Sally Hemings' family & Thomas Jefferson - photo 1

Sally Hemings' family & Thomas Jefferson

Lot 176
27.01.2023 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 630
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 887954
Lot 176 | Sally Hemings' family & Thomas Jefferson
Estimate value
$ 1 000 – 1 500
HEMINGS FAMILY – "An act allowing certain persons of colour, emancipated by the will of Thomas Jefferson, to remain in the Commonwealth." Pp 127, in: Acts passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, begun and held at the Capitol.

Rare and evocative coda to the exploitation of the Hemings family by Thomas Jefferson. In this act, the Virginia legislature allows Sally Hemings' two brothers—John and Burwell, her two enslaved sons—Madison and Eston, and her nephew Joe Fossett to continue living in Virginia after having been emancipated in 1826. Madison Hemings recounted that Sally had negotiated for the freedom of her unborn children while still a young teenager in France as a condition of her return to the United States. Her two daughters who lived to adulthood both left Monticello in the early 1820s and are thought to have lived as whites in the North. Sally herself was never manumitted, but she was allowed to settle with her sons in Charlottesville after Jefferson's death. These five people, the portion of the Hemings family who were closest to Sally and to Thomas Jefferson, received a special exemption from the May 1806 law that required freedmen to leave the state of Virginia within one year. Any contemporary documentary evidence of the special relationship of the Hemings family to Thomas Jefferson is very rare.

Octavo (215 x 125 mm). (Title-page with dampstain, some foxing.) Early 20th century library cloth. Provenance: Association of the Bar Library, City of New York (stamps and shelf-marks).
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.01.2023 – 27.01.2023
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>