An official first printing of the U.S. Constitution, one of only two duplicates in private hands, will be auctioned off the following month, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday.
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In total, there are 13 known duplicates to exist, with the remaining 11 presently in institutional and government collections.
The sale, slated for Dec. 13, will mark whenever this particular duplicate first has been auctioned off in more than 125 years, according to Sotheby’s, which estimates the historical record will get between $20 to $30 million. The auction will take place a little more than a year after Sotheby’s auctioned off the other first-edition duplicate that’s privately possessed.
Known as the Goldman Constitution, the historical report sold for $43.2 million, setting another record for any book, manuscript or printed text sold at auction, per Sotheby’s.
“The phenomenal sale result we achieved for the Constitution last November was a genuinely interesting and inspired second,” said Richard Austin, Sotheby’s Global Head of Books and Manuscripts. “A year later after the record-breaking sale, we trust the remarkable chance to acquire one of two privately possessed duplicates of the Constitution will inspire a similar response that galvanized the public last year,” added Austin.
Ahead of the sale, ConstitutionDAO, a now-old decentralized autonomous organization created to raise money to acquire the report, raised more than $40 million through crowdfunding in an attempt to purchase it, according to Sotheby’s. In any case, the duplicate ultimately went to Kenneth Griffin, the organizer and Chief of Citadel, who then loaned the report to a historical center.
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Having had the honor of offering the Goldman duplicate of the Constitution at auction two times before, first in 1988 and again last year, it is a monstrous honor to bring to auction the only other duplicate of the first printing of the Constitution remaining in quite a while,” said Selby Kiffer, Sotheby’s International Senior Specialist for Books and Manuscripts.
“Duplicates from the principal printing have only appeared at auction a handful of times since they were first printed and issued to delegates over 200 years ago, so the appearance of this duplicate on the market is really a special second,” Kiffer added. Before going up for auction, the duplicate will be on display at Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries from Nov. 4 however Nov. 22.
