Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents.

W hile the Goldman Collection is probably best known for the Official Printing of the United States Constitution, which will be offered this November 18^th in our series of evening sales, the Collection includes many other significant historical documents that illuminate the history and continuing influence of the Constitution.

United States House of Representatives (Bill of Rights) | The first separate printing of the Bill of Rights
Estimate: 700,000 - 1,000,000 USD

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“The Signing of the Constitution,” by Louis S. Glanzman. Courtesy of the artist. *In black and white*:

Our live sale of Part 1 of the Collection, November 23, will focus on the foment that led to American Independence and Confederation and the writings that influenced the framers of the Constitution and those who fought for its ratification. These select lots will include official printings of the Stamp Act and other Parliamentary legislation that the colonists found “intolerable”; an early printing of the Articles of Confederation, the first, and highly ineffective, federal charter; the first book-form printing of the Declaration of Independence; an oath of allegiance to the United States (and of dis-allegiance to George III) signed at Valley Forge by Tench Tilghman, aide-de-camp to George Washington; a rare thick-paper copy of the first edition of The Federalist, which collected the pseudonymous essays written in support of ratification by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay; and the House of Representative draft of the Bill of Rights, which included seventeen amendments.

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Parliamentary Act. Reign of George III [The Stamp Act] | Government without consent

Estimate: 7,000 – 10,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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Articles of Confederation | "The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship"

Estimate: 30,000 – 50,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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Declaration of Independence | The first book-form printing of the Declaration of Independence

Estimate: 200,000 – 300,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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Tilghman, Tench, & William Alexander | George Washington's aide Tench Tilghman swears his allegiance to the United States

Estimate: 20,000 – 30,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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(Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay) | Praised by George Washington as a "work [that] will merit the notice of Posterity"

Estimate: 200,000 – 300,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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Numerous state constitutions are represented as well, notably those of Pennsylvania (1776), New York (1777), and Massachusetts (1780), all of which preceded the national Constitution. And the sale will offer as well a myriad of later regional and other printings of the United States Constitution in pamphlet and broadsheet format. There are even two editions of the Constitution printed for the use of the Congress that are signed by successive Presidents: Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce.

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Pennsylvania | The first independent state constitution issued after the Declaration of Independence

Estimate: 25,000 – 35,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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New York | Gulian C. Verplanck's copy of the first constitution of the state of New York

Estimate: 15,000 – 20,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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United States Constitution | A commemorative copy, signed by President Millard Fillmore

Estimate: 4,000 – 6,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

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United States Constitution | A commemorative copy, signed by President Franklin Pierce

Estimate: 10,000 – 15,000 USD

Making Our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part 1

23 November 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

View Lot

Images from left to right: “The Signing of the Constitution,” by Louis S. Glanzman. Courtesy of the artist. In color:. Alexander Hamilton,” by John Trumbull, 1806. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY:. “James Madison,” by George Peter Alexander Healy. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY:. Back of the State House, Philadelphia,” from William Birch’s *The City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania*:.

The Values and Vision of the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation

The Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation will advance the principles of America’s founding documents through educational programs for students across all media so that our young Americans can be better informed about the founding of our republic and the citizens who created the founding documents. A greater understanding of our American principles and ideas will lead to more informed citizens and voters.

It is the hope of this Foundation to further the understanding of why the acts of all citizens can make a difference. This can be accomplished through art projects, cultural institutions, educational institutions and worthy individuals. By providing strategic grants this Foundation hopes to further the understanding of our Constitutional principles.

Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation
A Better America: Civics, Citizens, Country

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