Political Writing
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Autograph Manuscript Prints Ancient prints Ancient England US Independence Development of USA US Civil War Physics
Chronology : 18th century 1776 1780-1789 1787 1860-1869
See also : Autograph Manuscript Prints Ancient prints Ancient England US Independence Development of USA US Civil War Physics
Chronology : 18th century 1776 1780-1789 1787 1860-1869
1297 The Magna Carta
2007 SOLD for $ 21.3M by Sotheby's
The Magna Carta contains the seeds of modern political regimes and announces the decline of the absolutisms.
In 1215 the English barons revolted against King John. Financial and military demands had not prevented the scathing failures. In a situation of civil war, the king is forced to accept the Magna Carta by which the barons take control of the taxes.
The Magna Carta undergoes several modifications, because the political circumstances change. De facto rejected by King John, the Council of Barons, which was the forerunner of a parliamentary regime, was canceled in 1216 when the child Henry III acceded to the throne. In 1225 Henry III simplified the Magna Carta to facilitate its legal application.
The idea of a Parliament is gaining ground. Edward I takes the habit of summoning his advisers to make decisions concerning taxes and their collection. The operating rules are defined from 1283. It only remained to give force of law to the Magna Carta, which the king assisted by the Parliament solemnly does on October 12, 1297. It is stipulated in 1300 that a copy will be available in each county to be read four times a year.
17 manuscript copies from the 13th century have survived. 15 of them are in British institutions and one in the Australian Parliament.
The 17th document is a copy from 1297. It was bought in 1984 by the US billionaire Ross Perot, who entrusted it for display at the National Archives in Washington DC. It was sold for $ 21.3M by Sotheby's on December 18, 2007. Its new owner, David M. Rubenstein, returned it to the Archives for a new long-term loan. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In 1215 the English barons revolted against King John. Financial and military demands had not prevented the scathing failures. In a situation of civil war, the king is forced to accept the Magna Carta by which the barons take control of the taxes.
The Magna Carta undergoes several modifications, because the political circumstances change. De facto rejected by King John, the Council of Barons, which was the forerunner of a parliamentary regime, was canceled in 1216 when the child Henry III acceded to the throne. In 1225 Henry III simplified the Magna Carta to facilitate its legal application.
The idea of a Parliament is gaining ground. Edward I takes the habit of summoning his advisers to make decisions concerning taxes and their collection. The operating rules are defined from 1283. It only remained to give force of law to the Magna Carta, which the king assisted by the Parliament solemnly does on October 12, 1297. It is stipulated in 1300 that a copy will be available in each county to be read four times a year.
17 manuscript copies from the 13th century have survived. 15 of them are in British institutions and one in the Australian Parliament.
The 17th document is a copy from 1297. It was bought in 1984 by the US billionaire Ross Perot, who entrusted it for display at the National Archives in Washington DC. It was sold for $ 21.3M by Sotheby's on December 18, 2007. Its new owner, David M. Rubenstein, returned it to the Archives for a new long-term loan. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1765 Stamp Act Defiance Placard
2024 SOLD for $ 4.5M by Christie's
The British victory in the French and Indian wars near doubled the British national debt. Expecting the Americans to contribute, the British parliament emitted on March 22, 1765 a Duties for American Colonies Act. The new tax required that many printed materials in the colonies were to be produced on paper from London that would include an embossed revenue stamp. It was popularly known as the Stamp Act.
The defeated French were no more a menace and many Americans disagreed to maintain a British military force on their continent at their expense without a local political representation.
The implementation was scheduled for November 1 by the British. The protests became violent, reaching the streets in Boston, Providence and Newport in August.
An illegal Stamp Act congress met in New York City from October 7 to 25 to petition the King and Parliament. The first shipment of stamps for New York and Connecticut arrived at New York harbor on October 23. A huge angry crowd gathered. Manuscript placards appeared throughout the city warning that "the first man that either distributes or makes use of stamped paper let him take care of his house, person, and effects."
One of these defiance placards is titled Pro Patria and signed by a threatening anonymous Vox Populi also reading We Dare. This page on laid paper 156 x 192 mm was inscribed on the recto by two of its owners. It was sold for $ 4.5M by Christie's on January 17, 2024, lot 98.
Only one other example is surviving. It had been picked by the governor of New York for informing the Colonial Office in London, accompanied by a letter stating ‘The night after the ship arrived, papers were pasted upon the doors of every public office, and at the corners of the streets, one [of] which I enclose – all of them in the same words. His Majesty’s Ministers are the best judges of the means to curb this licentious factious spirit.’ It is kept by the British National Archives.
Vehement protests continued through the rest of the year. The Stamp Act was repealed in March 1766.
The defeated French were no more a menace and many Americans disagreed to maintain a British military force on their continent at their expense without a local political representation.
The implementation was scheduled for November 1 by the British. The protests became violent, reaching the streets in Boston, Providence and Newport in August.
An illegal Stamp Act congress met in New York City from October 7 to 25 to petition the King and Parliament. The first shipment of stamps for New York and Connecticut arrived at New York harbor on October 23. A huge angry crowd gathered. Manuscript placards appeared throughout the city warning that "the first man that either distributes or makes use of stamped paper let him take care of his house, person, and effects."
One of these defiance placards is titled Pro Patria and signed by a threatening anonymous Vox Populi also reading We Dare. This page on laid paper 156 x 192 mm was inscribed on the recto by two of its owners. It was sold for $ 4.5M by Christie's on January 17, 2024, lot 98.
Only one other example is surviving. It had been picked by the governor of New York for informing the Colonial Office in London, accompanied by a letter stating ‘The night after the ship arrived, papers were pasted upon the doors of every public office, and at the corners of the streets, one [of] which I enclose – all of them in the same words. His Majesty’s Ministers are the best judges of the means to curb this licentious factious spirit.’ It is kept by the British National Archives.
Vehement protests continued through the rest of the year. The Stamp Act was repealed in March 1766.
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.
1787 US Constitution
2021 SOLD for $ 43M by Sotheby's
Eleven years after the Declaration of Independence, the USA still needed to have a federal law accepted by the thirteen states. They were tentatively ruled since 1781 by the Articles of Confederation.
The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia from May 25, 1787 with George Washington as president. The final version of the US Constitution established by the committee was signed on September 17 by 39 of the 55 delegates.
The text was immediately edited in 500 copies for the use of delegates and congressmen. No public release was suitable at that time as it still had to be ratified by the federal Congress and the states. The 6-page 41 x 26 cm document printed by John Dunlap in partnership with David Claypoole includes in appendix the list of delegates who voted for it and a copy of Washington's letter urging the ratification by the Congress.
This original US Constitution is still in force today without fundamental changes. Such an unprecedented longevity is due to the remarkable political insight of the delegates who prepared it under the leadership of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton and to the foreseen capability to amend it as necessary.
Thirteen copies are surviving. One of them was sold for $ 43M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 1787. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This piece is the top highlight from the collection of S. Howard Goldman and his widow Dorothy. It is sold for the benefit of the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation whose aim is to advance the principles of America’s founding documents through educational programs. Mrs Goldman introduces her collection and educational purpose in the video shared by Sotheby's.
From the same collection, a copy of the first separate printing of the so called Bill of Rights was sold for $ 1.53M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on November 23, 2021, lot 71.
This 3-page 34 x 21 cm document is dated August 24, 1789. It was prepared for proposing to the Congress a resolution of amendments to the US Constitution. Such articles had been desired by US citizens for preventing the government to infringe the basic individual rights. They were approved on September 26, 1789 and constitute the Third to Twelfth Amendments.
The underbidder for the US Constitution had been an organization just created for the express purpose of raising money to acquire it. They gathered more than 17,000 contributors who, in a matter of only weeks, raised more than $ 40 million, not enough against the winning bidder, the fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin.
The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia from May 25, 1787 with George Washington as president. The final version of the US Constitution established by the committee was signed on September 17 by 39 of the 55 delegates.
The text was immediately edited in 500 copies for the use of delegates and congressmen. No public release was suitable at that time as it still had to be ratified by the federal Congress and the states. The 6-page 41 x 26 cm document printed by John Dunlap in partnership with David Claypoole includes in appendix the list of delegates who voted for it and a copy of Washington's letter urging the ratification by the Congress.
This original US Constitution is still in force today without fundamental changes. Such an unprecedented longevity is due to the remarkable political insight of the delegates who prepared it under the leadership of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton and to the foreseen capability to amend it as necessary.
Thirteen copies are surviving. One of them was sold for $ 43M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 1787. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This piece is the top highlight from the collection of S. Howard Goldman and his widow Dorothy. It is sold for the benefit of the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation whose aim is to advance the principles of America’s founding documents through educational programs. Mrs Goldman introduces her collection and educational purpose in the video shared by Sotheby's.
From the same collection, a copy of the first separate printing of the so called Bill of Rights was sold for $ 1.53M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on November 23, 2021, lot 71.
This 3-page 34 x 21 cm document is dated August 24, 1789. It was prepared for proposing to the Congress a resolution of amendments to the US Constitution. Such articles had been desired by US citizens for preventing the government to infringe the basic individual rights. They were approved on September 26, 1789 and constitute the Third to Twelfth Amendments.
The underbidder for the US Constitution had been an organization just created for the express purpose of raising money to acquire it. They gathered more than 17,000 contributors who, in a matter of only weeks, raised more than $ 40 million, not enough against the winning bidder, the fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin.
1787 Archetype of the US Constitution
2024 SOLD for $ 9M before fees by Brunk
A further print of the US Constitution was executed in 100 copies on September 28, 1787 in New York by John McLean on behalf of Dunlap and Claypoole, for being sent to the legislatures of the states. This 4 page folio 40 x 28 cm document known as the Archetype of the US Constitution is composed in two columns while the 6 page original edition of September 17 was printed in one column.
A copy signed by the Secretary of the Congress Charles Thomson has just surfaced in a North Carolina plantation ranch which had belonged to Samuel Johnston, the governor of that state from 1787 to 1789 and a later senator, a slave holder and Freemason leader who lived at that place since 1765. Johnston, who supported the project, presided over the two conventions in North Carolina, successively rejecting the Constitution in 1788 and ratifying it in 1789.
This document was sold for $ 9M before fees by Brunk on October 17, 2024, lot 1509. Its condition is good overall with expected wear and a heavy central horizontal fold. No other example of the less than 10 surviving copies is in private hands. The September 28, 1787 resolution officially launching the ratification process is attached.
A copy signed by the Secretary of the Congress Charles Thomson has just surfaced in a North Carolina plantation ranch which had belonged to Samuel Johnston, the governor of that state from 1787 to 1789 and a later senator, a slave holder and Freemason leader who lived at that place since 1765. Johnston, who supported the project, presided over the two conventions in North Carolina, successively rejecting the Constitution in 1788 and ratifying it in 1789.
This document was sold for $ 9M before fees by Brunk on October 17, 2024, lot 1509. Its condition is good overall with expected wear and a heavy central horizontal fold. No other example of the less than 10 surviving copies is in private hands. The September 28, 1787 resolution officially launching the ratification process is attached.
NY print of the #USConstitution including the resolution officially launching the ratification process.
— ArtHitParade (@ArtHitParade) September 14, 2024
For sale by @BrunkAuctions https://t.co/jiMPteXR86
Targeting the top 10 of Development of the #USA https://t.co/dIe1fotRQV
1789 Acts of Congress
2012 SOLD for $ 9.8M by Christie's
During the ten years following the Declaration of Independence of the United States, the Congress sets up a code known as the Articles of Confederation to manage the relations between the states. Too idealistic, this first law is a failure.
The founders of the nation are now trying to redefine the delicate balance between the executive and legislative branches while considering also the need for autonomy of each state. Their work is outstanding, since the system defined between 1787 and 1789 is still the foundation of the US law.
George Washington is one of the key figures in this success. On June 22, 2012, Christie's sold for $ 9.8M his personal copy of the main acts of Congress, lot 1. It gathers the Constitution, various acts including the creation of major Executive Departments, and the first draft of twelve articles known as the Bill of Rights for an effective and pragmatic definition of freedoms.
This collection was a working document for the new President. It is also a much valuable autograph : signed on the title page, it includes handwritten notes in the margin of several acts.
These 53 sheets 30 x 19 cm from 1789 are assembled in a binding probably made in the same year. They are in excellent condition.
Please watch the video shared by Fox News :
The founders of the nation are now trying to redefine the delicate balance between the executive and legislative branches while considering also the need for autonomy of each state. Their work is outstanding, since the system defined between 1787 and 1789 is still the foundation of the US law.
George Washington is one of the key figures in this success. On June 22, 2012, Christie's sold for $ 9.8M his personal copy of the main acts of Congress, lot 1. It gathers the Constitution, various acts including the creation of major Executive Departments, and the first draft of twelve articles known as the Bill of Rights for an effective and pragmatic definition of freedoms.
This collection was a working document for the new President. It is also a much valuable autograph : signed on the title page, it includes handwritten notes in the margin of several acts.
These 53 sheets 30 x 19 cm from 1789 are assembled in a binding probably made in the same year. They are in excellent condition.
Please watch the video shared by Fox News :
1824 Facsimile of the US Declaration of Independence
2021 SOLD for $ 4.4M by Freeman's
On July 19, 1776, a resolution from the US Congress decided that a manuscript duplicate of the Declaration of Independence had to be prepared for signature by every Congress member. It was made on parchment with the title The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. The original copy signed on July 4 by John Hancock and Charles Thomson had not resurfaced, probably lost or scraped in the process of preparation of the Dunlap broadside.
The duplicate signed by the 56 delegates in early August, 1776 was becoming a symbol of the American liberty. Unfortunately it was badly deteriorating. In 1820 the Secretary of State and future President John Quincy Adams commissioned the printer William J. Stone to print an exact facsimile.
The engraving was made with a wet ink process by which some of the original ink was transferred to a copper plate which was etched. The engraving was completed and dated in 1823 and the printing was made in 1824 in 201 copies on 80 x 70 cm vellum. Approximately fifty are located.
Two copies were presented to one of the three surviving original signers, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, former delegate and senator of Maryland, aged 87. They were presented by Carroll to his grandson-in-law in 1826 after the death of the last two other signers, former Presidents John Adams and Jefferson.
One of them, inscribed by Carroll, went in 1844 to the Maryland Historical Society. The grandson-in-law copied this inscription on the other document with a reference to the autographed Carroll copy.
This second Carroll copy was discovered in a Scottish attic by Cathy Marsden, specialist of rare books at the Edinburgh auction company Lyon and Turnbull, and transferred for auction to their sister company Freeman's based in Philadelphia. It was sold by Freeman's on July 1, 2021 for $ 4.4M from a lower estimate of $ 500K, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Freeman's.
After the release of the commissioned vellum copies, their printer W.J. Stone prepared a paper edition for his own trade. A proof copy was presented by the Secretary of State to Brigham Young after he was appointed governor of Utah Territory in 1851. It was sold for $ 600K by Sotheby's on June 28, 2024, lot 1039.
The duplicate signed by the 56 delegates in early August, 1776 was becoming a symbol of the American liberty. Unfortunately it was badly deteriorating. In 1820 the Secretary of State and future President John Quincy Adams commissioned the printer William J. Stone to print an exact facsimile.
The engraving was made with a wet ink process by which some of the original ink was transferred to a copper plate which was etched. The engraving was completed and dated in 1823 and the printing was made in 1824 in 201 copies on 80 x 70 cm vellum. Approximately fifty are located.
Two copies were presented to one of the three surviving original signers, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, former delegate and senator of Maryland, aged 87. They were presented by Carroll to his grandson-in-law in 1826 after the death of the last two other signers, former Presidents John Adams and Jefferson.
One of them, inscribed by Carroll, went in 1844 to the Maryland Historical Society. The grandson-in-law copied this inscription on the other document with a reference to the autographed Carroll copy.
This second Carroll copy was discovered in a Scottish attic by Cathy Marsden, specialist of rare books at the Edinburgh auction company Lyon and Turnbull, and transferred for auction to their sister company Freeman's based in Philadelphia. It was sold by Freeman's on July 1, 2021 for $ 4.4M from a lower estimate of $ 500K, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Freeman's.
After the release of the commissioned vellum copies, their printer W.J. Stone prepared a paper edition for his own trade. A proof copy was presented by the Secretary of State to Brigham Young after he was appointed governor of Utah Territory in 1851. It was sold for $ 600K by Sotheby's on June 28, 2024, lot 1039.
A historic discovery! Our sister auction house, Freeman’s, is pleased to announce the sale of a signer’s copy of William J. Stone’s 1823 printing of the #DeclarationofIndependence recently rediscovered in Scotland by Lyon & Turnbull. Find out more: https://t.co/RiosDcVn4k pic.twitter.com/xSL20pV2Do
— Lyon & Turnbull (@LyonandTurnbull) June 24, 2021
1864 Emancipation Proclamation
2010 SOLD for $ 3.8M by Sotheby's
On 22 September 1862, President Lincoln issued an ultimatum to the secessionist states : slavery shall be abolished on January 1 in all states that will not come back into the Union before that date.
At the promised date, January 1, 1863, Lincoln proclaimed an executive order abolishing slavery in the ten states on which he had no control.
Of course, this statement was not sufficient to end the US Civil War. In mid 1864, charity gatherings organized by the US Sanitary Commission are held everywhere to support the Union troops.
The President, always ready for personal commitment, then accepts the project of the authorized edition of the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the initiatives to raise funds.
The document consists of a title and 52 lines of text printed in a single page on a watermarked Whatman paper sheet 55 x 44 cm. 48 copies bear the three autograph signatures of Abraham Lincoln, of the Secretary of State William Seward and of John Nicolay, private secretary to the President.
This strategy confirms that in the mind of Lincoln the end of slavery is the main issue of the Civil War. Without alienating the states loyal to the Union, it gave such a boost to the slaves that their emancipation had no more obstacles, entering into the constitution through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
In the next century the Kennedy brothers are considering new advances for civil rights. The murder of the President does not slow down the ardor of his brother. In 1964, Robert Kennedy bought at auction at Parke-Bernet a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln and Seward.
This ex Kennedy document was sold for $ 3.8M on December 10, 2010 by Sotheby's, Parke-Bernet's successor. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
At the promised date, January 1, 1863, Lincoln proclaimed an executive order abolishing slavery in the ten states on which he had no control.
Of course, this statement was not sufficient to end the US Civil War. In mid 1864, charity gatherings organized by the US Sanitary Commission are held everywhere to support the Union troops.
The President, always ready for personal commitment, then accepts the project of the authorized edition of the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the initiatives to raise funds.
The document consists of a title and 52 lines of text printed in a single page on a watermarked Whatman paper sheet 55 x 44 cm. 48 copies bear the three autograph signatures of Abraham Lincoln, of the Secretary of State William Seward and of John Nicolay, private secretary to the President.
This strategy confirms that in the mind of Lincoln the end of slavery is the main issue of the Civil War. Without alienating the states loyal to the Union, it gave such a boost to the slaves that their emancipation had no more obstacles, entering into the constitution through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
In the next century the Kennedy brothers are considering new advances for civil rights. The murder of the President does not slow down the ardor of his brother. In 1964, Robert Kennedy bought at auction at Parke-Bernet a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln and Seward.
This ex Kennedy document was sold for $ 3.8M on December 10, 2010 by Sotheby's, Parke-Bernet's successor. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1864 Answer by Lincoln to the Children's Petition
2008 SOLD for $ 3.4M by Sotheby's
The abolition of slavery is the major issue of Lincoln's presidency and of the Civil War. Proclaimed by the executive order of September 22, 1862, it is a political act based on the interpretation that slavery is a non-conformity with the Constitution of the United States. The application is delayed and the abolitionists are getting impatient.
The President received a great deal of mail which was carefully handled by his secretaries. Amidst thousands of requests for favors, he was moved by a letter forwarded to him in early April 1864 by Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, more radical than him for an immediate emancipation.
The document is a children's petition prepared and annotated by Mrs Mann, a widow who had founded a school in Concord MA. 195 boys and girls under 18 wrote their names under a simple and short text : "Children's Petition to the President asking him to free all the little slave children in this country".
The President prepares an autograph draft, which is kept at the Library of Congress. He replies to Mrs Mann : "Please tell these little people I am very glad their young hearts are so full of just and generous sympathy, and that, while I have not the power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He wills to do it ".
This answer is very important to the President, who himself copies his draft onto an 8 x 5 inch letterhead page of the Executive Mansion in Washington. Dated April 5, 1864, the letter is addressed to Mrs Mann to whom it is transmitted through the good care of the Senator. It was sold for $ 3.4M by Sotheby's on April 3, 2008, lot 85.
On April 20, Mrs Mann thanks the President for his "sweet words to the children" for whom she was going to have facsimiles prepared, replacing her name as a precaution with the identification of the place of origin, Concord MA. She insists in her abolitionist demand by courteously calling out to the President : "You who can hasten it must be the happiest of men, for in saving the colored man you will feel that you are doing equal service to the white man".
The President received a great deal of mail which was carefully handled by his secretaries. Amidst thousands of requests for favors, he was moved by a letter forwarded to him in early April 1864 by Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, more radical than him for an immediate emancipation.
The document is a children's petition prepared and annotated by Mrs Mann, a widow who had founded a school in Concord MA. 195 boys and girls under 18 wrote their names under a simple and short text : "Children's Petition to the President asking him to free all the little slave children in this country".
The President prepares an autograph draft, which is kept at the Library of Congress. He replies to Mrs Mann : "Please tell these little people I am very glad their young hearts are so full of just and generous sympathy, and that, while I have not the power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He wills to do it ".
This answer is very important to the President, who himself copies his draft onto an 8 x 5 inch letterhead page of the Executive Mansion in Washington. Dated April 5, 1864, the letter is addressed to Mrs Mann to whom it is transmitted through the good care of the Senator. It was sold for $ 3.4M by Sotheby's on April 3, 2008, lot 85.
On April 20, Mrs Mann thanks the President for his "sweet words to the children" for whom she was going to have facsimiles prepared, replacing her name as a precaution with the identification of the place of origin, Concord MA. She insists in her abolitionist demand by courteously calling out to the President : "You who can hasten it must be the happiest of men, for in saving the colored man you will feel that you are doing equal service to the white man".
1939 Einstein Letter to President Roosevelt
2024 SOLD for $ 3.9M by Christie's
In January 1939, Niels Bohr, visiting the United States, informed physicists of the control of the fission of the uranium atom by the Berlin team. The Germans are ahead of the rest of the world on the way to the atomic bomb. Their result is confirmed by new experiments in Paris, Columbia University and Princeton.
Physicists are trying to warn the government. Fermi fails. Szilard rightly considers that the message must be carried by an illustrious figurehead. He chooses Einstein. This project resulted in two slightly different typed letters, dated August 2, 1939, which Szilard prepared and had Einstein signed for communication to President Roosevelt.
Now they must capture the president's attention. Szilard has an ally, Alexander Sachs, who had been a close associate of Roosevelt. Sachs is suspicious of Einstein's pacifist positions and would have preferred Lindbergh but the contact with the aviator had failed.
An appointment is finally made in October by Sachs to deliver Einstein's letter to Roosevelt. The President, annoyed at first, suddenly understands what is at stake : they must prevent the Germans from blowing everything up. He creates a Board that will lead to the Manhattan Project, and sends Einstein a letter of thanks.
The other letter signed by Einstein on August 2, 1939 had been retained by Szilard. Accompanied by Einstein's autograph cover letter in German to Szilard, it was sold by Christie's for $ 2.1M by Christie's on March 27, 2002, lot 161, and for $ 3.9M on September 10, 2024, lot 6 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Einstein was never told about the Manhattan Project. After the destruction of Hiroshima, he will declare that his letter to Roosevelt was the great mistake of his life. He had not understood in time that the Germans did not really have the skills to develop atomic bombs.
Physicists are trying to warn the government. Fermi fails. Szilard rightly considers that the message must be carried by an illustrious figurehead. He chooses Einstein. This project resulted in two slightly different typed letters, dated August 2, 1939, which Szilard prepared and had Einstein signed for communication to President Roosevelt.
Now they must capture the president's attention. Szilard has an ally, Alexander Sachs, who had been a close associate of Roosevelt. Sachs is suspicious of Einstein's pacifist positions and would have preferred Lindbergh but the contact with the aviator had failed.
An appointment is finally made in October by Sachs to deliver Einstein's letter to Roosevelt. The President, annoyed at first, suddenly understands what is at stake : they must prevent the Germans from blowing everything up. He creates a Board that will lead to the Manhattan Project, and sends Einstein a letter of thanks.
The other letter signed by Einstein on August 2, 1939 had been retained by Szilard. Accompanied by Einstein's autograph cover letter in German to Szilard, it was sold by Christie's for $ 2.1M by Christie's on March 27, 2002, lot 161, and for $ 3.9M on September 10, 2024, lot 6 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Einstein was never told about the Manhattan Project. After the destruction of Hiroshima, he will declare that his letter to Roosevelt was the great mistake of his life. He had not understood in time that the Germans did not really have the skills to develop atomic bombs.
