Manuscript Document Signed ("Peter Zenger"), ink on paper, written in a clerical hand. 415 x 317 mm, New York, 2 November 1731, being a witnessing signature on a declaration made by Johann David Wolff concerning legal proceedings against his relatives in Germany for the recovery of a debt, signed by Wolff, also witnessed by Thomas Richardson and Thomas Brown and also signed by Robert Lurting, Mayor of New York, and four alderman, notarized by clerk William Sharpas, with the embossed paper seal of the City of New York attached to the document with silk strings; together with a 3 1/2 page German ancillary document, and a 2 page copy of the Deed in German, being the details of the debt and the deed. The principal document slightly toned, and the attached documents more browned and stained. Provenance: Sang Foundation Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, June 3, 1980, lot 1053: Sotheby's New York October 26 1988, lot 208; Marshall B. Coyne Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, June 5th 2001, lot 324. This 1731 power of attorney is a very rare signed document by John Peter Zenger, a German printer in New York (established 1725), here witnessing a case by Johann Wolff to collect a debt. This event taking place just 3 years before his famous trial for publishing seditious writing and his subsequent acquittal. When Zenger witnessed Wolff's claim, he was a respected but fairly obscure member of the German Community in New York. The articles in The New York Weekly Journal printed in February 1733 against the new Colonial Governor of New York, William Cosby, brought about his arrest and trial in 1734. Zenger's defense attorneys, both British-American, defended Zenger by arguing that "Truth is an absolute defense against libel," a central premise for the freedom of the press. Zenger, by default, became a pivotal figure in the fight for the Liberty of the Press in Colonial America, a freedom now enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Of Zenger's acquittal Governor Morris later wrote that Zenger was "the germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America." Documents signed by Zenger are of the utmost rarity, Rare Book Hub lists just 4 documents or letters signed by Zenger appearing at auction since 1935.
Manuscript Document Signed ("Peter Zenger"), ink on paper, written in a clerical hand. 415 x 317 mm, New York, 2 November 1731, being a witnessing signature on a declaration made by Johann David Wolff concerning legal proceedings against his relatives in Germany for the recovery of a debt, signed by Wolff, also witnessed by Thomas Richardson and Thomas Brown and also signed by Robert Lurting, Mayor of New York, and four alderman, notarized by clerk William Sharpas, with the embossed paper seal of the City of New York attached to the document with silk strings; together with a 3 1/2 page German ancillary document, and a 2 page copy of the Deed in German, being the details of the debt and the deed. The principal document slightly toned, and the attached documents more browned and stained. Provenance: Sang Foundation Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, June 3, 1980, lot 1053: Sotheby's New York October 26 1988, lot 208; Marshall B. Coyne Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, June 5th 2001, lot 324. This 1731 power of attorney is a very rare signed document by John Peter Zenger, a German printer in New York (established 1725), here witnessing a case by Johann Wolff to collect a debt. This event taking place just 3 years before his famous trial for publishing seditious writing and his subsequent acquittal. When Zenger witnessed Wolff's claim, he was a respected but fairly obscure member of the German Community in New York. The articles in The New York Weekly Journal printed in February 1733 against the new Colonial Governor of New York, William Cosby, brought about his arrest and trial in 1734. Zenger's defense attorneys, both British-American, defended Zenger by arguing that "Truth is an absolute defense against libel," a central premise for the freedom of the press. Zenger, by default, became a pivotal figure in the fight for the Liberty of the Press in Colonial America, a freedom now enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Of Zenger's acquittal Governor Morris later wrote that Zenger was "the germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America." Documents signed by Zenger are of the utmost rarity, Rare Book Hub lists just 4 documents or letters signed by Zenger appearing at auction since 1935.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
