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Auction archive: Lot number 47

The Journal of the First Continental Congress

Estimate
US$30,000 - US$50,000
Price realised:
US$37,800
Auction archive: Lot number 47

The Journal of the First Continental Congress

Estimate
US$30,000 - US$50,000
Price realised:
US$37,800
Beschreibung:

The Journal of the First Continental Congress Philadelphia, 1774 CONTINENAL CONGRESS. – Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress, held at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. Philadelphia: Printed by William and Thomas Bradford, at the London Coffee House, 1774. Charles Thomson signs the very rare second issue of the first edition including the Petition to the King. The first Continental Congress met in September 1774 in the wake of the Royal Navy's blockade of Boston Harbor as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The first inter-colonial meeting since the Stamp Act Congress (New York in 1765), representatives of twelve colonies met at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Georgia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, St. John's Island, East and West Florida were also invited, but did not attend. And of those, only Georgia would send delegates the following year. Some of the most prominent luminaries of the time were present including John Adams Samuel Adams, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Roger Sherman John Jay, Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson Edmund Pendleton, and Henry Middleton. As a body, the First Continental Congress, headed by Peyton Randolph of Virginia, enacted several measures—including a non-importation agreement boycotting British goods—and drafted documents such as a Declaration of Rights (15 October), an Address to the People of Great Britain (21 October) and another Address to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec (26 October). This, the second issue, was likely printed several months following the first issue in November, when the contents of the very important Petition to the King, drafted and sent on 1 October 1774, remained secret. The petition, which likely reached London sometime in late November, sought redress with a promise of loyalty if the status quo of 1764 were restored. This rare 144-page issue also includes Thomas Gage's 20 October 1774 response to Peyton Randolph's appeal of 10 September. The title page bears the famous seal of the Congress, showing twelve hands representing the twelve participating colonies supporting a column topped with a Liberty Cap and resting on the Magna Carta and framed with the motto: Hanc Tuemur Hanc Nitimur ("This we defend, this we lean upon"). Evans 13737; Ford 39 (lists the second issue, noting "some copies were issued before pp. 133-144 were printed."); Howes J-263 ("b"); Revolutionary Hundred 20 (including 1775 volume); Sabin 15542 (cites only this edition), Octavo (197 x 126mm). Without half-title (light scattered foxing, repairs at foot of title page just touching seal and to rear free endpaper where library stamps have been excised, labels removed from front pastedown and front cover). Contemporary calf (rubbed, rebacked and recornered). Provenance: W.L. Williams (ownership inscription on front free endpaper and title) – Anderson Galleries, 28 February 1922, lot 193.

Auction archive: Lot number 47
Auction:
Datum:
25 May 2022
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
Beschreibung:

The Journal of the First Continental Congress Philadelphia, 1774 CONTINENAL CONGRESS. – Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress, held at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. Philadelphia: Printed by William and Thomas Bradford, at the London Coffee House, 1774. Charles Thomson signs the very rare second issue of the first edition including the Petition to the King. The first Continental Congress met in September 1774 in the wake of the Royal Navy's blockade of Boston Harbor as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The first inter-colonial meeting since the Stamp Act Congress (New York in 1765), representatives of twelve colonies met at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Georgia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, St. John's Island, East and West Florida were also invited, but did not attend. And of those, only Georgia would send delegates the following year. Some of the most prominent luminaries of the time were present including John Adams Samuel Adams, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Roger Sherman John Jay, Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson Edmund Pendleton, and Henry Middleton. As a body, the First Continental Congress, headed by Peyton Randolph of Virginia, enacted several measures—including a non-importation agreement boycotting British goods—and drafted documents such as a Declaration of Rights (15 October), an Address to the People of Great Britain (21 October) and another Address to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec (26 October). This, the second issue, was likely printed several months following the first issue in November, when the contents of the very important Petition to the King, drafted and sent on 1 October 1774, remained secret. The petition, which likely reached London sometime in late November, sought redress with a promise of loyalty if the status quo of 1764 were restored. This rare 144-page issue also includes Thomas Gage's 20 October 1774 response to Peyton Randolph's appeal of 10 September. The title page bears the famous seal of the Congress, showing twelve hands representing the twelve participating colonies supporting a column topped with a Liberty Cap and resting on the Magna Carta and framed with the motto: Hanc Tuemur Hanc Nitimur ("This we defend, this we lean upon"). Evans 13737; Ford 39 (lists the second issue, noting "some copies were issued before pp. 133-144 were printed."); Howes J-263 ("b"); Revolutionary Hundred 20 (including 1775 volume); Sabin 15542 (cites only this edition), Octavo (197 x 126mm). Without half-title (light scattered foxing, repairs at foot of title page just touching seal and to rear free endpaper where library stamps have been excised, labels removed from front pastedown and front cover). Contemporary calf (rubbed, rebacked and recornered). Provenance: W.L. Williams (ownership inscription on front free endpaper and title) – Anderson Galleries, 28 February 1922, lot 193.

Auction archive: Lot number 47
Auction:
Datum:
25 May 2022
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
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