Prelude to the Boston Tea Party - photo 1

Prelude to the Boston Tea Party

Lot 131
25.04.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 44 100
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 743791
Lot 131 | Prelude to the Boston Tea Party
Estimate value
$ 40 000 – 60 000
[BOSTON TEA PARTY] Boston, December 1, 1773. At a Meeting of the People of Boston, and the neighboring Towns, at Faneuil-Hall, in said Boston, on Monday the 29th of November 1773… for the Purpose of consulting, advising and determining upon the most proper and effectual Methods to prevent the unloading, receiving or vending of the detestable Tea send out by the East Indian Company, Part of which being just arrived in this Harbour. Boston: Edes and Gill, 1773.  Setting the stage for the Boston Tea Party. A rare and dramatic broadside detailing the proceedings of a large meeting held to deliberate "upon the most proper and effectual Method to prevent the unloading, receiving or vending of the detestable TEA sent out by the East India Company, Part of which being just arrived in this Harbour." Convened at Faneuil Hall at nine in the morning on Monday, 29 November, the day after the ship Dartmouth laden with 114 chests of East India Tea had arrived in port, only one motion had passed before it was determined that the building "could not contained the People assembled." The meeting adjourned to the larger Old South Meeting House. The reassembled meeting, numbering in the thousands, then voiced their approval for motions "that the Tea shall not only be send back, but that no Duty shall be paid," that "Captain Hall the Master of the Ship [Dartmouth], be informed that at his Peril he is not to suffer any of the Tea brought by him, to be landed," and that a watch be established to enforce the same. The meeting then adjourned for the day to allow the designated tea consignees confer among themselves as how to respond.  The meeting adjourned to the next morning where a letter to the meeting from Governor Thomas Hutchison was read together with a proclamation read aloud by the sheriff—the full text reprinted on the present broadside—which declared the meeting unlawful and to "surcease all further unlawful Proceedings at your utmost Peril." The meeting considered the proclamation's order and roundly rejected it. The proceedings continued, finalizing the watch over the Dartmouth as well as preparing for how to address the expected arrival of three more tea ships. The penultimate resolution threw down the gauntlet: "RESOLVED, That in thus importing said Tea, they have justly incurr'd the Displeasure of our Brethren in the other Colonies. And Resolved further, That if any Person or Persons shall hereafter import Tea from Great-Britain, or if any Master or Masters of any Vessel or Vessels in Great-Britain shall take the same on Board to imported to this Place, until the said unrighteous Act shall be repeal'd, he or they shall be deem'd by this Body, an Enemy to his country ; and we will prevent the Landing and Sale of the same, and the Payment of any Duty thereon. And we will effect the Return thereof to the place from whence it shall come." The meeting then resolved to print the text of the proceedings and that it be sent "to England, and all the Sea Ports in this Province." After it was agreed that the text would also be transmitted to committees of correspondence in New York and Philadelphia, the meeting voted, ominously, "That it is the Determination of this Body, to carry their Votes and Resolutions into Execution at the Risque of their Lives and Property." While similar protests in other American ports resulted in tea consignees agreeing to return their shipments, Governor Hutchinson convinced the Boston consignees, two of whom were his own sons, to stand fast. The standoff in Boston continued until the arrival of two more tea ships, the Eleanor and the Beaver on 16 December triggering a mass meeting of some 5,000 to 7,000 people gathered at the Old South Meeting House. And despite Samuel Adams' plea for restraint, people began pouring out of the meeting, determined to take matters in their own hands. That evening, vigilantes, many in disguise boarded the three tea ships and dumped 340 chests into the harbor, costing the East India Company nearly £10,000. When the news reached London, Lord North was determined to punish Boston, ordering the port closed—an action that furthered colonial resolve and paved the way for armed conflict to erupt in 1775. Evans 12694. Ford 1657. Lowance & Bumgardner, Massachusetts Broadsides, 10: "Although groups had been meeting for years and resolutions had been drafted many times before, the record of the meeting at Faneuil Hall provided clear testimony regarding the determination of the colonists to resist Britain's attempts to enforce the Tea Tax." This is the second issue of this broadside. The earlier issue lacking the printer's credit (see Ford 1656). Rare. Ford identifies only two copies of this issue in institutional holdings, and only one copy of this issue has appeared at auction in the past thirty years.  Broadside printed in four columns. 430 x 345mm (a few pinholes at fold intersections). Docketed on verso: "December 1: 1773 A Full acct of the Doings of Boston and Country People round about at a meeting at Fanuel Hall about the Fait of East india Tea". Hinged at top margin to a mat and framed. Provenance: William E. Simon – by descent to the consignor.
Place of origin:USA
Category:Book and magazine graphics
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