?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(EARLY AMERICAN IMPRINT.) Pownall, Thomas. A Proclamation for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue,and for Punishing and Suppressing Vice, Profaneness, and Immorality. Letterpress broadside, 16 1/2 x 13 inches, docketed on verso; minimal wear along folds, minor foxing, a bit of adhesive residue along the top edge. Boston: John Draper, 1758
A proclamation issued by the Massachusetts governor at a low point in the French and Indian War, here alluded to as "the present frowning Aspect of Divine Providence." Pownall promises that "in conferring the Honors of the Government, Men of Virtue, Truth and Godliness shall be distinguished." He also orders local officials "to be very active and vigilant in the Discovery, Prosecution and Punishment of all Persons guilty of Blasphemy, profane Cursing and Swearing, or any other Dissolute and Immoral Deeds" and to "suppress all leud and disorderly Houses, all public Gaming-Houses, and all other Places of Disorder." The laws against selling strong drink on the Lord's Day are emphasized. Bristol B1964; Ford, Massachusetts Broadsides 1120. 3 copies in ESTC, and none known at auction since 1909.
