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Turtle Bay Lease for Use by the Royal Navy, 1741
[NEW YORK CITY],
Manuscript Document Signed. Fifty-year lease on Turtle Bay from Captain Robert Long to Peter Warren. Signed by Peter Warren (with his wax seal), his father-in-law Stephen Delancey, and two other witnesses. New York, March 2, 1741. 1 p., 13 x 16 in. Docketed on verso, with later notes on payment through 1750 signed by Long.
A future hero of the French and Indian War leases Turtle Bay for fifty years of use by the British Navy. From the beginning of European settlement, it offered sailing vessels refuge from the East River’s treacherous currents and winter storms. Today, it helps weather different kinds of storms: it was filled in and is the site of the present United Nations complex.
Item #23647, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Benjamin Franklin, President of Pennsylvania, Signs Deposition of John Rice Against His Bankrupt Brother, During Constitutional Convention
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
Document Signed, August 18, 1787, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1 p., 6½ x 8¼ in.
“Joseph Rice is become Bankrupt within the meaning of the Acts of Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
John Rice, a ship’s carpenter in Kensington, a neighborhood of Philadelphia, filed this deposition stating that his brother, Joseph Rice, owed him more than £200 and had become bankrupt within the meaning of the Acts of the Pennsylvania Assembly. Franklin signed the deposition as President of the Council of Pennsylvania, a position he held from 1785 to 1788.
When he signed this document on Saturday, August 18, 1787, Franklin was also the oldest member of the Constitutional Convention, which was meeting in Philadelphia. The Convention agreed to a committee consisting of one member per state to consider the assumption of state debts and continued its discussion of Article VII, Section 1, the enumeration of Congressional powers.
Item #26405, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Votes for Women Armband
[Woman’s Suffrage],
Votes for Women felt armband, circa 1910-1920. 1½ x 24 inches.
These armbands were worn by Suffragettes during parades and rallies leading up to the passing of the 19th Amendment.
Item #26211, ON HOLD
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Declaration Signer’s Copy of the Declaration of Independence (SOLD)
[CONTINENTAL CONGRESS]. ROGER SHERMAN,
Signed Book. Journals of Congress. Containing the Proceedings in the Year, 1776. Published by Order of Congress. Volume II. Philadelphia. Robert Aitken, 1777. First edition. Rebound. [2], 513, [26, Index] pages. The Declaration is printed on pages 241-246.
Roger Sherman’s copy of the 1776 Journals of Congress, including the Declaration of Independence, signed on the title page. This is the second printing of the Declaration to list the names of the signers (after the Goddard broadside) and the third official printing overall (after the Dunlap and Goddard broadsides).
Item #26426, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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New York City’s 1797 Laws and Ordinances—James Kent’s Personal Copy
JAMES KENT,
Signed Copy of Laws and Ordinances, Ordained and Established by the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New-York...Passed and Published the first day of May, 1797, in the eighth year of the Mayoralty of Richard Varick, Esquire. New York: George Forman, 1797. First edition, James Kent’s signed copy with autograph notations to front endpapers. Modern calf. 67 pp., 8⅛ x 4¾ in.
Item #23637.01, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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A Stone/Force Printing of the Declaration of Independence (SOLD)
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
Copperplate engraving printed on thin wove paper. Imprint at bottom left, “W. J. STONE SC WASHn” [William J. Stone for Peter Force, Washington, D.C. ca. 1833]. Printed for Peter Force’s American Archives, Series 5, Vol I. Approx. 25 x 30 in.
“In Congress, July 4th 1776. The Unanimous Declaration
of the thirteen united States of America...”
Item #26238, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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President Theodore Roosevelt Agrees to Write His Famous Speech Attacking Journalistic Muck-Raking as an Enemy of Real Reform
Theodore Roosevelt,
Typed Letter Signed as President, to Elbert Henry Gary, the chairman of the board and president of U.S. Steel (the first billion dollar corporation), March 20, 1906, Washington, D.C. On “The White House” letterhead. 2 pp., 6-7/8 x 8-3/4 in.
“I will go to the limit in enforcing the law against the wealthiest man or the wealthiest corporation if I think he or it has done wrong; but my whole soul revolts at a campaign of foul slander waged against men, … because they have succeeded in business....”
Item #26174.01, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Women’s Suffrage Poster - Final Stretch to Ratify 19th Amendment
[WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE],
Women’s Suffrage Poster, ca. 1920, Chicago, IL. 1 p., 14 x 22⅛ in.
This poster declared, “If You Want Women to Vote in 1920 Cast Your ($.10 1.00 10.00) Ballot Now.” This poster likely urged supporters of the National Woman’s Party to donate a dime, dollar or ten dollars to support their efforts to gain passage of the 19th Amendment before the November 1920 presidential and congressional elections.
Item #25694, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Pulling Down New York’s Statue of King George III
[American Revolution],
La Destruction de la Statue Royale a Nouvelle Yorck.... Paris: François Xavier Habermann, [ca. 1776], engraving was done in Paris, but the title was printed in German, a testament to wider European interest in events in America. Hand-colored. Light fold lines. Approx.18 x 11-7/8 in. There was no sketch artist on hand, so Vue d’optique images like this show entirely imagined views.
After the Declaration of Independence was read to the Continental Army in New York on July 9, 1776, a boisterous crowd of soldiers, sailors and citizens headed to the huge gilt lead equestrian statue of King George III which had been installed on Bowling Green only six years earlier. The crowd toppled his Majesty, who then made his first Broadway appearance before being carted to Connecticut. The head was rescued by Tory sympathizers, and later spotted in the home of Lord Townshend. The rest of the King and the horse he rode in on was melted down. In a truly epic burn, Ebenezer Hazard remarked that the redcoats “will probably have melted majesty fired at them.” Indeed they did; the sculpture was used to make 42,088 bullets.
Item #21297.99, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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In Benjamin Franklin’s Paper, Colonel George Washington Reports as Positively as Possible on the Surrender of Fort Necessity, Which Sparked the French and Indian War
[GEORGE WASHINGTON],
Pennsylvania Gazette, August 1, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 4 pp., lacking the advertising half-sheet, 9¼ x 14½ in.
Item #22426.03, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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“MEN OF COLOR To Arms! To Arms!” (SOLD)
Frederick Douglass,
Broadside. “Men of Color / To Arms! To Arms!” Philadelphia: U.S. Steam-Power Book and Job Printing Establishment, Ledger Buildings, Third and Chestnut Streets, [ca. mid-June to mid-July, 1863.] Signed in type by Frederick Douglass and 54 others, including many prominent African American citizens. 1 p., 44 x 87 in.; framed to 48 x 94 in.
A monumental Frederick Douglass Civil War recruiting broadside.
This most dramatic and important recruiting poster signals a seismic shift in policy. African American men had joined Union forces in limited numbers from the start of the Civil War, but it took Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, to officially allow, encourage, and remove barriers to their enlistment.
Item #22552, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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The Declaration of Independence – Printed in 1776 London - Where the Press Feared to Call a Tyrant a Tyrant
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
Pamphlet. Gentleman’s Magazine. London, England, August 1776. Octavo. Lacking a plate. Disbound; minimal wear, some pages loose but intact, some foxing or toning, otherwise fine.
“A ____, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a T____, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people”
For years, American protests were directed at the actions of Parliament, and royal ministers. That changed with the Declaration of Independence, a substantial part of which is framed as a bill of particular offenses against American freedoms personally committed by the King.
The British press could use the words “King,” “Prince,” and “Tyrant,” but many British publishers felt it prudent to avoid printing those words together. Other British printings were even more self-censored, while this printed all the juicy parts.
Item #24195.15, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Bartholdi Signed Note, on His Calling Card, Fundraising for the Statue of Liberty
STATUE OF LIBERTY,
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. Autograph Note Signed, on his calling card, c. 1878. With Marquis de Rochambeau, Autograph Note Signed, on his calling card, and a calling card for Count Sérurier, during fundraising effort to present Liberty Enlightening the World to the United States. 3 items. 3¾ x 2¼ in.
Item #24842, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Bartholdi Plans for Statue of Liberty Right Arm and Torch Exhibit at 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
FREDERIC-AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI,
Autograph Letter Signed, in French, recipient unknown, June 8, 1876, Philadelphia. On “International Expositions, Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Superior Commission of International Expositions, General Station, Hotel de Cluny, Rue du Sommerard, Paris” letterhead. 2 pp., 5⅛ x 8⅛ in.
Complete Translation
Dear Mademoiselle,
It will give me great pleasure to see my work figured in the respected publication of Mr. Harper. I am thinking of returning to New York on Monday and I will have the pleasure of bringing you, in person, the block and the notes that you asked for.
Would you be so kind to thank Mr. Harper for <2> his appreciation of my work and yourself accept the expression of my most devoted feelings of friendship.
Bartholdi
Philadelphia 8 June 1876
Item #24887, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Original 1789 First Inaugural Button: “Memorable Era / March the Fourth 1789”
[GEORGE WASHINGTON],
1789 Inaugural button. Brass, original shank (slightly bent over), 34 mm.
Item #25794, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Period Oil Portrait of William H. Seward Wonderfully Executed
[WILLIAM H. SEWARD],
Oil Bust Portrait of Secretary of State William H. Seward, ca. 1864. Oil on board, 11 x 14 in. oval; framed to 17 x 20 in.
Item #25611, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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Seventeenth-Century Deed for House and Lot in New York City Signed by Anglo-Dutch Millionaire (SOLD)
FREDERICK PHILIPSE,
Manuscript Document Signed, September 21, 1682. Deed to Joris Jansen for the King’s Head property. 2 pp., large folio.
Through this indenture, merchant Frederick Philipse sells to boatsman Joris Jansen a house and lot in New York City that Phillips had purchased from Alexander Watts and his wife.
Item #23988.34, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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The Declaration of Independence – Replica of Mary Katharine Goddard’s 1777 Broadside
[DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE],
Broadside. Limited edition replica by Mindy Belloff, 100 copies. New York: Intima Press, 2010, printed in black and brown, hand set in Caslon & letterpress. With Essays, printed in blue and red. Both printed on handmade cotton & linen paper custom made by Katie MacGregor, Maine. 1 p., 16 x 21 in.
Item #25431, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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1686 Huguenot Protestant religious prisoner’s pin prick note, with notes of wife and child, and 1842 letter of Dr. Johnson Eliot, a founder of Georgetown Medical College
[FRENCH HUGUENOT PRISONER],
Pin-pricked Manuscript Note, with his wife’s Autograph Note, in French, [1686]. 1 p. Also with his son or daughter’s additional note in English. JOHNSON ELIOT, Autograph Letter Signed, June 19, 1842, gifting the above letter. 1 p. In all 3 pp.
Item #24146.01, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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“America the Beautiful” (SOLD)
KATHARINE LEE BATES,
Autograph Manuscript Signed. Ca. 1911 -1929. 1 p. On the verso of Wellesley College, Department of English stationery.
“Oh beautiful for spacious skies,/ For amber waves of grain,/ For purple mountain majesties/ Above the Fruited plain!”
Item #24419, SOLD — please inquire about other items
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