On January 24, Sotheby’s held a single-lot public sale of an early copy of the Declaration of Independence. Often known as the Goodspeed’s-Sang-Streeter copy after its earlier homeowners, it offered for $2.4 million, falling inside its $2 – $4 million presale estimate. On the identical day, Christie’s held an Essential Americana public sale the place a distinct copy of the Declaration offered for $2.47 million. Consultants have already observed growing curiosity in historic paperwork, and outcomes like these show it.

The Goodspeed’s-Sang-Streeter copy that offered at Sotheby’s is a particularly uncommon broadside printing, with solely ten recognized copies in existence. This printing, referred to as the Exeter broadside after its attribution to printer Robert Luist Fowle of Exeter, New Hampshire, dates to July 1776, making it one of many earliest copies printed for the general public.

A duplicate of the Declaration of Independence was written within the hand of Samuel Jones of New York, who’s credited with securing New York’s ratification of america Structure by breaking the deadlock over the inclusion of a Invoice of Rights.

Christie's

The copy that offered at Christie’s is within the handwriting of Samuel Jones, a member of the New York Meeting who’s credited with securing the state’s ratification of the Structure and making certain that it could embrace a invoice of rights. It’s believed to be from 1788, presumably for the New York Ratification Conference. Jones copied the textual content because it seems within the 1777 New York State Structure, the one state structure that comprises the complete textual content of the Declaration of Independence. Christie’s decided that it “is the one eighteenth-century manuscript of the Declaration of Independence recognized to be held privately.”

Along with its distinctive rarity, the Jones copy has an interesting discovery story. It was present in a quantity of Legal guidelines of New York bought as a part of an incomplete set at a library sale. In response to Advantageous Books Journal, the guide was price about $100.

Selby Kiffer, Sotheby’s Senior Worldwide Specialist, Books and Manuscripts, believes the “rising appreciation amongst collectors” for historic paperwork is “largely attributed to the entry of latest patrons into the market—some transitioning from different amassing areas—who acknowledge these paperwork as undervalued treasures given their rarity and historic significance.”

This “rising appreciation” has been noticed at a number of public sale homes throughout the previous yr. Sotheby’s notably held an public sale of Founding Paperwork of america in June 2024, the place a duplicate of the Declaration of Independence offered for over $3 million and copies of the Structure and Invoice of Rights every offered for over $1 million. In October, a long-lost copy of the Structure was offered at Brunk Auctions for $9 million, and a duplicate of the Articles of Affiliation from the First Continental Congress was offered at Blanchard’s Public sale Service for $360,000.