1776
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : US Independence George III Tribal Oceania Political document
See also : US Independence George III Tribal Oceania Political document
1776 Portrait of Omai by Reynolds
2001 SOLD for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's
Omai is native from Raiateia island. He was in Tahiti during Wallis' visit in 1767 and Cook's first visit in 1769. He then had to find refuge on another island, Huahine. In 1773 one of the boats of the second Cook voyage, the HMS Adventure, docked in Huahine. The young man aged around 22 embarked on the Adventure, certainly with an intense curiosity concerning the life in Europe.
His arrival in London in October 1774 was a social event. Omai is handsome. He has a quick wit and good looks which remain exotic. Celebrated like a prince by the aristocracy, this son of a Polynesian peasant is in England the first living symbol of the myth of the "noble savage" which echoes Rousseau's "bon sauvage".
Joshua Reynolds, the founding president of the Royal Academy, is a painter of worldly portraits. In 1776 at the exhibition of the Academy, he displays among other paintings a portrait of Omai, oil on canvas 230 x 140 cm. The young man is standing in a proud attitude. The clothes are luxurious.
This portrait somehow inaugurates the orientalist painting and its idealism. Reynolds achieves a spectacular effect, without seeking realism. The flowing robe is inspired by the Roman toga and the oriental turban is nothing Polynesian. The landscape behind him is Greek, with a few palm trees.
This artwork is unique in the art of Reynolds, who probably created it especially without commission for the exhibition of 1776 and kept it in his studio until his death. It was sold for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2001. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Omai returned to Polynesia with Cook's third voyage.
His arrival in London in October 1774 was a social event. Omai is handsome. He has a quick wit and good looks which remain exotic. Celebrated like a prince by the aristocracy, this son of a Polynesian peasant is in England the first living symbol of the myth of the "noble savage" which echoes Rousseau's "bon sauvage".
Joshua Reynolds, the founding president of the Royal Academy, is a painter of worldly portraits. In 1776 at the exhibition of the Academy, he displays among other paintings a portrait of Omai, oil on canvas 230 x 140 cm. The young man is standing in a proud attitude. The clothes are luxurious.
This portrait somehow inaugurates the orientalist painting and its idealism. Reynolds achieves a spectacular effect, without seeking realism. The flowing robe is inspired by the Roman toga and the oriental turban is nothing Polynesian. The landscape behind him is Greek, with a few palm trees.
This artwork is unique in the art of Reynolds, who probably created it especially without commission for the exhibition of 1776 and kept it in his studio until his death. It was sold for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2001. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Omai returned to Polynesia with Cook's third voyage.
1776 Tygers at Play by Stubbs
2014 SOLD for £ 7.7M by Sotheby's
Famous for his paintings of horses with or without riders, George Stubbs was primarily an anatomist in the great period of curiosity of the mid-eighteenth century. He published in 1766 The Anatomy of the Horse, illustrated with drawings.
Images of horses were welcomed by the English aristocracy. Stubbs was a gifted painter. He was the only artist capable of applying the theme of the animal as a specialty of major art.
In London, menageries are in the trend. Visitors dream of the distant lands from where the wild beasts have come. As early as 1762 Stubbs painted a lion attacking a horse. Lions and those other big cats designated at that time under the generic term of tygers soon occupy the top place in his art.
On July 9, 2014, Sotheby's sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M Tygers at play, oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Two leopard kittens play with great vivacity in an imaginary exotic landscape certainly inspired by the passion of the contemporaries for Cook's discoveries. These friendly animals respond positively to the postulate of Rousseau on natural goodness at birth.
This undated painting was exhibited for the first time in 1776. Carefully preserved with discretion for almost two centuries by a British aristocratic family, it remains in a very exciting condition.
Images of horses were welcomed by the English aristocracy. Stubbs was a gifted painter. He was the only artist capable of applying the theme of the animal as a specialty of major art.
In London, menageries are in the trend. Visitors dream of the distant lands from where the wild beasts have come. As early as 1762 Stubbs painted a lion attacking a horse. Lions and those other big cats designated at that time under the generic term of tygers soon occupy the top place in his art.
On July 9, 2014, Sotheby's sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M Tygers at play, oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Two leopard kittens play with great vivacity in an imaginary exotic landscape certainly inspired by the passion of the contemporaries for Cook's discoveries. These friendly animals respond positively to the postulate of Rousseau on natural goodness at birth.
This undated painting was exhibited for the first time in 1776. Carefully preserved with discretion for almost two centuries by a British aristocratic family, it remains in a very exciting condition.
1776 Marie-Antoinette's Diamond Bracelets
2021 SOLD for CHF 7.5M by Christie's
A pair of bracelets with a documented historical provenance was sold for CHF 7.5M from a lower estimate of CHF 2M by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 12. Each piece in three rows of diamonds had been designed to flow like a fabric on the wrist. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Marie-Antoinette of Austria ascended the throne of France in 1774 with her husband King Louis XVI. Aged 19, the new queen wished to enjoy the utmost luxury and glamour. She adored wearing diamonds.
She purchased in 1776 a pair of earrings and a pair of bracelets to the jeweler Boehmer, far beyond her own financial capability. The Austrian diplomat Mercy-Argenteau kept informed the empress Maria Theresia about that excessive extravagance of her daughter. King Louis will have to find in the following years how to pay Boehmer.
Marie-Antoinette took a great personal care to her jewels. In 1791, threatened in the on going French Révolution, she packed up her jewelry in a wooden chest which was sent for safe keeping to Mercy-Argenteau exiled in Brussels.
In February 1794, four months after the beheading of the queen, Mercy-Argenteau managed an inventory on request from the new emperor Francis II. The jewels went to the court of Austria where their ownership and use were transferred to Madame Royale, the only surviving child of the late queen.
After the death of Madame Royale, the pair of Boehmer bracelets went to the lineage of the dukes of Parma. These composite jewels are still in their exact original condition as described in the 1794 Brussels inventory, excepted an additional diamond on the clasps.
The collection of pearl jewels of Marie-Antoinette also went to the dukes of Parma through Madame Royale. The pendant was sold for CHF 36.4M by Sotheby's in 2018.
Marie-Antoinette of Austria ascended the throne of France in 1774 with her husband King Louis XVI. Aged 19, the new queen wished to enjoy the utmost luxury and glamour. She adored wearing diamonds.
She purchased in 1776 a pair of earrings and a pair of bracelets to the jeweler Boehmer, far beyond her own financial capability. The Austrian diplomat Mercy-Argenteau kept informed the empress Maria Theresia about that excessive extravagance of her daughter. King Louis will have to find in the following years how to pay Boehmer.
Marie-Antoinette took a great personal care to her jewels. In 1791, threatened in the on going French Révolution, she packed up her jewelry in a wooden chest which was sent for safe keeping to Mercy-Argenteau exiled in Brussels.
In February 1794, four months after the beheading of the queen, Mercy-Argenteau managed an inventory on request from the new emperor Francis II. The jewels went to the court of Austria where their ownership and use were transferred to Madame Royale, the only surviving child of the late queen.
After the death of Madame Royale, the pair of Boehmer bracelets went to the lineage of the dukes of Parma. These composite jewels are still in their exact original condition as described in the 1794 Brussels inventory, excepted an additional diamond on the clasps.
The collection of pearl jewels of Marie-Antoinette also went to the dukes of Parma through Madame Royale. The pendant was sold for CHF 36.4M by Sotheby's in 2018.
#QueenMarieAntoinette's marvellously beautiful diamond bracelets will highlight the Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale on 9 November. The remarkable unbroken lineage of these bracelets represents one of the most undisputed provenances of any royal jewels □: https://t.co/2HeshzVQcy pic.twitter.com/DgW1uiqZMu
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 30, 2021
1776 the Anglesey Necklace
2024 SOLD for CHF 4.3M by Sotheby's
An ephemeral jewelry fashion in the royal courts around 1775 was the necklace or neglige in diamond chains terminated by a diamond tassel at each end.
In 1772 King Louis XV of France commissioned the jewelers Böhmer and Bassenge to create a necklace of unprecedented luxury as a gift to his mistress Madame du Barry. When the jewel was terminated in 1778, the king was dead and the favorite ejected from the court. The new queen Marie-Antoinette refused it, possibly because it was already out of fashion.
This piece that Marie-Antoinette never owned was the subject of the major swindle known as l'Affaire du collier de la reine that created a popular excitement against the French royals in 1785, being one of the triggers of the French révolution.
In 1775 the Prince of Monaco acquired a jewel of diamond passementerie terminating in two tassels, made of 147 large diamonds in the style of the collier de la reine.
Diamonds were very rare in Europe in the 18th century with the only source being Golconda in India. It was usual to disassemble the composite jewels and recompose them in new designs.
An intact necklace of three chains of old shaped diamonds terminated by two tassels in the style of the examples above was worn by the Marchioness of Anglesey at the coronation of King George VI in 1937. It was then attributed to Collingwood for a presentation in 1776 by King George III to the Duchess of Marlborough. In 1976 the Anglesey necklace was a highlight in an exhibition celebrating the US bicentennial.
A recent assumption is that it could have been made in England after 1785 from former diamond rows of the collier de la reine disassembled by the crooks.
The Anglesey necklace was sold for CHF 4.3M from a lower estimate of CHF 1.6M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2024, lot 1175. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In 1772 King Louis XV of France commissioned the jewelers Böhmer and Bassenge to create a necklace of unprecedented luxury as a gift to his mistress Madame du Barry. When the jewel was terminated in 1778, the king was dead and the favorite ejected from the court. The new queen Marie-Antoinette refused it, possibly because it was already out of fashion.
This piece that Marie-Antoinette never owned was the subject of the major swindle known as l'Affaire du collier de la reine that created a popular excitement against the French royals in 1785, being one of the triggers of the French révolution.
In 1775 the Prince of Monaco acquired a jewel of diamond passementerie terminating in two tassels, made of 147 large diamonds in the style of the collier de la reine.
Diamonds were very rare in Europe in the 18th century with the only source being Golconda in India. It was usual to disassemble the composite jewels and recompose them in new designs.
An intact necklace of three chains of old shaped diamonds terminated by two tassels in the style of the examples above was worn by the Marchioness of Anglesey at the coronation of King George VI in 1937. It was then attributed to Collingwood for a presentation in 1776 by King George III to the Duchess of Marlborough. In 1976 the Anglesey necklace was a highlight in an exhibition celebrating the US bicentennial.
A recent assumption is that it could have been made in England after 1785 from former diamond rows of the collier de la reine disassembled by the crooks.
The Anglesey necklace was sold for CHF 4.3M from a lower estimate of CHF 1.6M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2024, lot 1175. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1776 Seascape by Vernet
2011 SOLD for $ 7M by Sotheby's
Joseph Vernet had spent his youth in Rome, like many French artists of his time. He was distinguished by his skill for maritime scenes.
When he returned to France, King Louis XV commissioned him a series of monumental paintings showing life in the ports of France. He worked to it during ten years, from 1753 to 1762, and realized fourteen large size paintings, 263 x 165 cm.
The compositions are similar to those of his contemporary of Venice, Francesco Guardi. The ports are realistic and recognizable. In the foreground, on the waterfront, a crowd of small figures brings the atmosphere of the time.
The English aristocrats were lovers of art and tourism. In 1774, one of them ordered to the artist a pair of paintings of a similar size as those of the royal commission. One of them was sold for $ 7M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011.
Dated 1776, it shows a quiet sea shore at sunset. Small characters are unloading some merchandise from a tall ship that can be seen offshore. Buildings on the left are certainly part of a port facility. It is not located and is probably a work of imagination, as many of the unofficial paintings by Vernet.
Vernet's art is a realistic witnessing of his time, much interesting and also unexpected as it comes between the mythological imagination of le Lorrain (Claude Gellée) and the sentimental excesses of the Romantics.
When he returned to France, King Louis XV commissioned him a series of monumental paintings showing life in the ports of France. He worked to it during ten years, from 1753 to 1762, and realized fourteen large size paintings, 263 x 165 cm.
The compositions are similar to those of his contemporary of Venice, Francesco Guardi. The ports are realistic and recognizable. In the foreground, on the waterfront, a crowd of small figures brings the atmosphere of the time.
The English aristocrats were lovers of art and tourism. In 1774, one of them ordered to the artist a pair of paintings of a similar size as those of the royal commission. One of them was sold for $ 7M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011.
Dated 1776, it shows a quiet sea shore at sunset. Small characters are unloading some merchandise from a tall ship that can be seen offshore. Buildings on the left are certainly part of a port facility. It is not located and is probably a work of imagination, as many of the unofficial paintings by Vernet.
Vernet's art is a realistic witnessing of his time, much interesting and also unexpected as it comes between the mythological imagination of le Lorrain (Claude Gellée) and the sentimental excesses of the Romantics.
1776 The Dunlap Broadside
2000 SOLD for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's
John Hancock, a very wealthy New England merchant, was particularly penalized by the new tax laws of the colonial power. His involvement in the bloody events of the resistance in Boston made him popular with the patriots. He became president of the second Continental Congress, opened in May 1775, after a health breakdown of the initially appointed president.
The Congress debates the strategy concerning England : equitable reconciliation or separation. The supporters of independence form a committee in charge of preparing a declaration which is written by Jefferson.
Hancock chairs the session of July 4, 1776 during which the delegates accept the text of the committee of the independence. Now time is running out. John Adams will say later : "We were all in haste". The document prepared by Jefferson is signed by Hancock and attested by the Congress secretary, Charles Thomson.
From then they are in a hurry to propagate the information in the thirteen colonies and to the army. They had no time left for preparing a clean copy of that draft amended during the debates or a fortiori to have it signed by the delegates who have just approved its text.It is immediately supplied to John Dunlap, a printer operating in Philadelphia who is the usual contractor for official Congress documents.
The broadside is printed during the night of July 4 to 5. The manuscript no longer matters : it is lost in this operation. Hancock organizes the distribution of the document while urging each recipient to disclose the text by any appropriate means.
The Dunlap broadside is the earliest surviving example of the final text of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. The number of copies is not known although the figure of 200 seems fair. 25 copies survive. Almost all are in US institutions or museums.
One of them was found in 1989 by a bargain hunter in the backside of the frame of a torn painting that he had just bought. It was sold for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2000, a record at the time for an Internet auction.
The buyer was the television producer Norman Lear supported by Internet entrepreneur David Hayden. Lear is not a collector. He immediately organized the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a non-profit organization committed for displaying this historic document to as many people as possible through tours from city to city.
To accompany the broadcast, Hancock prepares a letter encouraging its public proclamation. The letter is written by a clerk in thirteen copies on July 5 and 6, and mailed to either a personality or a committee in each of the thirteen colonies. A similar shipment was made to two war leaders including Washington. The letter sent to the state of Georgia as sold for $ 1.9M by Freeman's on May 4, 2022, lot 11.
Delegates had not been invited to sign beside Hancock and Thomson during the July 4 session. The original manuscript is lost, possibly destroyed by Dunlap after use. On July 19, the Congress decides to prepare a new manuscript copy on parchment to receive all the signatures.
The Congress debates the strategy concerning England : equitable reconciliation or separation. The supporters of independence form a committee in charge of preparing a declaration which is written by Jefferson.
Hancock chairs the session of July 4, 1776 during which the delegates accept the text of the committee of the independence. Now time is running out. John Adams will say later : "We were all in haste". The document prepared by Jefferson is signed by Hancock and attested by the Congress secretary, Charles Thomson.
From then they are in a hurry to propagate the information in the thirteen colonies and to the army. They had no time left for preparing a clean copy of that draft amended during the debates or a fortiori to have it signed by the delegates who have just approved its text.It is immediately supplied to John Dunlap, a printer operating in Philadelphia who is the usual contractor for official Congress documents.
The broadside is printed during the night of July 4 to 5. The manuscript no longer matters : it is lost in this operation. Hancock organizes the distribution of the document while urging each recipient to disclose the text by any appropriate means.
The Dunlap broadside is the earliest surviving example of the final text of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. The number of copies is not known although the figure of 200 seems fair. 25 copies survive. Almost all are in US institutions or museums.
One of them was found in 1989 by a bargain hunter in the backside of the frame of a torn painting that he had just bought. It was sold for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2000, a record at the time for an Internet auction.
The buyer was the television producer Norman Lear supported by Internet entrepreneur David Hayden. Lear is not a collector. He immediately organized the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a non-profit organization committed for displaying this historic document to as many people as possible through tours from city to city.
To accompany the broadcast, Hancock prepares a letter encouraging its public proclamation. The letter is written by a clerk in thirteen copies on July 5 and 6, and mailed to either a personality or a committee in each of the thirteen colonies. A similar shipment was made to two war leaders including Washington. The letter sent to the state of Georgia as sold for $ 1.9M by Freeman's on May 4, 2022, lot 11.
Delegates had not been invited to sign beside Hancock and Thomson during the July 4 session. The original manuscript is lost, possibly destroyed by Dunlap after use. On July 19, the Congress decides to prepare a new manuscript copy on parchment to receive all the signatures.
July 11, 1776 New York Newspaper-Broadside
2024 SOLD for $ 3.36M by Sotheby's
The text of the Declaration of Independence was copied from the Dunlap broadside for dissemination of the information. Within one week Philadelphia had the first newspaper printing, the first printing in a book and the first printing in German language. Baltimore, where Dunlap had an office, and New York followed.
On July 9 the keen patriot printer John Holt was commissioned by the New York Convention to print 500 copies of the Declaration.
Before releasing the official job, Holt included on July 11 the Declaration with the same setting of type as a full page printing in his local gazette double titled The New York Journal and The General Advertiser, He did it in a special double column format as an incentive to use it as a broadside at home. In an editorial in the same issue, the Declaration was commented as “the most important event that ever happened in the American Colonies”.
Five copies survive of Holt's newspaper-broadside page. Only one is in private hand. That four page 47 x 30 cm bifolium was sold for $ 3.36M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Sotheby's on June 26, 2024, lot 1.
War was raging. Holt lastingly suspended his journal in the next month at the outbreak of the Battle of Long Island.
On July 9 the keen patriot printer John Holt was commissioned by the New York Convention to print 500 copies of the Declaration.
Before releasing the official job, Holt included on July 11 the Declaration with the same setting of type as a full page printing in his local gazette double titled The New York Journal and The General Advertiser, He did it in a special double column format as an incentive to use it as a broadside at home. In an editorial in the same issue, the Declaration was commented as “the most important event that ever happened in the American Colonies”.
Five copies survive of Holt's newspaper-broadside page. Only one is in private hand. That four page 47 x 30 cm bifolium was sold for $ 3.36M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Sotheby's on June 26, 2024, lot 1.
War was raging. Holt lastingly suspended his journal in the next month at the outbreak of the Battle of Long Island.
July 16, 1776 Exeter Broadside
Intro
The disclosure of the text of the Declaration of Independence in the thirteen founding states is essential for the success of the American Revolution. It uses two media : newspapers, from July 9, 1776, and broadsides. The printing of the latter did not need to be dated.
After the original broadside prepared by Dunlap and distributed on Hancock's orders, fourteen local editions of broadsides are known, including five without printer identification. The comparison with newspaper impressions allows an attribution. Beyond the number of the columns of the text, experts look for typographic variations.
An anonymous 50 x 40 cm two column broadside was printed in conformance with the New Hampshire Gazette also known as Exeter Morning Chronicle in its July 16 issue. It had two print runs, before and after correcting a mis-spelling on Hancock's name. A mis-spelling of Thomson as Thompson, also present on the Salem broadside, was not corrected.
The Exeter broadside (sometimes called the "July 1776 Exeter Broadside") is a local reprint made in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Printer/Location
Dunlap : John Dunlap, Philadelphia
Exeter : Robert Luist Fowle, Exeter, NH
Date
Dunlap : July 4–5, 1776
Exeter : July 16, 1776
Status
Dunlap : First/official printing by Congress order
Exeter : Local reprint (one of many regional editions)
Font/Type
Dunlap : Standard roman type
Exeter : Italic font
Layout
Dunlap : Two columns (typical broadside format)
Exeter : Two columns
Text Differences
Dunlap : Baseline version; minor variations possible in later prints
Exeter : Very similar; likely copied directly from a Dunlap copy, with potential small typesetting differences (e.g., punctuation, capitalization)
Rarity
Dunlap : ~26 surviving copies
Exeter : ~10 surviving copies
Historical Role
Dunlap : Primary dissemination tool; sent nationwide
Exeter : Local response to news arriving in NH; public reading in Exeter based on Dunlap copy
Note: The famous Dunlap broadside associated with Exeter today (displayed at the American Independence Museum there) is an original Dunlap copy that arrived in 1776 and was rediscovered in 1985—not the local Exeter reprint.
Both represent the urgent spread of the Declaration in summer 1776, with the Dunlap as the authoritative first printing and the Exeter as an example of how quickly local printers reproduced it for their communities. Early printings like these often have slight variations due to hand-setting type.
After the original broadside prepared by Dunlap and distributed on Hancock's orders, fourteen local editions of broadsides are known, including five without printer identification. The comparison with newspaper impressions allows an attribution. Beyond the number of the columns of the text, experts look for typographic variations.
An anonymous 50 x 40 cm two column broadside was printed in conformance with the New Hampshire Gazette also known as Exeter Morning Chronicle in its July 16 issue. It had two print runs, before and after correcting a mis-spelling on Hancock's name. A mis-spelling of Thomson as Thompson, also present on the Salem broadside, was not corrected.
The Exeter broadside (sometimes called the "July 1776 Exeter Broadside") is a local reprint made in Exeter, New Hampshire.
- Printer: Robert Luist Fowle (printer of the New Hampshire Gazette; interestingly, a Loyalist who nonetheless printed it to meet public demand).
- Date: July 16, 1776 (coinciding with the arrival of a Dunlap broadside in Exeter, which was publicly read that day by John Taylor Gilman).
- Purpose: Local dissemination; Fowle reprinted the text both as a broadside and in his newspaper, likely using the arriving Dunlap copy as the source text.
- Format: Single-sheet broadside, set in two columns (like the Dunlap), but using italic font rather than roman type.
- Content: Essentially the same text as the Dunlap (no signers listed), with possible minor variations in punctuation, capitalization, or typesetting errors common in 18th-century reprints.
- Surviving copies: About 10 known (extremely rare; recent auction examples have sold for millions).
- Significance: One of about 13 contemporary broadside editions printed locally across colonies in July 1776 to satisfy demand after Dunlap copies arrived.
Printer/Location
Dunlap : John Dunlap, Philadelphia
Exeter : Robert Luist Fowle, Exeter, NH
Date
Dunlap : July 4–5, 1776
Exeter : July 16, 1776
Status
Dunlap : First/official printing by Congress order
Exeter : Local reprint (one of many regional editions)
Font/Type
Dunlap : Standard roman type
Exeter : Italic font
Layout
Dunlap : Two columns (typical broadside format)
Exeter : Two columns
Text Differences
Dunlap : Baseline version; minor variations possible in later prints
Exeter : Very similar; likely copied directly from a Dunlap copy, with potential small typesetting differences (e.g., punctuation, capitalization)
Rarity
Dunlap : ~26 surviving copies
Exeter : ~10 surviving copies
Historical Role
Dunlap : Primary dissemination tool; sent nationwide
Exeter : Local response to news arriving in NH; public reading in Exeter based on Dunlap copy
Note: The famous Dunlap broadside associated with Exeter today (displayed at the American Independence Museum there) is an original Dunlap copy that arrived in 1776 and was rediscovered in 1985—not the local Exeter reprint.
Both represent the urgent spread of the Declaration in summer 1776, with the Dunlap as the authoritative first printing and the Exeter as an example of how quickly local printers reproduced it for their communities. Early printings like these often have slight variations due to hand-setting type.
1
2026 SOLD for $ 5.7M by Christie's
A copy of the Exeter broadside was sold for $ 5.7M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on January 23, 2026, lot 205. The photo in the catalogue assesses the correct spelling of Hancock, meaning that is is from the second print run.
Compare with another second print run sold by Sotheby's on January 24, 2025, lot 1. The other one (first or second print run ? to be checked) for sale by Christie's on January 23, 2026, lot 205.
Exeter Broadside Variants (States)
The Exeter broadside (also called the Essex broadside), printed by Robert Luist Fowle in Exeter, New Hampshire, in July 1776, exists in two known states (typographical variants from the same setting of type, with corrections made during the print run):
The Two Copies in Question
Provenance
2021-2025 sales : Goodspeed-Sang-Streeter copy (previously sold at Christie's in April 2021 for $930,000)
2026 : A different copy (likely another private or newly consigned example)
State
Both : Second state : corrected "Hancock"; "Thompson" retained)
Condition Highlights
2021-2025 sales : Folio (495 x 392 mm), some marginal loss, creases, tissue repairs; arithmetical calculations on verso
Sale Result/Estimate
2021-2025 sales : Sold for $2,400,000 (including premium)
2026 : Upcoming
Significance
2021-2025 sales : One of only three Exeter copies at auction in the last century; strong market appreciation since 2021 sale
2026 : Represents continued private-market availability; potentially comparable value
These two copies are distinct examples of the same rare broadside edition (one of ~10 total survivors, mostly in institutions like the Library of Congress and American Antiquarian Society). The primary difference between any two copies would be:
Compare with another second print run sold by Sotheby's on January 24, 2025, lot 1. The other one (first or second print run ? to be checked) for sale by Christie's on January 23, 2026, lot 205.
Exeter Broadside Variants (States)
The Exeter broadside (also called the Essex broadside), printed by Robert Luist Fowle in Exeter, New Hampshire, in July 1776, exists in two known states (typographical variants from the same setting of type, with corrections made during the print run):
- First state (earlier printing):
- Misspells John Hancock as "Hacock".
- Misspells Charles Thomson as "Thompson" (with a "p").
- Only 2 known surviving copies (both institutional).
- Second state (later printing, corrected):
- Corrects "Hacock" to "Hancock".
- Retains the misspelling "Thompson" (never corrected).
- Most surviving copies (about 8 of the total 10 known).
The Two Copies in Question
Provenance
2021-2025 sales : Goodspeed-Sang-Streeter copy (previously sold at Christie's in April 2021 for $930,000)
2026 : A different copy (likely another private or newly consigned example)
State
Both : Second state : corrected "Hancock"; "Thompson" retained)
Condition Highlights
2021-2025 sales : Folio (495 x 392 mm), some marginal loss, creases, tissue repairs; arithmetical calculations on verso
Sale Result/Estimate
2021-2025 sales : Sold for $2,400,000 (including premium)
2026 : Upcoming
Significance
2021-2025 sales : One of only three Exeter copies at auction in the last century; strong market appreciation since 2021 sale
2026 : Represents continued private-market availability; potentially comparable value
These two copies are distinct examples of the same rare broadside edition (one of ~10 total survivors, mostly in institutions like the Library of Congress and American Antiquarian Society). The primary difference between any two copies would be:
- Condition and provenance (individual wear, repairs, historical annotations, or ownership history).
- Minor variations in inking or paper due to 18th-century hand-printing.
2
2025 SOLD for $ 2.4M by Sotheby's
A fine copy from the second print run was sold for $ 930K by Christie's on April 22, 2021, lot 6 and for $ 2.4M by Sotheby's on January 24, 2025, lot 1. It keeps sharp corners and the damages by the folds have been repaired. Some soils are present in the obverse and the reverse had been used by an unidentified hand for arithmetics and pen trials.
Another copy, also from the final state, was sold for $ 990K by Christie's on January 22, 2021, lot 315. It had long belonged to the family of a New Hampshire judge who was probably its official recipient. Three edges and three corners are broken and two large burns affect the text on the vertical fold.
Another copy, also from the final state, was sold for $ 990K by Christie's on January 22, 2021, lot 315. It had long belonged to the family of a New Hampshire judge who was probably its official recipient. Three edges and three corners are broken and two large burns affect the text on the vertical fold.
July 16, 1776 Salem broadside
2023 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Heritage
The printed disclosure of the Declaration of Independence of the United States takes the forms of official or private posters and of spontaneous newspaper inserts. The posters have the format of broadsides, intended to be visible on walls for a few days. They are also read to the troops and to the public.
The official broadside of the Congress is printed by Dunlap in Philadelphia in the early morning of July 5, 1776 and passed on to the delegates for disclosure in the thirteen colonies without waiting for the ratification. This document is directly or indirectly the source of all early publications of the Declaration, as broadsides and in the columns of magazines, beginning in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York.
After the original broadside prepared by Dunlap and distributed on Hancock's orders, fourteen local editions of broadsides are known, including five without printer identification. The comparison with newspaper impressions allows an attribution. Experts look for the number of columns and for typographic variations.
The Declaration reaches Boston on July 13 and Watertown three days later.
Ezekiel Russell was the printer of the only newspaper in Salem, The American Gazette. The Declaration is published in the No. 5 of this new weekly paper on 16 July in four narrow columns spreading over two pages. During the composition of that issue the same four columns are printed as a 43 x 36 cm broadside. Six copies are known.
A copy of the four column broadside was sold for $ 2.9M by Heritage on July 8, 2023, lot 42010.
A four column copy of the Salem broadside was sold for $ 2.1M by Christie's on May 25, 2022, lot 50. Another example from the same run was sold for $ 570K by Sotheby's on June 17, 2010, lot 557.
The official broadside of the Congress is printed by Dunlap in Philadelphia in the early morning of July 5, 1776 and passed on to the delegates for disclosure in the thirteen colonies without waiting for the ratification. This document is directly or indirectly the source of all early publications of the Declaration, as broadsides and in the columns of magazines, beginning in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York.
After the original broadside prepared by Dunlap and distributed on Hancock's orders, fourteen local editions of broadsides are known, including five without printer identification. The comparison with newspaper impressions allows an attribution. Experts look for the number of columns and for typographic variations.
The Declaration reaches Boston on July 13 and Watertown three days later.
Ezekiel Russell was the printer of the only newspaper in Salem, The American Gazette. The Declaration is published in the No. 5 of this new weekly paper on 16 July in four narrow columns spreading over two pages. During the composition of that issue the same four columns are printed as a 43 x 36 cm broadside. Six copies are known.
A copy of the four column broadside was sold for $ 2.9M by Heritage on July 8, 2023, lot 42010.
A four column copy of the Salem broadside was sold for $ 2.1M by Christie's on May 25, 2022, lot 50. Another example from the same run was sold for $ 570K by Sotheby's on June 17, 2010, lot 557.
National Treasure: One of the Earliest July 1776 Broadside Editions of the Declaration of Independence Will Make #History at Heritage.https://t.co/UwQuPuoRqd pic.twitter.com/jGnjrr4f8c
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) June 12, 2023
