The first offical printing of the Constitution in Massachusetts - photo 1
The first offical printing of the Constitution in Massachusetts - photo 2

The first offical printing of the Constitution in Massachusetts

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$ 8 820
Auction dateClassic
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
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ID 1032982
Lot 323 | The first offical printing of the Constitution in Massachusetts
[The Constitution or Frame of Government, for the United States of America, as Reported by the Convention of Delegates, from the United States, Begun and Held at Philadelphia, on the first Monday in May, 1787 … Published by Order of Government. Boston: Adams and Nourse, Printers to the Honorable the General Court, 1787.]

200 x 135mm (lacking title leaf but otherwise complete, some dampstaining, marginal chips and wear to deckled edges not affecting text). Two gatherings stitched and sewn.

The first official Massachusetts printing of the Constitution, issued by order of the General Court. This printing, ordered to be printed by the General Court on 25 October 1787, includes the resolution to hold a convention to consider ratification, requesting that the selectmen of each town hold a town meeting "for the purpose of chusing Delegates to represent them in said Convention." The present pamphlet was printed with those delegates in mind, ordering that the Secretary of State "procure to be printed a sufficient number of copies … [to] transmit three copies … to the Sheriffs of the several counties within this Commonwealth, with positive directions to be by them, or their deputies, without delay, personally delivered to the Selectmen of each town and district within their respective counties." A week after the General Court passed these resolutions, Boston printers Adams & Nourse announced that the pamphlet was at press, and by the following week they were advertising it's availability at their printing office on Court Street. See The Massachusetts Centinel, 3 November 1787, Vol VIII, Issue 14, p. 55; The Massachusetts Gazette 6 November 1787, Vol VIII, Issue 380, [p. 3].

Rare. Second state with "Gouverneur Wilson" corrected to "Gouverneur Morris" on page 24. Evans 20801; Ford 8; Sabin 16095. Evans identifies three copies in institutional collections including the American Antiquarian Society (who holds both the first and second states), Harvard, and the Library of Congress. Other institutional copies are known to be held at the Morgan Library, Lilly Library, and the University of Virginia. RBH identifies only two copies offered for sale including Anderson Galleries (Stephen Caplin collection, 19-20 February 1918, lot 112; and a copy offered several times in the 1960s by Goodspeed. More recently, a copy kept and annotated with commentary by a delegate to the Massachusetts Convention appeared in the Copley Sale (Sotheby's, New York, 14 April 2010, lot 188, $53,125).
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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