Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts is pleased to once again join our colleagues across other departments in “Visions of America.” We are proud to offer the Goodspeed's-Sang-Streeter copy of the July 1776 Essex broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence.

“An expression of the American mind," according to Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence was approved on the evening of 4 July 1776 following three days of debate amongst the Continental Congress. The manuscript copy of the Declaration was then taken to the shop of John Dunlap, official printer to Congress, who set the type that night.

Dunlap’s broadside was distributed throughout the thirteen colonies, and these were used as copy texts for other local printers, who produced their own editions, which were themselves often reprinted in turn—all in an effort to fulfill the public hunger for evidence of independence. The present broadside of the Declaration, printed in Exeter, New Hampshire, by Robert Luist Fowle in July of 1776, is remarkably rare. With a total of ten copies extant, only two have appeared at auction in the last century. Beyond this, it boasts the exceptional Goodspeed-Sang-Streeter provenance.

The document that gave rise to the United States, and the embodiment of American innovation.

For assistance with bidding and registration, please contact:

+1 212 606 7000

enquiries@sothebys.com

For all other enquiries please contact:

Richard Austin

Senior Vice President

Global Head of Department

Books & Manuscripts

+1 212 606 7385

RICHARD.AUSTIN@SOTHEBYS.COM

Selby Kiffer

The Declaration of Independence: The July 1776 Essex Broadside

The Declaration of Independence: The July 1776 Essex Broadside

The Declaration of Independence: The July 1776 Essex Broadside