Federal Historical Memorabilia

Uncut Sheet of Nautical Decorated Commercial Banknotes, Circa 1850s - 1860s, a polychromed printed sheet of obsolete commercial banknotes issued by the Stonington Bank of Stonington, Connecticut, in Five and Ten Dollar denominations. The Five Dollar notes feature a central allegorical image of a Neoclassical seated woman holding a Liberty Pole and scales, by a cornucopia, resting her foot on a globe: symbols of Liberty, Justice, Plenty, and Navigation - taken together she represents Lady Liberty or perhaps a version of Lady Columbia...

Presented is an original Benjamin Franklin signature, presented framed with an etched portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Jacques Reich. The cut signature reads “Benja. Franklin” with a dramatic flourish, or paraph, on the “n” in Franklin. Franklin signed in black ink. This rare cut Franklin signature was one of several prominent American statesman autographs collected together and bound in a 1809 volume of the Baltimore Evening Post. Paired with the cut signature is a beautifully executed etching of Franklin by artist Jacques Reich. Printed in 1903, Reich based his portrait off the famous 1778 Joseph Siffred Duplessis oil painting of Franklin. Jacques Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont commissioned both the oil painting and a terracotta medallion with Franklin’s profile from Duplessis during Franklin’s time in France. The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1779 and quickly emerged as the most iconic image of this legendary statesman, later used on the American 100 dollar bill. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was a true renaissance man. He was an author, politician, scientist, inventor, and diplomat. Franklin was instrumental in the formation of the United States and served as the country's first ambassador to France. He is the only Founding Father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris (1783), and the Constitution (1787). Benjamin Franklin was born in colonial Boston...

Presented is an 1815 engraving by Samuel Seymour, entitled The U.S. Frigate United States Capturing His Britannic Majesty's Frigate Macedonian. The print is after a similarly-titled oil painting, engagement between the United States and the Macedonian, by Thomas Birch. This hand colored engraving was published by James Webster in Philadelphia. It depicts the October 25, 1812 battle fought near Madeira between the US Navy heavy frigate USS United States...

Presented is a rare and magnificent early printing of the Declaration of Independence on silk. The silk broadside was made by H. Brunet, in Lyon, France specifically for the American market. The design was based on the 1819 engraving on paper by William Woodruff. Printed in 1820, this silk broadside was one of the earliest printings of the Declaration, in any form, sold to the American public. Following the War of 1812, Americans began to look back, for the first time with historical perspective, on the era of the founding of the country. With nostalgia and curiosity, many Americans began to examine the details of the nation’s founding. Documents like the debates of the Constitutional Convention, first laws of the United States, and the Declaration were printed for public consumption for the first time. Entrepreneurial publishers hoped to fill this demand and rushed to produce the first engraved printing of the Declaration of Independence. The first to do so was Benjamin Owen Tyler in 1818, who produced an elegantly staid engraving with impressively faithful facsimile signatures. Tyler’s business rival John Binns started his own design more than a year before Tyler, yet his more decorative engraving was not published until 1819, two months on the heels of an eerily similar Declaration design by Philadelphia printer William Woodruff. In this very competitive market, Binns went so far as to sue Woodruff for stealing his design, but was unsuccessful in his lawsuit. These three Declaration designs were followed in 1820 by an ornamental broadside by Eleazar Huntington and the silk broadside offered here. In this 1820 design by Frenchman H. Brunet, the text of the Declaration of Independence is printed in black ink at the center of the silk. The important text is framed by a decorative leaf and acorn wreath border. The border contains distinctive portraits of the first three Presidents, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferon, two of whom were still living at the time, as well as the official seals of the original thirteen states. The seals and portraits are surmounted by a patriotic display of trumpets, flags, two overflowing cornucopias, and a spread-wing Federal eagle. Although almost identical to the Woodruff broadside, this silk by Brunet differs in several ways. The most noticeable is the addition of a strong black outer border, punctuated with repeating, white six-pointed stars. The arrangement of the body of the text and the calligraphic signatures are slightly different. The title is almost exactly the same, with the additional reference to Woodruff as inspiration in this Brunet printing. It reads "To the People of the United States this Engraving of Declaration of Independence is most respectfully inscribed: Woodruff.” Brunet’s signature can be found in script, wrapping around the bottom center medallion: "Lith di H. Brunet Cie. a Lyon." Although this broadside is not pictured in Herbert Collins' definitive "Threads of History: Americana Recorded on Cloth," Collins refers to its existence in his description of a very similar design lithographed by "Decomberause" of Lyons, France. Lyons was a hub of French silk production during the 1820s and 30s. Interestingly, Collins calls this example a "bandana," but the distinctly rectangular shape is more consistent with a broadside on silk, a documented practice of the time. The other similar examples listed by Collins are more square and might better be considered bandanas. Between 1820 and 1840, it was a common practice to print a very limited number of presentation copies of important broadsides on silk. To give an example, the original ledger book...

Torrey, Jr. Jesse. A Mental Museum for the Rising Generation. With an Appendix, Containing the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the First Free Circulating Library &c. : Designed for the Middle Classes of Readers in American Schools and Families. Adapted to American Customs and Manners, and Proposed as a Substitute for Foreign Compilations Or Reading Lessons. Philadelphia: Thomas Desilver, 1829. 16mo. In original gilt stamped leather and paper boards with a new archival slipcase. This is a first edition printing of Jesse Torrey Jr.’s "A Mental Museum for the Rising Generation." Published in Philadelphia by Thomas Desilver in 1829, this beautiful book is presented in its original gilt stamped leather and paper boards. Divided into three sections, this book was “designed for the middle classes of Readers in American Schools and Families.” Collectors will appreciate this prime example of early childhood educational text, as well as consider it for its Appendix, which includes very early printings of "The Declaration of Independence," "The Constitution of the United States," and the "Constitution of the First Free Circulating Library." "A Mental Museum for the Rising Generation" was one of several books written by Torrey to entertain, instruct, and edify children and young adults. The book is divided into three parts, as indicated on the title page, “PART I - Familiar conversations on Natural History and the Universe, Reflections on Providence, etc. Part II - Lessons calculated to excite a taste for Reading and Mental Improvement - on Industry, Economy, Preservation of Health, etc. Part III - Various Instructive and Entertaining Articles and Poetry.” The Appendix contains a very early printing of "The Declaration of Independence" and the "Constitution of the United States", as well as the "Constitution of the First Free Circulating Library." Jesse Torrey, Jr., (1787 – 1834) was an American physician, writer, and ardent advocate for abolition, the American education system, and free public libraries. Torrey is most celebrated as an abolitionist who gathered first-hand narratives of African Americans and eye-witness accounts by white observers of slavery and kidnapping. He published these, along with his personal observations, in an early 1817 anti-slavery book, "A Portraiture of Slavery in the United States." Torrey also wrote juvenile guides to moral philosophy, natural history and government. Torrey argued that young readers were important to the early American imagination of its populace, both in terms of the reading public and the broader national community of citizens. He believed that children were not merely witnesses to American history and governance, but rather young reading practices played a crucial role in establishing a free, educated, and engaged populace. To this end, Torrey was the founder of the free public library movement in the United States. In 1804, at the age of 16, he established the Library of the “New Lebanon...

This is a stunning 1818 broadside engraving of the Declaration of Independence, the first engraved broadside of our nation’s founding document. The year 1815 saw the conclusion of th...

Scarce antique flag with the Commodore Perry motto from the War of 1812. A fine woolen bunting flag with machine stitched border (dating it to after 1841) and with hand cut and cross-stitched letters (in comparison stars were usually done this way until the 1880s, and rarely after the 1890s). The header has brass grommets which became standard by 1890 (until restricted during World War II). Despite having apparently only enjoyed light use, the fabric has warped a bit from age. Overall this flag clearly dates from before WW II, and all physical evidence strongly indicates an origin from circa the 1890s. "Dont Give Up The Ship" was the battle cry from the Battle of Lake Erie, echoing the dying words of Captain James Lawrence when the USS CHESAPEAKE was lost to HMS SHANNON off Boston on 1 June 1813. His friend Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry...

Antique American 45 star flag, circa 1896, a printed muslin flag with a "Dancing Star" pattern arranged in an 8 - 7 ---8 - 7 -8 - 7 format. This was an of...

19th century Whaleman's Letter Delivered on Whaling Grounds, addressed to Captain Charles H. Gifford aboard the Whaling Bark CHINA, 14 May 1870, a le...

Presenting a hugely important, hugely historic and extremely rare book. This is an original 'Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia Second Edition , Philadelphia, Print...