The History Buff, Inc. - Phone: (952) 937-0325
17509 Bearpath Trail, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 or Palm Beach, FL, 33480
The 'Stone'
Copy of The Declaration of Independence
The W.J. Stone
engraved Rice Paper Copy
A RARE UNFOLDED
COPY
SUMMARY: This
offering is the Stone Declaration of Independence printed on
rice paper. It is a rare UNFOLDED COPY.The most important
of our founding documents. Price: $37,500.00
The original Declaration was
not cared for properly in that is was left hanging in sunlight
in the Library of Congress and its condition was obviously deteriorating.By
1820, growing concern about the condition of the original Declaration
by the surviving Signers of The Declaration of Independence and
other leaders resulted in an Act of Congress to reproduce a facsimile
of the original. Charged with heading the project, Secretary
of State John Quincy Adams commissioned engraver William J. Stone
of Washington to reproduce the Declaration by engraving a copperplate
facsimile from the original utilizing a wet-ink transfer process
during which the original Declaration was moistened and ink was
lifted directly from it and transferred to a clean copperplate,
which was then engraved, creating a perfect copy of the original
document.
Stone completed the task of engraving
the copper plate in 1823. However the original document was almost
destroyed during the ink transfer process thus making the Stone
copperplate itself exceedingly valuable as the only accurate
replica of the original D of I. The first time Stone used his
engraved plate he printed 201 copies on the same type of vellum
parchment as the original. Approximately 31 of these "vellum
Stone D of I's" are known to have survived***, 19 of
which are in museums. The first few copies of vellum replicas
was distinguished from the original document by the fact that
"Engraved by W. J. Stone for the Department of State, by
order" was printed in the upper left hand corner and "of
J. Q. Adams, Sec. of State July 4th 1823." was printed in
the upper right hand corner.Also, Stone apparently printed a
few broadsides on paper at the same time that he printed the
Declarations on vellum. These broadsides have the same printings
designating Stone as the engraver and that they were printed
by order of John Quincy Adams in the respective corners that
are present on the vellum versions.These
broadsides are very rare and only three have appeared at auction
in the last decade.
Later printings on vellum did
not have the aforementioned printing on them.The details of how
the vellum iteration was distributed are below.*** The Stone
copperplate was then placed in storage. Twenty years later, in
1843, Peter Force was commissioned by Congress to to print a
series of books that became known as the American Archives.
The purpose of 
the
nine-volume set was to create and preserve copies of the founding
documents of the United States. The Stone engraving plate was
taken from storage and used to produce copies of the D of
I on rice paper for Volume I of the Fifth Series of the Archives
(the seventh volume out of the nine).Originally it was planned
to print 1500 copies of the rice paper iteration but the project
ran out of funding and it is estimated that far less than 1000
copies were done. Both the rice paper and vellum copies
are distinguishable from the original document by an engraving
in the lower left corner "W.J. Stone S.C. Washn"
(as shown below). After printing the copies of the D of I
on rice paper the Stone plate was again retired and is now displayed
at the National Archives.
THIS OFFERING-UNFOLDED
STONE D OF I
This offering is an unfolded
copy of the W.J. Stone Rice paper copy of the Declaration
which is in very fine condition and measures 25" x 30".
This copy has beautiful toning. It has been professionally restored
and now is in almost perfect condition with some minor ink loss
to a few letters that is almost unnoticeable.The document will
be placed in a beautiful antique frame and will be preserved
using advanced archival techniques. The document of course displays
the W.J . Stone makers mark found on all Stone
iterations of the Declarations.
In the opinion of The History
Buff this is one of the scarcest and most worthwhile American
historical collectibles available today.It is as close as any
citizen will ever come to owning one of America's founding documents.The
Declaration of Independence along with the United States Constitution
and Magna Carta are certainly the three most important political
documents in the history of man. The Declaration is one of the
four most important American founding documents-the other being
The causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms, The Constitution
and Thomas Paine's Common Sense. There has been a steady
appreciation of the value of these documents over the past 5
years. One of the six copies of the Magna Carta sold for over
21 million dollars recently:"A rare 710-year-old copy
of the Magna Carta, among the most important historical documents
ever to hit the auction block, sold for $21.3 million on Tuesday
at Sotheby's."
Incidentally, The vellum copy
of the D of I seldom comes on the market and they are increasingly
hard to find. One sold recently for in excess of $400,000. The
rice paper D of I's are of course more available but, because
of the fragile nature of rice paper, condition is important in
determining value. Almost every rice paper item was folded at
one time. However, on occasion, an unfolded one, such as is being
offered here, surfaces on the market but they usually sell for
approximately twice what the folded ones sell for.That fact is
what makes this document an incredible buy.
***On May 26, 1824, a resolution
by the Senate and House of Representatives provided: “That
two hundred copies of the Declaration, now in the Department
of State, be distributed in the manner following: two copies
to each of the surviving Signers of the Declaration of Independence
(John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Carroll of Carrollton);
two copies to the President of the United States (Monroe); two
copies to the Vice-President of the United States (Thompkins);
two copies to the late President, Mr. Madison; two copies to
the Marquis de Lafayette, twenty copies for the two houses of
Congress; twelve copies for the different departments of the
Government (State, Treasury, Justice, Navy, War and Postmaster);
two copies for the President’s House; two copies for the
Supreme Court room, one copy to each of the Governors of the
States; and one to each of the Governors of the Territories of
the United States; and one copy to the Council of each Territory;
and the remaining copies to the different Universities and Colleges
of the United States, as the President of the United States may
direct.”
We also have a write up on the Dunlap
Broadside facsimile on this web site.
PRICE:$37,500.00
The History Buff - Authentic Historical Autographs & Collectibles
17509 Bearpath Trail, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 or
Palm Beach, Florida 33480
eMail: thehistbuff@aol.com
Phone: 952-937-0325
|
| The History Buff - Authentic Historical Autographs & Collectibles 17509 Bearpath Trail, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 or Palm Beach, Florida 33480 |
eMail: thehistbuff@aol.com
Phone: 952-937-0325 |