Other· 1780s
A handwritten Declaration in a $100 library-sale law book
By the Editors · As reported by Fine Books & Collections, 16 January 2025
FoundNew York, United States
Tucked inside Laws of New York (18th-century set)
A collector bought an incomplete set of eighteenth-century Laws of New York, rebound in plain blue buckram in the 1950s, at a library sale for roughly $100. Bound inside was a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence by Samuel Jones, a New York lawyer and delegate who helped secure the state’s ratification of the Constitution, probably carried to New York’s 1788 ratifying convention in Poughkeepsie. Christie’s offered it in January 2025 with a $2 million to $3 million estimate, as the only eighteenth-century manuscript of the Declaration in private hands.
This is our summary of a find reported in the press. For the full story, photographs and any updates, read the original report in Fine Books & Collections.