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 Declaration of Independence recently rediscovered in Scotland by Lyon & Turnbull. Freeman’s will present this historically significant document in a single-lot auction on Thursday 1 July 2021 in Philadelphia, at an estimate of $500,000-800,000 + fees.
First presented to Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), the last surviving signer of the original document, and later inscribed by his grandson-in-law John MacTavish (1787-1852), this rare document is the last of the six signers’ copies known to still be in private hands. Prior to its discovery in an ancestral Scottish home by our Rare Books, Manuscripts & Maps Specialist, Cathy Marsden, the document had been unaccounted for for 177 years.
"Every time I go and look at it ... I just stop and think... 'This is a piece of history. A piece of American history and now that it has been rediscovered I think it is going to be very much on people's minds.'"
-Darren Winston
Lyon & Turnbull’s dedicated team of Rare Books, Manuscripts & Maps specialists have established an international reputation for their auctions, selling both through our UK auction house, and via live online auctions. Our specialists are experts not only on books and manuscripts, but also on current market conditions, an essential combination to the successful sale of fine antiquarian books, modern first editions, folios, autographed letters and important archives.
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