(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE) Typeset handkerchief printing

Sale 2517 - Lot 93

Price Realized: $ 1,375

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.) Typeset handkerchief printing of the Declaration with a border of medallions. Printed on linen, 19 x 19 inches, in 5 columns; minor foxing and staining, 3-inch irregular tear in lower left corner and several other much smaller holes; early owner's signature in blank area. Boston: Henry Bowen's Chemical Print, circa 1835

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Additional Details

Following the text of the Declaration, the names of the signers appear in type; Button Gwinnett is misspelled "Burton." The signatures are followed by two related shorter pieces: a selection from a famous July 1776 letter by John Adams, and a note on the "Singular Coincidence" on the deaths of Adams and Jefferson on the same day in 1826. This section also makes reference to the 1831 death of James Monroe. Collins in Threads of History #85 records a different 4-column printing with an 1835 inscription, giving an approximate date to the piece. We have traced three different variants of this production, all scarce, with priority unknown. The one in Collins is printed in 4 columns with the same imprint line, "Henry Bowen's Chemical Print, 19 Water-Street, Boston." Another sold at auction in 2010 appears to be the same setting of type, but with an imprint line reading "Henry Bowen's Chemical Print. - Sold by Benj. Freeman, 27 Central Street, Boston." Bidwell 11.