Oct 02, 2012 - Sale 2287

Sale 2287 - Lot 213

Price Realized: $ 9,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 12,000 - $ 18,000
THE FIRST FACSIMILE OF THESE FAMOUS SIGNATURES (DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.) Tyler, Benjamin Owen; calligrapher. In Congress, July 4th 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. Broadside on paper, 31 x 25 1/4 inches, on original 30-inch wooden roller and 27-inch wooden hanger; minor dampstaining, wrinkling, and irregular toning, a few short closed tears, one crossing through dedication in upper left, trimmed on sides from 27 inches but retaining one-inch margins, edged in red linen, laid down on linen. Washington, 1818
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The first broadside Declaration of Independence to include facsimile signatures. Tyler's rival, John Binns, was the first to announce such an undertaking and collect subscriptions, but he took more than three years to complete the work. In the meantime, Tyler completed this broadside, even securing a endorsement from the acting Secretary of State Richard Rush, whose departmental seal is engraved into the lower left, along with his note describing the signatures as "curiously exact imitations." The broadside is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson above the title.
Tyler made no effort to match the handwriting in the body of the Declaration. He was a writing master by trade who published other examples of his calligraphy; the text is intended to showcase his craft, with selected key words emphasized with ornamental script. He spared no expense on the printing, boasting that he paid $200 per ream for the paper and $1500 for the copperplate, which was engraved by Peter Maverick of Newark, NJ. Bidwell, American History in Image and Text 2, and pages 250-262.