AE Monthly

Article Archives Search

AE Articles


Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration - By Bruce McKinney A firm as old as the history they sell. By Bruce McKinney The Samuel T. Freeman Company of Philadelphia celebrates its two hundredth anniversary this month with four days of important sales. It is the first American auction house to reach this milestone and this sale promises to be a remarkable event. The firm arrives at this juncture sporting the scars and experience to prove it has both made the journey and will continue to be a player in the unsettled and unsettling auction world that is unfolding in the 21st century. For auction houses generally this means continuing rebirth to be relevant. For Freeman's, a canny player in the auction game, they play it as opportunity and daily work to make it one. Their history says they have the skills and ambition to prosper in a world where the high wire is ever higher and safety net long gone. They begin their third century with firm determination to carry their endeavor into the fourth. In conjunction with this anniversary they are releasing a history of the firm: Vendue Masters: Tales from within the walls of America's Oldest Auction House. It is a collaboration of two writers: Roland Arkell & Catherine Saunders-Watson and a book that "auction-o-philes" will want to give themselves this holiday season. It is one of the better ones and is to be released in conjunction with the four day 200th anniversary sales to be held November 19th through the 22nd. In some sense this celebration was 73,000 days in the making so four days to celebrate seems about right. The firm is also issuing two auction catalogues: A Bicentennial Pennsylvania Sale [11/19-20] and the Esther Ludwig Collection: A Celebration of Pennsylvania [11/21-22]. Important books and manuscripts will be sold during the first two days. Two intertwined threads connect the firm's first day in 1805 to the 200th anniversary this month: the continuing participation of the Freeman family and the sale of material at auction. Every other aspect of the story flickers and darts, appearing, disappearing and reappearing as circumstances dictate and personalities permit. It is a cautionary tale that reminds us that two hundred year old businesses are rare for a reason: it is almost impossible to survive that long. To do so as a family business is as likely as winning the lottery, only harder. It suggests a rare combination of grit, determination and luck. To those who know the firm as specialists in fine antiques, exceptional books and manuscripts this is the Freeman Auction Company of today but not the firm that carried the torch down through the first ten decades. At heart the firm was from the beginning simply a seller of what was to be sold. Auctions were first "cried" next to a banner displayed to signal dispersal. Such sales were often the final stage of business dreams gone to Potter's Field. "They say auction is the second oldest profession" and in the nineteenth century it was associated with shame and failure, no doubt a tough business.
Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration - By Bruce McKinney Beginning the third century... In time the Freeman enterprise came in off the streets to occupy a succession of locations in Philadelphia's city center, an area already in subtle if not absolute decline. The firm focused on "jobbing;" second hand furniture and local real estate its strengths. The city early declared itself the Athens of America and in time relived Athens' fate as the century progressed. Freeman's, for its part, was nimble finding opportunity in decline. The final decades of the 19th century would see a significant portion of Philadelphia's commercial opportunities slip away to New York: higher fees and taxes the fulcrum accelerating the shift. The first century was not without its special moments. In 1824 the firm began regular, if irregular, book sales. The material was rarely if ever catalogued, depending instead on the knowledgeable to understand and interpret. Important material flowed into the rooms although not always books. In 1838 the firm sold the remarkable chess-playing automation: DeKempelen's celebrated chess player known as The Turk, an elaborate mechanical box with a hidden person inside that left the awestruck believing the machine could think. A few years later the firm sold in a succession of sales the local incarnation of the South Seas Land Bubble, mulberry trees, which enriched consignors and the auction house but produced little silk and less wealth for the ever green buyers. Thirty-years later the firm found significant success in liquidation, selling debris from the 1876 Centennial Exposition and later real estate parcels such as the Philadelphia Post Office which they hammered down for a then astounding $425,000 in the same year a first class letter cost two cents: 1884. Toward the end of the century the firm was conducting regular though un-catalogued book sales and it was possible to occasionally see the young A. S. Rosenbach, whose shop was nearby, come in to inspect and sometimes bid. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, at Thomas Birch, catalogued sales were continuing though the company was nearing its end. In 1908 the exceptional book cataloguer Stan V. Henkels joined the firm bringing with him the final two Samuel W. Pennypacker book sales, the earlier six having been conducted by Davis & Harvey. In this way, although only briefly, the firm became part of one the most important dispersals of printed material in American history. Henkels would, in a few years, depart to start his own firm and Freeman would revert, with some exceptions, to uncatalogued book sales. Books, briefly the bricks then reverted to mortar as paintings and antiques reassumed their higher place in the order of things. In 1919 the firm sold an important Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, the same one many students would later see hanging in their high school home rooms, a paper copy under glass to put a face to the name Washington and bring life to the American flags that invariably hung nearby. The printed material would remain interesting, if uncatalogued, attracting the exceptional Mabel Zahn of Sessler's, other dealers and many collectors to periodically acquire material during the next four decades.
Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration - By Bruce McKinney An exceptional sammelband In 1920 Addison B. Freeman acquired the name and goodwill of J. E. Conant Co. of Lowell, Massachusetts and become the aggressive auction liquidator of New England shoe factories and the company towns associated with them. It would prove a prescient decision as the shoe business and garment industries fell to regional competition in the 1920s and the lingering survivors to the depression in the 1930s. Through it all Freeman's met its payroll. With the end of World War II came a flood of estate liquidations. In 1947, in a sign of renewed focus on the upscale market, Freeman's sold the literary collection of Frederick Stanhope Peck including a First Folio of Shakespeare and in 1962 a desk reputed to be Benjamin Franklin's. In 1967 they hammered down an important collection of impressionist paintings and in 1969 a now famous copy of the Declaration of Independence for $404,000. In these later years a remarkable book dealer turned auction-polymath; Joseph Molloy joined the firm and began cataloging a succession of improving book catalogues that in time attracted David Bloom who today runs this department with the help of an assistant. It is from the late 1960s that the book department that is recognizable today first emerged. In 2005 the firm is local and international at the same time. It has ties to Lyon & Turnbull of Edinburgh and conducts sales online. Its book, manuscript and ephemera business account for about $1.25 million, up more than 10 fold over the past twenty years, accounting for 8% of the firm's now $16.5 million in annual sales. Today, with the advent of the internet the company is once again reaching beyond Philadelphia's Main Line and, if history is any guide, Freeman's will find its way forward though the path may prove uncertain. Befitting the occasion the firm has labored hard to provide an important selection of material to reward its long faithful audience as well as attract, if not in person then at least via internet connection, the larger audience that pursues printed material, paintings, antiques and ceramics wherever they are found. For the occasion a significant cross section of important and collectible materials has been assembled. Here are a few of the important printed materials that will be of interest to collectors. These and all other printed items are entered in the AED (Americana Exchange Bibliographic Database) for quick searching by keyword and phrase. The auctions are of course also available on Freeman's website: www.freemansacution.com In the next three pages we highlight some of the very interesting items.
Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration - By Bruce McKinney The first publication, or public printing, of the U.S. Constitution These lots are part of the first day's sale: Lot 1. 1 vol. (Bible in German.) Biblia, Das ist: Die Heilige Schrift Altes und Neues Testaments, Nach der Deutschen... Martin Luther. Germantown: Christop Saur, 1743. First edition. 4to, orig. sheep over wooden bds.; rubbed & worn, 1 clasp (of 4) only, several metal border ornaments. Title page mounted to inside of front cover, chipping to edges of title page with loss of printing at top of leaf affecting top half of "Biblia." Lacking leaves A2-A4 (pp. 3-8) and Ii2 & Ii3 (pp. 251-254) in New Testament; leaf E1 (pp. 53, 54) in New Testament defective. With the 4 pp. "Kurtzer Begriff" misbound at end. With "Borrede" leaf not called for by Arndt at end. Moderate foxing & dampstaining, some chipping to terminal fore-edges. With separate New Testament title page. Variant B of title page. The first Bible printed in North America in a European language. Evans 5128; Arndt 47 $1,500-2,500 Lot. 2. 1 vol. (Pennsylvania Imprints on American Indians.) Bound collection of 18th-Century pamphlets & c, relating to American Indians: Dickenson, Jonathan. God's Protecting Providence,... Deliverance of Robert Barrow,... Shipwreck... inhumane Canibals of Florida. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1751. Fourth edition. 8vo, (2), (4), 180 pp. Light to moderate foxing. Trimmed - heads close shaved no loss of printing. Evans 6658; Sabin 20015. See Siebert 430. * Post, Christian Frederich. The Second Journal of..., on a Message from the Governor of Pensilvania to the Indians of Ohio. London: J. Wilkie, 1759. First edition. 8vo, (i-vi), (1)-67 (68). Title page darkened & with scattered staining, light to moderate foxing. Trimmed - no loss of printing. Howes P-501; Sabin 64453; Siebert 534. * [Walton, William.] A Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Benjamin Gilbert; who were Surprised by the Indians,... Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1784. First edition. 8vo, (i-iv), (1)-96. Light to occasionally moderate foxing. Trimmed - no loss of text. Evans 18497; Howes W-80; Siebert 439. * Read, Charles. Copy of a Letter... to the Hon. John Ladd. Philadelphia: Andrew Steuart, 1764. First edition. 8vo, (1)-8. Title page slightly browned, scattered foxing. Evans 9809. * [Franklin, Benjamin.] A Narrative of the late Massacres in Lancaster County, of a Number of Indians, Friends of this Province. [Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall], [1764]. First edition. 8vo, (1)-31 (32). Moderate foxing to title page, other light to moderate foxing. Evans 9667; Howes F-327; Miller 807; Siebert 173. * Hopkins, Samuel. An Address to the People of New England. Representing the Very great Importance of attaching the Indians to their Interest... Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1757. 8vo, (1)-27 928). Title page slightly darkened, light foxing. Evans 7917; Miller 660. Collection assembled by John Pemberton. Signed by Pemberton on front free endpaper of vol.; at head of title page of Dickenson title very top of signature trimmed away; at head of title page of Post title - most of signature trimmed away; at head of title page of Walton title - top half of signature trimmed away; at head of title page of Read title - slightly shaved; at head of title page of Franklin title; at head of title page of Hopkins title. Also with the 1811 ownership signature of Jonathan Evans on the front free endpaper recto & his bookplate on the front paste-down. Bound in late 18thcentury sheep-backed bds.; edge wear, front cover detached. Dickenson's God's Protecting Providence, first published in 1700, stands as a richly detailed early Indian Captivity Narrative.
Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration - By Bruce McKinney An irreplaceable first map of Pittsburgh * Post's Second Journal published under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin, describes the successful attempt of the Moravian missionary to win over Indians on the Ohio from France to British interests. * Walton's Narrative of Captivity is of special interest for its account of Indian life. * Read's Letter to John Ladd decries the massacre of Indians in Lancaster, Pennsylvania by the Paxton Boys. * Franklin's scathing condemnation of the Paxton Boys' murderous attack apparently deterred the further killing of unarmed Native Americans. * Samuel Hopkins' work is represented by Franklin's first Philadelphia printing of the conclusion of Hopkins' History of New England's Housatunnuk Indians. Pemberton, John (1727-1795). Prominent Philadelphia born Quaker preacher, opposing armed resistance to Britain, he was imprisoned by the Continental Congress in 1777 but received an official pardon from Washington in 1778, he kept a journal throughout his incarceration. $3,000-5,000 Lot 3. 2 vols. [Franklin, Benjamin]: Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1754. 4to, old sheep; worn & defective, covers detached. Some dampstaining along bottom & fore-edges of title page, some dampstaining to bottom fore-edge corners throughout, very minor scattered foxing. Leaf size: 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches; 229 x 190 mm. * Continuation of the Account of Pennsylvania Hospital. Philadelphia: B. Franklin & D. Hall, 1761. 4to, orig. blue wrappers; chipped, blistered, creased & worn. Dampstaining along bottom 1/2 of fore-edge of title page. Some chipping at bottom of last signature - no loss of printing. Leaf size: 9 1/2 x 7 inches; 241 x 178 mm. Franklin was a prime force in founding the institution, was its first secretary, and later chairman of its trustees; in his Autobiography, he wrote that he could remember no maneuver the success of which gave him at the time more pleasure than that of persuading the citizens and assembly to contribute matching funds to start the hospital (1750-1751). By 1754 the trustees felt they owed their supporters some accounting of their activities before seeking more contributions and asked Franklin to write a history of the hospital. Miller 587 & 764; Evans 7197 & 8972 $3,000-5,000 Lot 4. 1 piece. (American Revolution.) Printed Broadside. [Restraining Acts]: "A Bill for the impartial administration of justice in the cases of persons, questioned for any acts done them in the execution of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults in the province of Massachusetts-Bay, in New England" [and] "A Bill for the better regulating the government of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in North America" [caption titles]. [Philadelphia: Hall and Sellers], [June 15, 1774]. [Postscript to the Pennsylvania Gazette No. 2374]. First Philadelphia printing. Broadside folio (16 1/2 x 10 inches), text printed in three columns. Light creasing (where once folded), small chips at three corners (in blank margins), small surface abrasion in lower portion of third column (approx. 1/2 x 1/2 inch - with loss of a few words).
Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration - By Bruce McKinney A well-written story worth knowing. This broadside prints the text of two coercive bills enacted by the Crown in response to the Boston Tea Party of Dec. 16, 1773. The first provided that persons indicted of capital offenses while carrying out official duties were to be tried by courts outside the province or in England; the second ensured that Massachusetts' Governor's council was composed of Crown appointees and that no town meetings were held without the Governor's permission. These bills served to help unite the Colonies opposition to the Crown & led to the establishment of the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, in September of 1774. The first Philadelphia printing, preceded only by the Boston printing of June, 1774. Not recorded by Evans, Bristol, or NUC. See Hildeburn 3074 for tangential reference to the existence of this imprint. $5,000-8,000 Lot 5. 1 piece. [United States Constitution.] The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser. No. 2690. Philadelphia: Dunlap & Claypoole, September 19, 1787. Folio, unbound & untrimmed, 19 1/4 x 11 7/8 inches (488 x 302 mm). 4 pp. Very slightly browned, small dampstain in upper margin above "The" of banner, and in that relative position on the other three pages, unobstrusive early ink scrawl & mathematical calculations confined to two small areas in margins, vertical & horizontal fold marks on first leaf, with minute area of separation at their conjunction. Faint old pencil signature of Hannah Biddle Williams in margin above fore-edge portion of banner. The first publication, or public printing, of the U.S. Constitution, preceded only by the two "draft" or "transcript" printings for the use of delegates only, and the first printing of the final text of the Constitution for submission to the Continental Congress. The Pennsylvania Packet printing & the printings which preceded it were all printed by John Dunlap and David C. Claypoole, the official printers of the Constitutional Convention & proprietors of The Pennsylvania Packet. The text of the Constitution in the Pennsylvania Packet was printed from the same setting of type as Dunlap and Claypoole's "official edition," with the exception of the Preamble which was reset in larger type. With the exception of a corrected printer's error, the rest of the unaltered text was reimposed to fit on four rather than six pages. Therefore, the Pennsylvania Packet printing is not only the first public printing of the Constitution, but also the second issue of the first printing of the final text of the Constitution. Evans 20819; Brigham 2:942 Freeman's has examined this copy against the trimmed & bound copy held by the Library Company of Pennsylvania, and found that all typographic & paper stock features correspond. As is to be expected, small variations which result from separate inkings of the type & the varying conditions to which paper is exposed for over 200 years are present. Provenance: Family descent from Hannah Biddle Williams and Charles Williams to J. Stanley Reeve and Eleanor Wilbur Reeve to the estate of their offspring, the consignor. $80,000-120,000 Page 7 67. 1 piece. Document Signed. Franklin, Benjamin. N.p., March 14, 1788. 1 p., folio, 13 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches (336 x 393 mm), vellum with three, largely intact, paper seals. Land patent in Washington County, Pennsylvania for George Vallandigham. Document occasionally lightly or moderately darkened, Franklin's signature clear & generally dark (occasionally slightly abraded). Lieutenant Colonel George Vallandigham (ca. 1737-1810), early settler & soldier on Pennsylvania's western frontier, helped to lead several expeditions against the American Indian allies of the British during the Revolutionary War; direct ancestor of Clement Laird Vallandigham, leader of the Peace Democrats or "Copperheads," strongly opposed to Lincoln's Civil War policies. In his last public office, Benjamin Franklin served from October 1785 to October 1788 as President of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - in effect the Commonwealth's governor. $2,500-3,500

Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration

- By Bruce McKinney

A firm as old as the history they sell.

By Bruce McKinney

The Samuel T. Freeman Company of Philadelphia celebrates its two hundredth anniversary this month with four days of important sales. It is the first American auction house to reach this milestone and this sale promises to be a remarkable event. The firm arrives at this juncture sporting the scars and experience to prove it has both made the journey and will continue to be a player in the unsettled and unsettling auction world that is unfolding in the 21st century. For auction houses generally this means continuing rebirth to be relevant. For Freeman's, a canny player in the auction game, they play it as opportunity and daily work to make it one. Their history says they have the skills and ambition to prosper in a world where the high wire is ever higher and safety net long gone. They begin their third century with firm determination to carry their endeavor into the fourth.

In conjunction with this anniversary they are releasing a history of the firm: Vendue Masters: Tales from within the walls of America's Oldest Auction House. It is a collaboration of two writers: Roland Arkell & Catherine Saunders-Watson and a book that "auction-o-philes" will want to give themselves this holiday season. It is one of the better ones and is to be released in conjunction with the four day 200th anniversary sales to be held November 19th through the 22nd. In some sense this celebration was 73,000 days in the making so four days to celebrate seems about right. The firm is also issuing two auction catalogues: A Bicentennial Pennsylvania Sale [11/19-20] and the Esther Ludwig Collection: A Celebration of Pennsylvania [11/21-22]. Important books and manuscripts will be sold during the first two days.

Two intertwined threads connect the firm's first day in 1805 to the 200th anniversary this month: the continuing participation of the Freeman family and the sale of material at auction. Every other aspect of the story flickers and darts, appearing, disappearing and reappearing as circumstances dictate and personalities permit. It is a cautionary tale that reminds us that two hundred year old businesses are rare for a reason: it is almost impossible to survive that long. To do so as a family business is as likely as winning the lottery, only harder. It suggests a rare combination of grit, determination and luck.

To those who know the firm as specialists in fine antiques, exceptional books and manuscripts this is the Freeman Auction Company of today but not the firm that carried the torch down through the first ten decades. At heart the firm was from the beginning simply a seller of what was to be sold. Auctions were first "cried" next to a banner displayed to signal dispersal. Such sales were often the final stage of business dreams gone to Potter's Field. "They say auction is the second oldest profession" and in the nineteenth century it was associated with shame and failure, no doubt a tough business.

Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration

- By Bruce McKinney

Beginning the third century...

In time the Freeman enterprise came in off the streets to occupy a succession of locations in Philadelphia's city center, an area already in subtle if not absolute decline. The firm focused on "jobbing;" second hand furniture and local real estate its strengths. The city early declared itself the Athens of America and in time relived Athens' fate as the century progressed. Freeman's, for its part, was nimble finding opportunity in decline. The final decades of the 19th century would see a significant portion of Philadelphia's commercial opportunities slip away to New York: higher fees and taxes the fulcrum accelerating the shift.

The first century was not without its special moments. In 1824 the firm began regular, if irregular, book sales. The material was rarely if ever catalogued, depending instead on the knowledgeable to understand and interpret. Important material flowed into the rooms although not always books. In 1838 the firm sold the remarkable chess-playing automation: DeKempelen's celebrated chess player known as The Turk, an elaborate mechanical box with a hidden person inside that left the awestruck believing the machine could think. A few years later the firm sold in a succession of sales the local incarnation of the South Seas Land Bubble, mulberry trees, which enriched consignors and the auction house but produced little silk and less wealth for the ever green buyers. Thirty-years later the firm found significant success in liquidation, selling debris from the 1876 Centennial Exposition and later real estate parcels such as the Philadelphia Post Office which they hammered down for a then astounding $425,000 in the same year a first class letter cost two cents: 1884.

Toward the end of the century the firm was conducting regular though un-catalogued book sales and it was possible to occasionally see the young A. S. Rosenbach, whose shop was nearby, come in to inspect and sometimes bid. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, at Thomas Birch, catalogued sales were continuing though the company was nearing its end. In 1908 the exceptional book cataloguer Stan V. Henkels joined the firm bringing with him the final two Samuel W. Pennypacker book sales, the earlier six having been conducted by Davis & Harvey. In this way, although only briefly, the firm became part of one the most important dispersals of printed material in American history. Henkels would, in a few years, depart to start his own firm and Freeman would revert, with some exceptions, to uncatalogued book sales. Books, briefly the bricks then reverted to mortar as paintings and antiques reassumed their higher place in the order of things. In 1919 the firm sold an important Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, the same one many students would later see hanging in their high school home rooms, a paper copy under glass to put a face to the name Washington and bring life to the American flags that invariably hung nearby. The printed material would remain interesting, if uncatalogued, attracting the exceptional Mabel Zahn of Sessler's, other dealers and many collectors to periodically acquire material during the next four decades.

Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration

- By Bruce McKinney

An exceptional sammelband

In 1920 Addison B. Freeman acquired the name and goodwill of J. E. Conant Co. of Lowell, Massachusetts and become the aggressive auction liquidator of New England shoe factories and the company towns associated with them. It would prove a prescient decision as the shoe business and garment industries fell to regional competition in the 1920s and the lingering survivors to the depression in the 1930s. Through it all Freeman's met its payroll.

With the end of World War II came a flood of estate liquidations. In 1947, in a sign of renewed focus on the upscale market, Freeman's sold the literary collection of Frederick Stanhope Peck including a First Folio of Shakespeare and in 1962 a desk reputed to be Benjamin Franklin's. In 1967 they hammered down an important collection of impressionist paintings and in 1969 a now famous copy of the Declaration of Independence for $404,000.

In these later years a remarkable book dealer turned auction-polymath; Joseph Molloy joined the firm and began cataloging a succession of improving book catalogues that in time attracted David Bloom who today runs this department with the help of an assistant. It is from the late 1960s that the book department that is recognizable today first emerged.

In 2005 the firm is local and international at the same time. It has ties to Lyon & Turnbull of Edinburgh and conducts sales online. Its book, manuscript and ephemera business account for about $1.25 million, up more than 10 fold over the past twenty years, accounting for 8% of the firm's now $16.5 million in annual sales. Today, with the advent of the internet the company is once again reaching beyond Philadelphia's Main Line and, if history is any guide, Freeman's will find its way forward though the path may prove uncertain.

Befitting the occasion the firm has labored hard to provide an important selection of material to reward its long faithful audience as well as attract, if not in person then at least via internet connection, the larger audience that pursues printed material, paintings, antiques and ceramics wherever they are found.

For the occasion a significant cross section of important and collectible materials has been assembled. Here are a few of the important printed materials that will be of interest to collectors. These and all other printed items are entered in the AED (Americana Exchange Bibliographic Database) for quick searching by keyword and phrase. The auctions are of course also available on Freeman's website: www.freemansacution.com

In the next three pages we highlight some of the very interesting items.

Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration

- By Bruce McKinney

The first publication, or public printing, of the U.S. Constitution

These lots are part of the first day's sale:

Lot 1. 1 vol. (Bible in German.) Biblia, Das ist: Die Heilige Schrift Altes und Neues Testaments, Nach der Deutschen... Martin Luther. Germantown: Christop Saur, 1743. First edition. 4to, orig. sheep over wooden bds.; rubbed & worn, 1 clasp (of 4) only, several metal border ornaments. Title page mounted to inside of front cover, chipping to edges of title page with loss of printing at top of leaf affecting top half of "Biblia." Lacking leaves A2-A4 (pp. 3-8) and Ii2 & Ii3 (pp. 251-254) in New Testament; leaf E1 (pp. 53, 54) in New Testament defective. With the 4 pp. "Kurtzer Begriff" misbound at end. With "Borrede" leaf not called for by Arndt at end. Moderate foxing & dampstaining, some chipping to terminal fore-edges. With separate New Testament title page. Variant B of title page. The first Bible printed in North America in a European language. Evans 5128; Arndt 47
$1,500-2,500

Lot. 2. 1 vol. (Pennsylvania Imprints on American Indians.) Bound collection of 18th-Century pamphlets & c, relating to American Indians: Dickenson, Jonathan. God's Protecting Providence,... Deliverance of Robert Barrow,... Shipwreck... inhumane Canibals of Florida.

Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1751. Fourth edition. 8vo, (2), (4), 180 pp. Light to moderate foxing. Trimmed - heads close shaved no loss of printing. Evans 6658; Sabin 20015. See Siebert 430. * Post, Christian Frederich. The Second Journal of..., on a Message from the Governor of Pensilvania to the Indians of Ohio. London: J. Wilkie, 1759. First edition. 8vo, (i-vi), (1)-67 (68). Title page darkened & with scattered staining, light to moderate foxing. Trimmed - no loss of printing. Howes P-501; Sabin 64453; Siebert 534. * [Walton, William.] A Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Benjamin Gilbert; who were Surprised by the Indians,... Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1784. First edition. 8vo, (i-iv), (1)-96. Light to occasionally moderate foxing. Trimmed - no loss of text. Evans 18497; Howes W-80; Siebert 439. * Read, Charles. Copy of a Letter... to the Hon. John Ladd. Philadelphia: Andrew Steuart, 1764. First edition. 8vo, (1)-8. Title page slightly browned, scattered foxing. Evans 9809. * [Franklin, Benjamin.] A Narrative of the late Massacres in Lancaster County, of a Number of Indians, Friends of this Province. [Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall], [1764]. First edition. 8vo, (1)-31 (32). Moderate foxing to title page, other light to moderate foxing. Evans 9667; Howes F-327; Miller 807; Siebert 173. * Hopkins, Samuel. An Address to the People of New England. Representing the Very great Importance of attaching the Indians to their Interest... Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1757. 8vo, (1)-27 928). Title page slightly darkened, light foxing. Evans 7917; Miller 660. Collection assembled by John Pemberton. Signed by Pemberton on front free endpaper of vol.; at head of title page of Dickenson title very top of signature trimmed away; at head of title page of Post title - most of signature trimmed away; at head of title page of Walton title - top half of signature trimmed away; at head of title page of Read title - slightly shaved; at head of title page of Franklin title; at head of title page of Hopkins title. Also with the 1811 ownership signature of Jonathan Evans on the front free endpaper recto & his bookplate on the front paste-down. Bound in late 18thcentury sheep-backed bds.; edge wear, front cover detached. Dickenson's God's Protecting Providence, first published in 1700, stands as a richly detailed early Indian Captivity Narrative.

Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration

- By Bruce McKinney

An irreplaceable first map of Pittsburgh

* Post's Second Journal published under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin, describes the successful attempt of the Moravian missionary to win over Indians on the Ohio from France to British interests. * Walton's Narrative of Captivity is of special interest for its account of Indian life. * Read's Letter to John Ladd decries the massacre of Indians in Lancaster, Pennsylvania by the Paxton Boys. * Franklin's scathing condemnation of the Paxton Boys' murderous attack apparently deterred the further killing of unarmed Native Americans. * Samuel Hopkins' work is represented by Franklin's first Philadelphia printing of the conclusion of Hopkins' History of New England's Housatunnuk Indians. Pemberton, John (1727-1795). Prominent Philadelphia born Quaker preacher, opposing armed resistance to Britain, he was imprisoned by the Continental Congress in 1777 but received an official pardon from Washington in 1778, he kept a journal throughout his incarceration.
$3,000-5,000

Lot 3. 2 vols. [Franklin, Benjamin]: Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1754. 4to, old sheep; worn & defective, covers detached. Some dampstaining along bottom & fore-edges of title page, some dampstaining to bottom fore-edge corners throughout, very minor scattered foxing. Leaf size: 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches; 229 x 190 mm. * Continuation of the Account of Pennsylvania Hospital. Philadelphia: B. Franklin & D. Hall, 1761. 4to, orig. blue wrappers; chipped, blistered, creased & worn. Dampstaining along bottom 1/2 of fore-edge of title page. Some chipping at bottom of last signature - no loss of printing. Leaf size: 9 1/2 x 7 inches; 241 x 178 mm.

Franklin was a prime force in founding the institution, was its first secretary, and later chairman of its trustees; in his Autobiography, he wrote that he could remember no maneuver the success of which gave him at the time more pleasure than that of persuading the citizens and assembly to contribute matching funds to start the hospital (1750-1751). By 1754 the trustees felt they owed their supporters some accounting of their activities before seeking more contributions and asked Franklin to write a history of the hospital. Miller 587 & 764; Evans 7197 & 8972
$3,000-5,000

Lot 4. 1 piece. (American Revolution.) Printed Broadside. [Restraining Acts]: "A Bill for the impartial administration of justice in the cases of persons, questioned for any acts done them in the execution of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults in the province of Massachusetts-Bay, in New England" [and] "A Bill for the better regulating the government of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in North America" [caption titles]. [Philadelphia: Hall and Sellers], [June 15, 1774]. [Postscript to the Pennsylvania Gazette No. 2374]. First Philadelphia printing. Broadside folio (16 1/2 x 10 inches), text printed in three columns. Light creasing (where once folded), small chips at three corners (in blank margins), small surface abrasion in lower portion of third column (approx. 1/2 x 1/2 inch - with loss of a few words).

Freeman's Begins Third Century with Celebration

- By Bruce McKinney

A well-written story worth knowing.

This broadside prints the text of two coercive bills enacted by the Crown in response to the Boston Tea Party of Dec. 16, 1773. The first provided that persons indicted of capital offenses while carrying out official duties were to be tried by courts outside the province or in England; the second ensured that Massachusetts' Governor's council was composed of Crown appointees and that no town meetings were held without the Governor's permission. These bills served to help unite the Colonies opposition to the Crown & led to the establishment of the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, in September of 1774. The first Philadelphia printing, preceded only by the Boston printing of June, 1774. Not recorded by Evans, Bristol, or NUC. See Hildeburn 3074 for tangential reference to the existence of this imprint.
$5,000-8,000

Lot 5. 1 piece. [United States Constitution.] The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser. No. 2690. Philadelphia: Dunlap & Claypoole, September 19, 1787. Folio, unbound & untrimmed, 19 1/4 x 11 7/8 inches (488 x 302 mm). 4 pp. Very slightly browned, small dampstain in upper margin above "The" of banner, and in that relative position on the other three pages, unobstrusive early ink scrawl & mathematical calculations confined to two small areas in margins, vertical & horizontal fold marks on first leaf, with minute area of separation at their conjunction. Faint old pencil signature of Hannah Biddle Williams in margin above fore-edge portion of banner. The first publication, or public printing, of the U.S. Constitution, preceded only by the two "draft" or "transcript" printings for the use of delegates only, and the first printing of the final text of the Constitution for submission to the Continental Congress. The Pennsylvania Packet printing & the printings which preceded it were all printed by John Dunlap and David C. Claypoole, the official printers of the Constitutional Convention & proprietors of The Pennsylvania Packet.

The text of the Constitution in the Pennsylvania Packet was printed from the same setting of type as Dunlap and Claypoole's "official edition," with the exception of the Preamble which was reset in larger type. With the exception of a corrected printer's error, the rest of the unaltered text was reimposed to fit on four rather than six pages. Therefore, the Pennsylvania Packet printing is not only the first public printing of the Constitution, but also the second issue of the first printing of the final text of the Constitution. Evans 20819; Brigham 2:942 Freeman's has examined this copy against the trimmed & bound copy held by the Library Company of Pennsylvania, and found that all typographic & paper stock features correspond. As is to be expected, small variations which result from separate inkings of the type & the varying conditions to which paper is exposed for over 200 years are present. Provenance: Family descent from Hannah Biddle Williams and Charles Williams to J. Stanley Reeve and Eleanor Wilbur Reeve to the estate of their offspring, the consignor.
$80,000-120,000

Page 7
67. 1 piece. Document Signed. Franklin, Benjamin. N.p., March 14, 1788. 1 p., folio, 13 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches (336 x 393 mm), vellum with three, largely intact, paper seals. Land patent in Washington County, Pennsylvania for George Vallandigham. Document occasionally lightly or moderately darkened, Franklin's signature clear & generally dark (occasionally slightly abraded). Lieutenant Colonel George Vallandigham (ca. 1737-1810), early settler & soldier on Pennsylvania's western frontier, helped to lead several expeditions against the American Indian allies of the British during the Revolutionary War; direct ancestor of Clement Laird Vallandigham, leader of the Peace Democrats or "Copperheads," strongly opposed to Lincoln's Civil War policies. In his last public office, Benjamin Franklin served from October 1785 to October 1788 as President of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - in effect the Commonwealth's governor.
$2,500-3,500