Carving Attributed to the “Spike Carver” Philadelphia, circa 1760 Height: 29 inches Diameter of top: 37 3/8 inches Estimate: $500,000-2,000,000 Provenance: Major-General James Potter (1729-1789) and his wife, Elizabeth Cathcart (d. 1764) of Philadelphia, who married in circa 1755. After his wife’s death, he married Mary Patterson (1739-1791) in circa 1765 and they lived in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania; Or Colonel James Crouch (c. 1728-1794) and his wife Hannah (Brown) (1727-1787), who married on September 22, 1757, at Walnut Hill in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; To James and Hannah Crouch’s son, Edward Crouch (1764-1827), and James and Mary Potter’s daughter, Margaret (1775-1797), who had married and were living at Walnut Hill; To their daughter Mary Crouch (1791-1846), who married Benjamin Franklin Jordan (1777-1861), at Walnut Hill; To their son General Thomas Jefferson Jordan (1821-1895), who married Jane Wilson (1823-1898); To their daughter Letitia Wilson Jordan (1853-1931), who married Leonard W. Bacon (1830-1907); To their son David L. Bacon (1895-1982), who married Maria Tillman Hart (1895-1925); Thence by descent to present owners. Condition Report: Remarkably, this table retains its original varnish and the base has no subsequent layers of shellac, wax or varnish added. The figured top has a shrinkage crack extending approximately 15 ½ inches towards the center. Several small cracks exist in the pie-crust top from regular use. Small losses and abrasions to scalloped top include the following small losses: 1 in., 1 3/8 in., 1 ½ in. and 1 in. One small patch, possibly a cabinet maker’s error, 1 ¼ inch, and another patch 1 inch in pie crust edge. Attaching the cleats on the underside of the top are round head screws which appear to be original except for one that has been replaced and another that is missing. On the bird-cage, one turned post has been re-glued. There is a 3 ¼ inch split across bottom board of the bird-cage. Brass Catch and escutcheon and screws appear to be original. On the tri-pod base, the upper shaft has a crack running from shoulder (which supports birdcage) down the post vertically 1 ¾ inches. The bird-cage ring appears to be original and retains its original finish. The tulip poplar key which lock is extremely old, but may be an early (18th or early 19th century) replacement and has some loss to its width. The leather washer which buffers and lies beneath the donut appears to be 18th or early 19th century, accompanies the table. On the base, vertical splits in upper shaft of post which locks into birdcage, 3 ¾ inches and 3 inches, stabilized by 2 old screws. The vasiform section of the pedestal has an old vertical shrinkage crack approximately 3 inches long in the central area. The feet have never been fitted for casters (the table’s mate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at one time had 19th century or later casters. The lower area of the shaft has the following minor shrinkage cracks: 2 ½ inches on one leg, 1 inch on another leg, 4 ½ inch shrinkage crack on one foot a that crosses the ball and upper part of the talon. One leg has a small chip that appears to be abrasion, 8 inches from the end of the leg, which abraded some of the carving. Retains original iron “spider brace” with original rose head nails which have never been moved. Inscription on verso in white chalk: “Henry…” illegible second name...more

One of William Penn’s Earliest Pennsylvania Deeds – with a Bonus Parcel That is Now Part of Independence Mall By Royal charter, King Charles II granted William Penn the lands that became Pennsylvania on March 4, 1681. Only 17 days later, Penn sold 500 acres to Thomas Saunders, making him a “First Purchaser.” Such a substantial purchase entitled an owner to an additional lot in the town of Philadelphia, and Saunders’s lot occupies part of today’s Independence Mall. WILLIAM PENN. Manuscript Document Signed. Deed to 500 acres in Pennsylvania, with a bonus lot in Philadelphia. March 21, 1681 (1682—England and its colonies held to the old Julian calendar with March 25 as the first day of the year until it changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.) 1 p., large vellum engraved indenture form with scalloped top. 26 x 20¼ in., framed, 35½ x 31¾ in. Co-signed by Herbert Springett, Thomas Coxe, and Thomas Rudyard on verso. Docketed and signed on verso by Lewis Weiss, and also by Thomas Lask of the “Office of Recording Deeds.” Estimate $10,000- 20,000 Thomas Saunders (or Sanders), a yeoman from Illmore in Buckinghamshire, was among the earliest Quaker emigrants to Pennsylvania. William Penn envisioned Pennsylvania as haven for persecuted Quakers, but also as a long-term real estate investment. His capital, Philadelphia, was laid out as a rectangular grid stretching between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, with straight streets, open spaces, and public squares to promote communal identity and healthfulness. As an incentive for Englishmen to purchase land before emigrating to his new colony, William Penn granted bonus lots within the planned capital city of Philadelphia. According to historian Jean Soderlund: “Philadelphia had by far the largest acreage of any seventeenth-century North American town, but it was a much smaller place than WP had originally intended. He was thus forced to abandon his original scheme of granting one city acre for every fifty acres purchased, which would have given a 100-acre city lot to each First Purchaser of 5000 acres. Instead, he apportioned lots of only one-half to one acre in his great town … Surveying on the Delaware side of town began in December 1682 … (William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania: A Documentary History, 204-205).” John Reed’s landmark 1774 map (Map of the city and liberties of Philadelphia, with the catalogue of purchasers, [Philadelphia], T. Man) lists Thomas Saunders, owner of Lot 145 on the northwest corner of Mulberry [present day Arch] and Fifth Street, among the several hundred “First Purchasers.” The land he owned is now part of Independence Mall. The verso of this deed includes a later manuscript note signed by Lewis Weiss (1717-1796), a German-born jurist and among the most accomplished real estate attorneys in mid-18th century Philadelphia. His ability as a drafter of legal documents was so well known that he was frequently employed by the Assembly to prepare the more important bills which were to come before them” (Jordan, “Lewis Weiss of Philadelphia” in PMHB, vol. 15). Partial Transcript “Whereas King Charles II by his letters patent under the great seal of England bearing date the 4th day of March in three and thirtieth year of his reign for the considerations therein mentioned have given and granted unto the said William Penn his heirs and assigns all that tract or part of land in America with the islands therein conveyed and there unto belonging as the same is bounded on the east by Delaware river from 12 miles distance northward of New Castle towne to three and 40th degree of northern latitude and extendeth westward 5 degrees in longitude and bounded on the south by a circle drawn att 12 miles distance of New Castle aforesaid northwards and westwards….and hath r the said tract of lands into a province or signory by the name of Pennsylvania in order to establishing of a colony and plantation of the same And thereby also further granted to the said William Penn heirs and assigns from tyme to tyme and lycense to assign alien grant demise for a gross such parts and parcels of said province or tract of land as here or they shall think fit”...more

John Penn Writes to Younger Brother Thomas About Their Father in His Black Cap, and Their Mother’s Chocolate Recipe “all Relations have much as they ware & give their Dear Love to Father & Mother…” Fifteen-year-old John, having just left the Penn household in Ruscombe, England, writes home. He mentions his mother’s cooking and the well-documented family love of chocolate. The recipient, John’s younger brother, Thomas Penn, who later owned ¾ of William Penn’s proprietary interest in Pennsylvania, practices signing his name on the address leaf. The “Black Cap” referred to in John’s postscript is a reference to the famous Quaker hat. Quakers, as a sign of their egalitarianism, refused to take their hat off for anyone, regardless of societal rank. “Addam” was William Penn’s nickname, a reference to the biblical first man. JOHN PENN. Autograph Letter Signed. Bristoll, 4 Decem: 1715. 1 page, with autograph address and six examples of THOMAS PENN’S signature on verso. Estimate: $15,000- 30,000 This marks the earliest known written exchange between two sons of William Penn and Hannah Callowhill, John and Thomas. At this point, John was fifteen years old and Thomas thirteen. Their father, the founder of Pennsylvania, was largely incapacitated after suffering two strokes in 1712. The Penns split their time between the Callowhill estate in Bristol, where Thomas was born, and Ruscombe, a manor house rented by William Penn. At Ruscombe lived William and Hannah, their children John, Richard, Dennis, and Thomas, and William’s children from his first marriage. The struggle between Hannah Penn and her sons, and William Penn, Jr., for control of Penn’s estate lay in the future. John Penn had just begun to live with the Callowhills in Bristol in order to apprentice as a merchant, and Hannah encouraged him to write to his younger brother. Complete Transcript Bristoll 4 Decem: 1715 Dear Brother I Last Post recd thy letter but am a sham’d to think how far I am in thy Debt nor know what Excuse to make, but must Wholy Reley on thy Mercy knowing it to be boundless to forgive Past offences upon Promise of being better for time to Come, as to the Charg of the Chacoletts making I writ to mother in y Last but as to the P[art] Rasburys that Came w[it]h the oyster [loss] sent it to mother but think it would [be] better if it was Boyl’d up again which she would have done but had not time, all Relations here much as they ware & give their Dear Love to Father & Mother wch wth my Duty, and Dear Love to thy Self is all at Presant from Thy very affect & Lov Brother John Penn Pray Give My Respects To the Reverant Old Gentleman That usually wares A Black Cap & our old Father Adam [address:] John Penn / 4 Hber 1715 / to pay more / Mr Thomas Penn / Doctor of Phisick / at Ruscombe / Near Reading / 3 in Berks [on margins in Thomas Penn’s hand:] his own name, signed in six different fashions, at the age of thirteen. John Penn (1700-1746), William Penn’s son, called “the American” because he was born in Philadelphia, though he remained for less than a year. In the complicated settlement of his father’s will, John received half of the proprietorship of Pennsylvania. John went back to Pennsylvania in 1734, attending a few meetings of the provincial council before returning to England a year later. He died with no heirs, and left his rights in Pennsylvania to his brother Thomas. Thomas Penn (1702-1775), proprietor of Pennsylvania. In 1718 his father died, leaving the proprietary interest in Pennsylvania to his widow as executrix for their four sons. This was contested until 1727, after she and the youngest son, Dennis, had died, at which point the eldest son, John, received half the proprietary, and Thomas and Richard each one-quarter. Thomas spent most of his adulthood in London but directed his proprietary interest in Pennsylvania carefully. His greatest influence was in appointments and in the survey and sale of lands – he is known for his role in the infamous “Walking Purchase” of 1737, whereby the Delaware Indians were forced to agree to a fraudulent land deal surrendering much of their homeland along the upper Delaware River. Penn was an important but polarizing figure in Pennsylvania affairs – Benjamin Franklin organized the Quaker Party in opposition and sought to have the King declare Pennsylvania a royal colony. One major sticking point was Penn’s unwillingness to allow the colonial assembly to tax family lands....more

William Penn Grants 1,500 Acres to a Founding Member of the Colony WILLIAM PENN. Document Signed, “Wm Penn,” with his seal, also signed by Harbt [Harbert] Springett, Ben. Griffith, Tho. Coxe, Worminghurst, Sussex, England, April 11, 1682, 1pp. On March 4, 1681, William Penn received a huge land grant from Charles II and proceeded to carve it up in hopes of turning a profit while establishing his colony. The following year, John Blunston and other English Quakers arrived in Pennsylvania from England, and settled Darby Township, Pennsylvania. Estimate: $6,000-12,000 Complete Transcript “Know all men by these presente, that I William Penn of Worminghurst in the county of Sussex Enge have had and received of and from John Blunston of litle Hallam in the county of Derby~//~//~Husbandman~//~//~//~//~the sume of Thirty pounds Sterling going for the purchase of one thousand five hundred Acres of Land in Pensylvania~ and the Consideration money mentioned to be paid in and by one paire of Indentures of Release and confirmation bearing even date herewith and made between me the said William Penn of the one part and the said John Blunston of the other part ~//~according to the purport of the same Indentures Of and from whith said summe of Thirty pounds sterling I the said William ~ Penn . Doe hereby for my selfe my heires ~ Executo: Administrato: and Assigns Release quit :claims and for ever discharge the said John Blunston his ~heires Executo: Administrato and Assigns and every of them by these presente~ Witnesse my hand and scale this Eleventh day of –April –Anno Dmni 1682 Annoq RRs Carstdimmi Anglicezt xxxiiii °/ Sealed and delivered Wm Penn [red wax seal] In the presence of Harbt Springett/Ben. Griffith/Tho. Cone” On verso: Docketing #1 “No 1 Wm Penn Rect for 30£ Sterling to John Blunston” Docketing #2 “Belongs to Thomas H. Powers Philada 1846 April 4” Docketing #3 “Recorded in the Office for Recording Deeds &c. for the city and County of Philada in Deed Book T.H. No. 71 page 430/Witness my Hand & Official Seal this Fourth day of April A.D. 1853. Thos. Helm Reca” John Bluston (1644-1723) A founder of Pennsylvania, Bluston was born in Little Hallam, Derbyshire, England and came to Pennsylvania after receiving this land grant from William Penn. He helped found Darby, Pennsylvania, donated the land for a burial ground and meeting house, and helped establish the Darby Friends Meeting. A friend of Penn’s, Bluston served on the Governor’s Council, as an Assemblyman from Chester County, and as Justice of the Peace. As settlement of Pennsylvania increased, he sold off some of his grant. In 1715, he joined fellow Friends in protesting against slavery and the slave trade in the colony. William Penn (1644-1718) rejected his Anglican faith and joined the Society of Friends when he was 22 years old. His chagrined father, Admiral William Penn, had hoped his son would curry favor in the court of England’s King Charles II; instead, he saw his namesake persecuted and imprisoned during the confusion following the Interregnum and Restoration of the monarchy. Because they would not swear a loyalty oath to Charles II, persecution of Quakers continued and helped sway Penn towards establishing a North American colony where religious rights would be protected. In 1677, he and other Quakers received land in West New Jersey. Penn remained in England, but worked writing a charter for the colony that included free elections, jury trials, and freedom of religion. Fortunately for Penn, his father had provided Charles II a large loan, and the King settled accounts with the elder Penn’s estate by granting his son a huge tract of land south and west of New Jersey on March 4, 1681. The direct grant to the Penn family established Pennsylvania as a propriety colony, because the King granted land to an individual rather than to a company such as the Massachusetts Bay Company. As a result, Penn had considerable latitude to govern—and distribute land—as he saw fit. Technically, Penn’s power was limited by the Crown, but he created a system of government that would have all the hallmarks of the U.S. Constitution including complete freedom of religion for any believers (unique for the era), representative government, and separation of powers. Hoping to convert his lands into wealth for himself and his family, he aggressively marketed the colony and quickly attracted a diverse group of settlers. Unfortunately, he never actually made any money and died in debt....more

George Washington’s First Thanksgiving Proclamation On September 28, 1789, just before the closing of the First Federal Congress, the Senate added its assent to a House resolution requesting that George Washington be asked to call for a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. Later that day, Congress ratified the Bill of Rights to be sent to the states for their ratification, and on the next day the first session of the first Federal Congress was adjourned. On October 3, George Washington issued America’s first presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation and the Gazette printed it in full in the next edition of the newspaper. [GEORGE WASHINGTON]. Newspaper. Gazette of the United States. New York, N.Y., October 7, 1789. 4 pp., In addition to the Thanksgiving Proclamation on page one, this issue also includes: a printing of the Treaty of Fort Harmar between the United States and they Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pattawatima, and Sac Indian nations (p. 1, col. 2 to p. 2, col. 2). A report from London about an “African Genius” (p. 2, col. 2). And a report on the proceedings of Congress, including an act to suspend part of the Tonnage Duties Act (p. 4 col. 3). Estimate $15,000-30,000 Urging his countrymen to give thanks “for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness… for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge,” Washington employed the exact language of the Congressional request to begin his proclamation but went further, giving thanks for “tranquility, union, and plenty” and asking the Almighty to guide the new nation’s leaders and government. He used the same approach a year later when he wrote what is now one of his most celebrated letters: “For happily the Government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, [and] requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.” Washington willingly echoed Moses Seixas’s stance on tolerance and added to it, just as he did in his Thanksgiving Proclamation when asking the Almighty “To render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and Constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed.” Keno Auctions is honored to have displayed one of only two manuscript copies of Washington’s proclamation before it sold to a private collector late last year....more

[SONS OF LIBERTY.] William Russell. Autograph document, Boston, Massachusetts, August 14, 1769, 1 p., with additional writing on verso. These patriotic toasts—written on the fourth anniversary of Boston’s Stamp Act Riot—defiantly salute American liberty. The writer may have numbered among the 350 Sons of Liberty who celebrated the event at a dinner in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He would have been in good company: John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Adams were among the guests. “ Two of the toasts?—“May the Sons of Liberty Shine With Lustre” and “Liberty without End. Amen.”?—?need no explanation. However, two others beg explanation: “Wilks 45” refers to British parliamentarian John Wilkes, who was jailed in 1763 for publishing an incendiary criticism of the King in volume 45 of his journal, The North Briton. “45” became a colonial rallying cry, as seen twice on the hat of one figure in the framed image. “Wilkes 45” gained a counterpart in the “American 92,” referring to the 92 Massachusetts legislators who rejected the Royal governor’s demand they repeal a letter opposing the Stamp Act’s despised successor, the Townshend Acts. Estimate $20,000 – 30,000 The much hated Stamp Act of 1765, Britain’s first attempt to impose a direct tax on the colonies, spawned the seeds of revolution in America. Cries of “Taxation Without Representation” echoed through the streets, stamp distributors were burned in effigy, and British goods were boycotted. That spirit of rebellion gave rise to the Sons of Liberty, a secretive group of patriots dedicated to opposing British tyranny. On August 14, 1765, an effigy of stamp distributor Andrew Oliver was found hanging from a tree in the middle of Boston. It was one of the first acts of the Sons of Liberty. A large crowd gathered at the scene, parading through town with the effigy and burning it, before proceeding to attack Oliver’s home. British authorities had been put on notice: the citizens of Boston would stand up for their rights. Thanks in part to the riot, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act the next year. August 14 became the unofficial birthday of the Sons of Liberty. In 1769, 350 members of the group attended a great dinner under a tent at the Liberty Tree Tavern in Dorchester. The revelers flew flags, played music, fired cannons, and offered up 45 toasts to everything from “All true Patriots throughout the World” to “The Speedy Removal of all Task Masters.” Among the attendees were John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Adams. The latter recorded the event in his diary: Dined with 350 Sons of Liberty at Robinsons, the Sign of Liberty Tree in Dorchester. We had two Tables laid in the open Field by the Barn … After Dinner was over and the Toasts drank we were diverted with Mr. Balch’s Mimickry … We had also the Liberty Song … and the whole Company joined in the Chorus. This is cultivating the Sensations of Freedom. There was a large Collection of good Company. Otis and Adams are politick, in promoting these Festivals, for they tinge the Minds of the People, they impregnate them with the sentiments of Liberty. They render the People fond of their Leaders in the Cause, and averse and bitter against all opposers. (Adams, August 14, 1769 Diary entry) This document was found in the papers of William Russell (1748-1784), a schoolteacher, early member of the Sons of Liberty and Boston Tea Party participant. The writing on the verso, comprising the word “Answer” followed by several monetary figures, suggests that the toasts were drafted on a page from an old exercise book. Russell may have written all or part of the document. In June 1777, Russell joined the Massachusetts artillery, with the rank of sergeant major and afterward adjutant. Following service in the Rhode Island campaign, Russell signed up as clerk on the Jason, commanded by Captain John Manley of Marblehead. The ship was captured on her first cruise, in September 1779, by the British frigate Surprise, and captain and crew were confined to Mill Prison in Plymouth, England. Russell whiled away his time there by conducting classes for the younger members of the captured American crews. His journal from that period is in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum. Russell was exchanged almost three years later, and returned to Boston in June aboard the cartel ship Lady’s [sometimes spelled Ladies’] Adventure. Three weeks after that, he re-entered the naval service, only to be recaptured by the British in November. This time Russell was incarcerated in the prison ship Jersey. He was released, for a second time, in March of 1783. After one more brief stint at sea, Russell returned to teach school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His health shattered after his long imprisonment, Russell died of consumption in March of 1784....more

Benjamin Franklin Supports the Abolition of Slavery, Washington Addresses the Reformed Dutch Church and Offers Thanksgiving Thoughts [BENJAMIN FRANKLIN]. Newspaper. Gazette of the United States. November 25, 1789, New York, N.Y., 4 pp. On October, 9, 1789, Address from the Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church of New York to President George Washington, with Washington’s humble reply To the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in North America discussing his gratitude for their support, thanks for the nation weathering the revolution and peacefully establishing constitutional goverment and ensuring religious freedom. (p.1, col. 3) Estimate $4,000-8,000 A printing of Benjamin Franklin’s “Address to the Public from the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of free Negroes unlawfully held in bondage.” Franklin’s Address, Excerpt “Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature that its very extirpation if not performed with solicitous care may sometimes open a source of serious evils…..The unhappy man who has long been treated as a brute animal too frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human species. The galling chains that bind his bode do also fetter his intellectual faculties and impair the social affections of the heart.” Washington’s Address Gentlemen, I receive with a grateful heart your pious and affectionate address, and with truth declare to you that no circumstance of my life has affected me more sensibly or produced more pleasing emotions than the friendly congratulations, and strong assurances of support which I have received from my fellow-citizens of all descriptions upon my election to the Presidency of these United States. I fear, Gentlemen, your goodness has led you to form too exalted an opinion of my virtues and merits—If such talents as I possess have been called into action by great events, and those events have terminated happily for our country, the glory should be ascribed to the manifest interposition of an over-ruling Providence. My military services have been abundantly recompensed by the flattering approbation of a grateful people; and, if a faithful discharge of my civil duties can ensure a like reward, I shall feel myself richly compensated for any personal sacrifice I may have made by engaging again in public life. The Citizens of the United States of America have given as signal a proof of their wisdom and virtue in framing and adopting a constitution of government, without bloodshed or the intervention of force, as they, upon a former occasion, exhibited to the world of their valor, fortitude, and perseverance; and it must be a pleasing circumstance to every friend of good order and social happiness to find that our new government is gaining strength and respectability among the citizens of this country in proportion as it’s operations are known, and its effects felt. You, Gentlemen, act the part of pious Christians and good citizens by your prayers and exertions to preserve that harmony and good will towards men which must be the basis of every political establishment; and I readily join with you that “while just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to government its surest support.” I am deeply impressed with your good wishes for my present and future happiness—and I beseech the Almighty to take you and yours under his special care. Washington. With some reflections for Thanksgiving, including an excerpt from Washington’s first Thanksgiving Proclamation under the new constitution: “that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, for his kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of union, tranquility, , and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.” (p. 3, col. 3). With a report from Revolutionary Paris about the Women’s march on Versailles, with Lafayette in command of “50 Parisian troops and mob were killed and thirty of the King’s guards were cut to pieces”…“For the last 24 hours the King has not eaten an ounce of food.” (p. 2, col. 3-p. 3, col. 1). A few pithy remarks on taxation (p. 3, col. 1). And parts of the plan for assuming state debts, a list of past payments by the Treasury, and numerous acts of Congress....more

Earliest Obtainable Printing of the Bill of Rights To ensure ratification of the Constitution, the founding fathers promised that Congress would address guarantees of specific liberties in their first session. [BILL OF RIGHTS]. Newspaper. Gazette of the United States. October 3 [misprinted “October 1,” corrected by hand], 1789. New York: John Fenno. 4 pp. 10 x 16 in. Estimate $30,000- 60,000 After months of discussion and debate, on September 24-25 the Senate and House of Representatives approved the final text of proposed amendments to the Constitution. Three days later, on September 28, the House examined the final copies, “found the said bills and articles of amendment…to be truly enrolled,” and Speaker of the House Frederick Muhlenberg signed the copies to be sent to the states for ratification. The first two articles were not ratified at the time, so articles three through twelve actually became the Bill or Rights upon Virginia’s approval on December 15, 1790. Just one day after President Washington sent official copies to the states for ratification, the Gazette of the United States printed the full text of proposed amendments to the Constitution in its final form. While there is at least one known newspaper printing from October 2, we have never seen an example on the market. The Gazette of the United States, printed in New York City when it was the nation’s capital, is often considered the most significant newspaper of the 18th century. During the formative years of the new federal government, the Gazette was a champion of federalism. Most early acts of Congress and the presidential actions and pronouncements were first printed in this newspaper. The lack of a Bill of Rights—a central feature of most state Constitutions—was a principal criticism of the recently-drafted federal Constitution. To ensure ratification, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention promised that the Congress would address guarantees of specific liberties in their first session. Additionally, during the ratification process, five states approved the Constitution and passed along lists of proposed amendments. Two states that had refused to ratify (Rhode Island and North Carolina) nonetheless suggested amendments. In all, nearly one hundred discrete amendments were offered. At first lukewarm to the idea, “father of the Constitution” James Madison campaigned on a promise to fight for a Bill of Rights. On May 4, 1789, Madison told the House of Representatives he planned to present a slate of amendments three weeks later. When May 25 arrived, Congress was debating import duties, so Madison demurred until June 8, when the House again rebuked his efforts. Rising once more, Madison apologized to his colleagues and introduced his proposals. On July 21, 1789, the House formed the Committee of Eleven (one member from each state—Rhode Island and North Carolina had not yet joined the Union) to consider the proposed amendments. The Committee made its report on July 28, taking the nine broad areas Madison had suggested for amendment and drafting 17 individual amendments for House approval. These passed the House on August 24, and the Senate began their debate the next day. The Senate passed its own version with 12 amendments on September 9. Wrangling over language continued for the next two weeks in committee, mostly over what would ultimately become the 1st and 6th Amendments. The House agreed on September 24, the Senate the next day, and the official copies were signed on September 28. Then, twelve articles of amendment were sent to the states for ratification on October 2, 1789. Two of the twelve proposed amendments, the first regarding apportionment of representation in the House and the second, congressional salaries, were not ratified by the states, so only articles three through twelve became the first ten amendments. However, article #2, which stated that Congressional pay increases (or decreases) would not take effect until an election had ensued, eventually became the 27th Amendment on May 8, 1992, 203 years after it was first proposed....more

“The Greatest of Early American Maps…a Masterpiece” – Corcoran “This monumental work is without question the finest printed cartographic document relating to North America to be published to date.” (Burden). No other English American colony was mapped in the seventeenth century on such a large scale, and in such amazing detail. HOLME, Thomas. [Across the Top]: A Map of the Improved Part of the Province of Pennsilvania in America. Begun by Wil: Penn Proprietary and Governour thereof Anno 1681. [Decorative cartouche to right]: A Map of the Province of Pennsilvania. Containing the three Countyes of Chester, Philadelphia, & Bucks, as far as yet Surveyed and Laid out…. Sold by Rob: Greene at the Rose & Crowne in Budg. Row, and by John Thornton at the Platt in the Minories. F. Lamb, Sculp. London 1687. Copper-engraving on six sheets, joined to form one 33-1/2 x 55-1/2” map. Later color. Estimate: $200,000-$300,000 In 1681, William Penn was granted sole proprietorship to more than forty-five thousand square miles in a region that he named Pennsylvania. Through vigorous promotion more than a half-million acres were sold in the first year alone. Because each tract had to be laid out before it could be developed, Penn appointed Thomas Holme surveyor general of the colony in April 1682; he immediately began to survey the land and to lay out the future city of Philadelphia. His plan, entitled A Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia was published in 1683. Penn then pressured Holme to produce a general map of the colony, complaining from London that “we want a map to the degree that I am ashamed here … all cry out, where is your map, what no map of the settlements!” The completed manuscript was on its way to Penn in London by May 1687, and the finished map was advertised in January 1688. It illustrates the “improved”, or settled, area of the province along the western bank of the Delaware River, a tract of approximately fifty-five miles in length and thirty-three miles in width. On a scale of one mile to one inch, it locates the holdings of 670 settlers, and was the only map of any English colony to give such a detailed account of settlement. Holme’s 1683 plan of Philadelphia, the first published for any English American city, was included in reduced form as an inset in the upper right corner. The map’s great size made it unwieldy for general use, and very few copies must have been printed, most for official use. A reduced version was published by Philip Lea around 1690. Philip Burden identifies two states of the map; this is state two. State one survives in a single example at the British Library, believed to be the copy given to William Penn. It is distinguished by having Neshaminy Creek flowing above the letters “KS COUN” in the name “Bucks County.” Copies of this second state (altered to show the creek flowing below the letters “S C” in the county’s name) are in the collections of the following institution: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, American Philosophical Society, Library Company of Philadelphia, Winterthur, Library of Congress, Biblioteca nacional de España (National Library of Spain), Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France). We have found no other copies recorded in private hands, and no sale records in the last several decades. Condition The sheets have been joined with thick tape, and the whole has been backed with conservation paper. There are some minor repaired tears and loss of original paper in a few places. Provenance: Corporate collection, 1985, private collector 2012. References Burden, The Mapping of North America II, 628 Corcoran, Thomas Holme Surveyor General of Pennsylvania Klinefelter, “Surveyor General Thomas Holme’s Map of the Improved Part of the Province of Pennsylvania,” Winterthur Portfolio, VI, p. 41. Snyder, City of Independence, pp. 22-25...more

*Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) Spotted Orb and Pyramids, 1956 Gouache on paper Signed lower right, “Calder 56” 29 1/2 x 41 1/4 inches (75 x 105 centimeters) Estimate: $20,000-40,000 PROVENANCE: Perls Gallery, New York; Ester Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; A Prominent Southern California Collection, circa 1970; Name of collector will be provided to the buyer. Purchased from the Estate of the above by the present owner. EXHIBITED Long Beach, Long Beach Museum of Art, Calder Gouaches: The Art of Alexander Calder, January 11 – February 8, 1970, traveled to San Diego, Fine Arts Museum of San Diego (February 27 – March 9, 1970), Phoenix, Phoenix Museum of Art (May 1 – May, 1970) LITERATURE “Calder Gouaches: The Art of Alexander Calder,” Long Beach Museum of Art, 1970, p. 6, p. 8 illustrated in color. Please note that Keno Auctions Guarantees this work as by Alexander Calder and will not complete the sale without an Application Number. The timing of the catalogue did not allow for the Application number to be assigned. Although born in 1898 to a family of artists, Alexander Calder’s legacy is rooted in purposefully calculated, geometric works of art and sculpture. His interest in controlled, mechanical creation was apparent from a young age, and eventually led him to acquire a degree in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. After graduating in 1919, he worked a number of jobs, such as draftsman for a power company, adviser at a lumber trade magazine, and fireman.[1] Two years later, he moved to New York and enrolled as a student at the Art Students’ League. While studying here, he became acquainted with Ash Can School artists John Sloan and George Luks, who influenced Calder’s decision to take his next job as an illustrator for the National Police Gazette. Calder’s experience as an illustrator was especially influential for the path of his future artistic career. This job led him to discover the Ringling Brother’s and Barnum and Bailey Circus, from which he derived his “Miniature Circus,” a small-scale model directly representative of the animation and ingenuity of his later works, specifically his gouaches. In 1926, Calder moved to France, where he continued to hone his ideology as an artist. His visit to the studio of De Stijl artist Piet Mondrian in 1930 was particularly significant, as it was here that he realized his desire to use inert, geometric shapes and primary colors. The impact of this experience was still present twenty years later, when he executed the gouache Spotted Orb and Pyramids in 1956. At this time he was living between Paris and New York, though primarily associating himself with European cubist and surrealist artists, such as Yves Tanguay and André Masson. The color palette consists of red, yellow, blue and green, and the forms are immobile and geometric. According to Wahneta T. Robinson, curator of the Long Beach Museum of Art, the subject and title of this work are derived from an experience that Calder had two years prior to its completion. While on a return flight from a trip to India, the pilot decided to circle the pyramids while flying over Egypt.[2] He later he recalled these images, and applied his interpretation to create this work. This work appears to be among the earliest of Calder’s use of pyramids as a subject in his gouaches. Many comparable works of pyramids—some with orbs– were executed during the 1970s, though none include this particular arrangement of pyramids, orbs, and color. The use of blue tinged with yellow to create one mild, and one stronger plane of green is an uncommon feature among his pyramid gouaches; most incorporate exclusively the primary colors, yellow, red, and blue. In addition, the spotted orb contrasts with the clean geometric lines of the blocked pyramids to create a striking image. This work was lent by Perls Galleries in 1970 for a traveling exhibition titled Calder Gouaches, organized by the Long Beach Museum of Art. Perls Galleries represented Calder from 1955 to 1976. During the tour, it was shown at Long Beach Museum of Art, Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, and Phoenix Art Museum. The present work is illustrated in color ( no. 2 ) in the printed catalogue, Calder Gouaches: The Art of Alexander Calder, which accompanied the exhibition. Inscriptions: Two labels from the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on the verso, attached to a section of the cardboard preserved from the (probably) original backboard with “Summer Show” typed twice. Affixed to these labels are two labels from the Esther Robles Gallery, one with the typed inscription ALEXANDER CALDER / SPOTTED ORB & PYRAMIDS / GOUACHE / 29 ½’’ X 41 ¾’’ / 1956 [1] Wahneta T. Robinson, Calder Gouaches, 1970, no. 2, p. 3. [2] Wahneta T. Robinson, Calder Gouaches, 1970, no. 2, p. 3....more

Ruth Asawa (American, 1926-2013) Untitled S.621 (Hanging, Six-Lobed, Multi-Layered, Interlocking Forms with a Sphere in the Third Lobe) c. 1973 Brass and Copper Wire 77 inches x 16.5 inches x 16.5 inches Estimate: $150,000-250,000 Photos ©Laurence Cuneo, 2014 Today, Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) is one of America’s most celebrated educators and artists. Asawa’s constructionist wire creations celebrate negative and positive space and the relationship between open and closed forms. They are sculptures that seem to be drawn in space. Asawa’s frequent use of contrasting types of wire adds drama by interweaving contrasting texture and color within a unified design. Asawa’s time as a student at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the late 1940s had a profound effect on her. Her key mentor was the famous Bauhaus-trained German painter Josef Albers, from whom she not only learned color theory and design, but also the importance of experimenting with different materials to the fullest until the desired effect is achieved. Her other professors included Merce Cunningham, Ilya Bolotowsky and Buckminster Fuller. While she was a student the college had visiting professors such as Willem de Kooning, and her classmates included Kenneth Noland, Ray Johnson, and Robert Rauschenberg. Importantly, she learned from Albers the importance of negative verses positive space and explored the relationship of two-dimensional to three-dimensional designs, realizing that she could, in fact, ‘draw in space.’ For Asawa, wire would be the medium with which she would draw. As Daniell Cornell has pointed out, several of Alber’s exercises for his students at Black Mountain College involved folding paper into three-dimensional shapes. (Please see The Sculptures of Ruth Asawa: Contours in the Air. Daniell Cornell, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, University of California Press, 2006, p. 143) Asawa developed her unique style of wire looping in part from the techniques and patters of village basket weavers that she encountered on a trip to Mexico in the summer of 1947. She began manipulating wire in an “e–loop motif” which could be woven flat, and then shaped into a plethora of forms. Asawa visualized wire patterns as lines which could be made into a sculptural, three-dimensional form. Asawa said, “I was interested in…the economoy of a line, making something in space, enclosing it without blocking it out. It’s still transparent. I realized that if I was going to make these forms, which interlock and interweave, it can only be done with a line because a line can go anywhere.” (Cornell, p. 138)...more

Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) Pig’s Tail, Standing Mobile, 1968 Sheet metal, brass, wire Incised “CA” on base 5 1/2 x 7 1/4 x 12 inches Estimate $50,000-100,000 PROVENANCE Estate of the artist; Perls Gallery , New York (Perls no. 10275); M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, with copy of the original receipt; Purchased from the above by the present owner, 1982. EXHIBITED “Alexander Calder: Small Scale,” M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, New York, May 15—June 3, 1982. LITERATURE “Alexander Calder: Small Scale,” M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., 1982, p. 10, illustrated in color. Keno Auctions fully guarantees that the standing mobile, "Pig's Tail" is an authentic work by Alexander Calder, and the sale will be final ONLY upon receipt of the Registration Number....more

Peter Beard (American, b. 1938) Ulysses Grant’s Definition on History: ‘Just one goddam thing after another’ Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, November 5, 1996 Multi-media Chromogenic Print with Collage Signed, dated and inscribed in white ink (on the recto): 73 1/2 x 47 in. Estimate: $25,000-50,000 Please note that this is a unique work. Literature: Beard, PB, 2, Taschen, 2006, no. 343, p. 141 The practice of keeping diaries and capturing photographic remembrances has always been an inherent part of who Peter Beard is. He took his first photographs at the age of twelve and has documented his life experiences through images that he frequently compiles into his personal diaries. These images, along with his personal diaries, which include natural objects collected along the way, are part of the assemblage of his path as an artist, and as his journeys as a man of the world. Beard is passionate in his perpetual war against the unethical game hunting of elephants and other wildlife in Africa. Congruent with long stretches of his life spent there, he has collaborated with many well-known artists such as Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and Andrew Wyeth, as well as the writer Truman Capote. His images of The Rolling Stones during their 1972 American tour are among the most iconic in the band's history. . THE PRESENT WORK: In 1996, only a few months prior to his upcoming one-man exhibition in Paris, Carnets Africains, he was trampled and punctured by the tusk of an elephant in Africa. This work, of impressive size and deep and powerful in meaning, was assembled shortly after this near death experience, and features the x-rays of his skull and upper torso. He has positioned these x-rays at the center of the Chromogenic Print and as its largest image, suggesting the significance of his survival and an new appreciation of life in light of coming so close to losing his own . The images in the Print surrounding the x-rays are varying in subject, though are primarily cutouts of clippings from his personal diaries. The images are powerfully telling of Beard's lifelong dedication to Africa and the suffering that he has endured.Beard has juxtaposed an assemblage of “found objects” on top of the Chromogenic Print. These include: a feather, photographs—including ones of children (unidentified) and of beard himself, a pack of matches and a small envelope filled with newspaper clippings with words underlined in ink, message book notes, a photograph, etc. His inscription-- in white ink across the bottom of the piece--titles the work and with a Statement typical of Beards sardonic humor: "Ulysses Grant's Definition of History: 'Just one goddamn thing after another. " To the right of the inscription it is signed and dated. This multi-media work including a collage of found objects – actual props on the stage of Beard’s life-- is a significant part of his oeuvre created at a pivotal point in his life. The fact that Beard chose and placed the items, much like he assembles his diaries, is especially significant....more