For decades, the Shrewsbury Historical Society wrestled with what to do with an obviously valuable, poster-sized copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Unsure how to display the 231-year-old linen document and keep it safe from thieves or vandals, the society chose to keep the document locked in a safe, its existence largely a secret outside of the society�s core members. The society had held the document for decades, perhaps 100 years, in the glass frame in which it was donated.
The society�s members voted to sell the document about a year ago. The document went up for auction in Boston Sunday.
Expected to sell for between $70,000 and $90,000 � and insured for $125,000 � society members were shocked when an intense bidding war among 10 prospective buyers led to a sale price of $693,500.
�We had no idea it would be worth that much,� said Dorbert �Dorby� Thomas, president of the Shrewsbury Historical Society.
The document was bought by White Plains, N.Y., antiques dealer Seth Kaller, on behalf of an unnamed private investor.
In an e-mail sent to the Telegram & Gazette, Mr. Kaller said of displaying the document: �We are discussing exhibit possibilities, and most likely will end up lending it to a major historical institution.�
Ms. Thomas said the Shrewsbury Historical Society decided to sell after finding no connection between the document and Shrewsbury history. The broadside had no accompanying documentation about who donated it, who owned it or how it came into the town historical society�s possession.
�We knew it was worth more than we could afford to just put it on the wall,� she said. �So no one could see it, and we couldn�t show it to anyone because it was so valuable. What was the point in having it if we just kept it hidden?�
The society will earn about $645,000 from the sale, after paying 7 percent of the sale price to Skinner Inc., the auction house that appraised and sold the document. The money will be placed in a trust fund, Ms. Thomas said, and the society will spend the earned interest on such things as exhibits and maintenance.
The document is one of about six known existing broadside copies of the Declaration that were printed in Boston about a week after the July 4, 1776, signing in Philadelphia. Other broadsides were printed in other cities, including Albany, N.Y., and New Haven, Conn.
The broadside was meant to be tacked up for public display to announce rebellious colonists� intentions to break away from England. Probably about 100 copies were made by the Boston printing company John Gill, Powars and Willis, according to Stuart P. Whitehurst, vice president of Skinner Inc.
The last time a document of its type went up for sale, in 1999, it fetched $90,000 at auction. (The buyer was also Mr. Kaller, on behalf of a private collector named Albert Small, who donated it to the Albert and Lillian Small Declaration of Independence Collection at the University of Virginia.)
Compare that to the $8 million paid in 2000 for one of 25 known Dunlap broadside copies of the Declaration, printed in Philadelphia just after the document was signed. It is likely this broadside was copied from one of the Dunlap broadsides.
Mr. Whitehurst said there has been an appreciable uptick in interest in historical documents since the last time one of these prints went up for sale. �It�s the kind of document that has gone from being interesting and fun to have, to being historically important,� Mr. Whitehurst said. �It�s now seen as something that is an honor to own.�
He said Skinner Inc. holds its auction every year during the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair at the Hynes Convention Center, and interest in the broadside of the Declaration of Independence was intense. Five buyers were at the auction and five more were on the phone, leading to a bidding war that escalated the price of the document, he said.
Besides being a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the broadside differs from the famous document in another way, according to Mr. Kaller.
�The manuscript, which everyone is familiar with as our �National Treasure� document, says that it is the �Unanimous Declaration,� � Mr. Kaller wrote, �while the July �76 broadsides are headed �A Declaration.� � The vote did not become unanimous for another month, when the Continental Congress got back together again to sign it in August, and the state of New York finally voted.
Mr. Whitehurst said he appraised the document at $90,000, because that is what a much better conditioned copy sold for last time and because the document had some damage. There is a small triangular piece missing; there are pinholes in all four corners; and the document was obviously folded for some time before being painstakingly restored about 100 years ago.
�The market is very different now. There apparently were several bidders for whom the possibility of owning a July 1776 broadside printing of the Declaration was very exciting, and the condition became less of a factor,� he wrote.
Because there was no documentation, Mr. Whitehurst said he and other manuscript experts carefully analyzed the document, and compared it to other known copies.
�By the type used, the way it struck the back of the document, everything about it said it was authentic,� Mr. Whitehurst said.
In his e-mail to the Telegram & Gazette he wrote: �I�ve been the largest buyer of important American historic documents, for about 20 years. I act as agent and dealer. The majority of what I buy eventually ends up being donated to historical societies or other institutions, but in the meantime individuals and corporations enjoy building their collections.�
Read a full preview guide to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, held in New Delhi - 4.5hrs ahead of the UK - between October 3-14.
Sunday 3 October will come as a welcome relief for the beleagured organisers of the 19th Commonwealth Games after events over the past two weeks. That should all change when the Bollywood-inspired opening ceremony takes place at the updated 60,000 capacity Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. The following day 17 sports competitions will get under way. Phew! Time to focus on sporting glory and uplifting tales of unheralded sportsmen and women from the 54 Commonwealth nations. Read a quick potted history here.
Nations from Anguila to Zambia will take part in the Indian capital. England have 365 athletes in Delhi, 23 more than Melbourne 2006, while the 444 athletes in England’s team for the home Games in 2002 remains the largest on record. Team Scotland are sending 191 athletes, Wales have 175 participants. Isle of Man, Jersey (33) and Guernsey (43) are also competing.
Welsh 400m hurdler Dai Greene is now one of the leading lights for gold on the track. Rebecca Adlington, Fran Halsall are two of a host of English swimmers who will battle for top podium with the Australians in the pool. Nathan Robertson will look for further honours in the badminton hall, a starry-eyed 16 year-old Zoe Smith, who lives a stones throw from the London 2012 site, could win a weightlifting medal, while Paul Drinkhall will know that the Far East's top table tennis players won't be present over the next week. Scottish bowler Willie Wood winning gold at 72? Delightful.
The BBC will be broadcasting around 180 hours of live sport on BBC One and 1,800 hours on the red button, starting at 9am. The Friendly Games broadcaster has deployed 56 staff, though most will be stationed back in the UK, notably Mark Foster and Ian 'Thorpedo' Thorpe, who will be sparring with Clare Balding for the swimming coverage.
Forget the controversy surrounding Phillips Idowu's decision not to travel to Delhi. England high jumper Martyn Bernard will take a snake bite if it means snatching gold. Asked about the prospect of creepies in his room at the athletes village, he said: "I’m from Wakefield so that has prepared me for anything."