act in America, any Titles you may assume to yourselves, in the Execution of your Office, will prove detestable and infamous." A blistering attack on the Tea Act by the pseudonymous Scaevola, warning the American merchants appointed as agents for the sale of tea to resign their commissions. " Your Appointment, which is notoriously designed to enforce the Act of the 7th G. III for raising a Revenue in America, justly claims the Attention of every Man, who wishes well to this Country; And you need not be surprized to find the Eyes of All now fixed on you; as on Men who have it in their Power to ward off the most dangerous Stroke, that has ever been meditated against the Liberties of America. "You have before you the Examples of many of your unhappy Countrymen, I mean some of the STAMP MATTER; Examples, which if properly attended to, may convince you, how foolish, how dangerous it is, to undertake to force the loathsome Pills of Slavery and Oppression down the Throats of a free, independent and determined people. The Stamp and Tea Laws were both designed to raise a Revenue, and to establish Parliamentary Despotism in America. ... The Claim of Parliament to Tax America has been too well examined, for you to doubt, at this Time, to which Side Right and Justice have given the Palm.—Do not, therefore, hesitate at the Course you ought to pursue.—If you deliberate, you are lost,—lost to Virtue, lost to your Country. It is in Vain to expect that Americans can give a Sanction to your Office.—Freemen,—American Freeman can never Approve it. ... I sincerely wish ... that your Conduct may be such as will secure your Native Country from the deadly Stroke now aimed in your Persons against her.—If you refuse, no one else will dare to execute the diabolical Commission." Most American Tea Commissioners did resign their posts, and in ports from Charleston to New York, East-India tea was left on the docks to rot or simply not unloaded. Scaevola's open letter was reprinted in newspapers throughout the colonies, including The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal for 25 October 1773, where it might have played a role in fomenting the Boston Tea Party of 16 December. Rare. LITERATURE Evans 12999; Hildeburn 2939; Sabin 95912 Sold at Sotheby's June 17, 2011 Estimate: $3,500-4,500 Price Realized: $32,500 | |
| MASSACHUSETTS BAY PRINTED BROADSIDE In Provincial Congress, Concord, April 15, 1775. Whereas it has pleased the righteous Sovereign of the Universe, in just Indignation against the Sins of a People long blessed with inestimable Privileges, civil and religious, to suffer the Plots of wicked Men on both Sides of the Atlantick, who for many Years have incessantly laboured to sap the Foundation of our public Liberties, so far to succeed; that we see the New-England Colonies reduced to the ungrateful Alternative of a tame Submission to a State of absolute Vassalage to the Will of a despotic Minister—or of preparing themselves speedily to defend at the Hazard of Life, the unalienable Rights of themselves and Posterity, against the avowed Hostilities of their Parent State, who openly threatens to wrest them from their Hands by Fire and Sword. ... By Order of the Provincial Congress, John Hancock, President. [Boston: Printed by Edes and Gill, 1775] Printed broadside (14 3/4 x 12 1/4 in.; 375 x 311 mm, untrimmed). Docketed on verso "Genl Fast May 11 1775" and, in a different hand, "To ye Revd. Mr. Solomon Recd. in Middleborough prey Sir give Mr. Backus ye advantage of this after you Have used it if you can"; headlines faintly offset, one light stain, a few pinholes at intersecting folds, one quadrant of verso browned. The final peacetime resolve of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts-Bay, passed four days before Lexington and Concord. The next broadside resolve of the Massachusetts legislature, 23 April, was printed in Watertown, to which it had removed, and called for the immediate reinforcement of the colony's militia. The present broadside appointed 11 May as "a Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer ...that the Provincial and especially the Continental Congresses, may be directed to such Measures as God will Contenance.—That the People of Great-Britain, and their Rulers, may have their Eyes open'd to discern the Things that shall make for the Peace of the Nation and all its Connexions—And that America may soon behold a gracious Interposition of Heaven, for the Redress of her many Grievances, the Restoration of all her invaded Liberties, and their Security to the latest Generations." LITERATURE Evans 14220; Ford 1845 Sold at Sotheby's June 17, 2011 Estimate: $6,000-8,000 Price Realized: $28,125 | |
| CONTINENTAL ARMY NEWBURGH ENCAMPMENT MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL SIGNED, and evidently kept by Captain Ebenezer Smith, ca. March–November 1783, at Newburgh and West Point. 105 pages (5 7/8 x 7 3/8 in.; 149 x 188 mm), mostly written recto and verso; some scattered staining, 2 leaves at end loose. Contemporary calf-backed pastepaper boards; a bit worn. The Newburgh Addresses and the founding of the Society of the Cincinnati. The present journal provides a contemporary witness to the crisis that beset George Washington's Army at its winter camp in Newburgh, New York. The American officer corps was plagued by the financial anxieties that existed almost since the regular army had been authorized by Congress. Many officers had not been paid for nearly four years, and Congress had made no provision for providing any sort of pension or annuity for retired officers. On 10 March 1783, several inflammatory petitions were anonymously circulated throughout the officer corps. The petitions, which became known as the "Newburgh Addresses" implicitly invited a military coup and explicitly called for a meeting of officers the next day to formulate a plan of action. Washington forbade the meeting the following morning in his general orders for the day, and while a final crisis was averted, tensions ran high in camp for several weeks. Smith's journal records all of the vital documents pertaining to the Newburgh Conspiracy, including the petition of 10 March; relevent extracts from Washington's general orders of 11 March; a second anonymous letter of 12 March; Washington's response of 15 March; and several other related papers, including recently approved resolves of Congress authorizing half-pay pensions for most Continental officers. An outgrowth of the Newburgh Conspiracy was the founding, in May of that year, of the Society of the Cincinnati, a fraternity of Revolutionary officers. Working with a few cohorts, General Henry Knox drafted the constitution, or "Institution," of the Society, and Smith includes a very early copy of the Instutution and its three guiding principles: "An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature," "An unalterable determination to promote and cherish between the respective States, that Union and National honor, so Essentially necessary to their happiness," and the rendering "permanant the cordial affection subsisting among the Officers." This journal may have been kept by either of a pair of Ebenezer Smiths, both Continental officers and early members of the Society of the Cincinnati. The two had very similar service records. One was a private in the Lexington Alarm; a private and sergeant in Fellows' Massachusetts Regiment; an ensign in the 6th Continental Infantry, 1st January, 1776; rising by degrees to a captain in the Second Massachusetts. He served to 3 November 1783 and died in 1816. The second Ebenezer Smith was a private and sergeant in a Massachusetts Regiment, September, 1775, to January, 1777; a first lieutenant in the Ninth Massachusetts, rising by promotion to captain in the Second Massachusetts. He served until 3 November 1783, but also saw service during the War of 1812 as a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Infantry. He died on 4 September 1824. Sold at Sotheby's June 17, 2011 Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $53,125 | |
| INK ON PAPER, Washington, George, as first President Manuscript document signed ("Go: Washington"), on paper (13 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.; 343 x 524 mm), written in a neat calligraphic hand, Philadelphia, 14 April 1792, being David Rittenhouse's appointment as Director of the Mint of the United States, countersigned by Vice President Thomas Jefferson ("Th: Jefferson"), embossed paper seal of the United States; laid down on a larger sheet of paper, which is stretched over a mounting board; some very light soiling. George Washington's appointment of the first director of the United States Mint. "President Washington appointed David Rittenhouse director of the mint of the United States on April 14, 1792, less than two weeks after the act establishing it became law. ... The choice of Rittenhouse as director seemed peculiarly appropriate to men who differed on other subjects. Regarded in all quarters as the leading Newtonian philosopher in America, he was popularly most honored as a practical scientist—a mechanic-scientist. What could be a more fitting capstone to his career or a more fortunate result for the nation than that Rittenhouse, like Newton, should become 'Master of the Mint'" (Brook Hindle, David Rittenhouse [1964], pp. 331–32). Largely self-taught, Rittenhouse achieved great successes in mathematics, surveying, and astronomy, but he is best remembered for his meticulous crafting of clocks and scientific instruments: orreries, compasses, levels, telescopes, transits, thermometers, and barometers. Sold at Sotheby's June 17, 2011 Estimate: $18,000-25,000 Price Realized: $98,500 | |
| PRINTED CHECK GEORGE WASHINGTON, signed ("Go: Washington"), drawn on the Bank of Alexandria, [Mount Vernon], 26 August 1797, accomplished by Washington in favor of Dr. James Craik for $762.50, check printed in black with typographic borders at left and lower margins; lightly browned, tiny repair to lower left corner. Matted, framed, and glazed. Ink on paper Washington's check no. 1 from the Bank of Alexandria, boldly accomplished and signed. James Craik was born in Scotland and moved to Virginia about 1752 to open medical practice. He served as a British Army surgeon during the French and Indian War, during which he met George Washington. The two became friends, and Craik eventually served as Surgeon General of the United States Army, as well as Washington's personal physician. He was one of three doctors who attended Washington during his final illness. The present check was to settle Craik's account for treating the residents and slaves at Mount Vernon. According to the letter of acknowledgment that Craik sent to him, Washington included with the check a basket of turnips (Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, ed, Abbot, 1:322). Washington checks have become increasingly scarce on the market: only one example is recorded in ABPC for the last decade. Sold at Sotheby's June 17, 2011 Estimate: $35,000-50,000 Price Realized: $37,500 | |
| (CONNECTICUT.) Connecticut and parts adjacent. Engraved folding 3-sheet map joined, 21 3/4x26 1/4 inches; Long Island and rivers colored in outline; some loss in Long Island Sound along fold, several other small holes, browned; old linen backing. New Haven, 1777 Attributed to Bernard Romans based on contemporary advertisements in New England newspapers. Third state, with depth contours along the coast and Westbury north of Waterbury. Wheat and Brun 263. Sold Swann Auction Galleries June 2, 2011 Estimate: $3,000-4,000 Price Realized: $140,000 |
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