A Rare 18th-Century Protest Placard Could Fetch $6M at Christie’s

The placard comes from a key moment of unrest leading up to the American Revolution.

One of the earliest papers documenting revolt in the American colonies against Great Britain is coming to auction. A placard defying the Stamp Act, a colonial tax on printed goods passed by the British Parliament in 1765, is expected to sell for between $4 million and $6 million at Christie’s later this month.

Opposition was widespread following the 18th-century act’s passing, especially in New York. Placards appeared across the entire city warning anyone who complied with the tax that they’d come to harm. While the identity of the writer behind these violent threats is still unknown, it is largely thought to have been a member of the New York chapter of the Sons of Liberty.

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Only two of these placards have survived the past 258 years. One was discovered by Cadwallader Colden, then acting governor of New York, and is held in the National Archives in Britain. The other Stamp Act defiance placard was first owned by Joshua Brookes, an antiquarian who died in 1859, and later made its way to a Boston auction house in 1980 where it sold for less than $1,000.

“No one seemed to notice what they had,” Peter Klarnet, a Christie’s senior specialist in Americana, told Observer. “When the present owner showed it to me, I was just blown away—you just don’t find documents like this.”

The rare document is heading to Christie’s and will star in its Fine Printed & Manuscript Americana sale on Jan. 17. Its hefty estimate was borne out of “recent sales of more common and equally important and iconic documents,” according to Klarnet. “We’ve seen a market uptick over the past few years for important documents relating to the American Revolution and founding of the United States.”

With relics in U.S. history from the early days of the American Revolution to the ending of the Civil War, the upcoming auction contains more than 150 lots with a total estimate of between $8.5 million and $12.7 million.  The Stamp Act defiance placard will be sold alongside items like the earliest record of Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, which is expected to realize between $600,000 and $800,000. Documenting Lee’s acceptance of Ulysses S. Grant’s terms, it was written in 1865 by Grant’s chief of staff Ely S. Parker.

Also for sale: a letter of defense by James Buchanan 

Other highlights include an 1861 letter written by then-President James Buchanan to defend his decision to order troops to protect the inauguration of his successor Abraham Lincoln. Meanwhile, another document by Buchanan declares Louisiana’s 1861 secession from the Union and has an estimate of between $200,000 and $300,000.

In addition to documents of political significance, exploration will figure heavily in the sale. Christie’s is offering up the library of Ernest Keet, a private equity investor with a penchant for collecting documents on the exploration of Canada, upstate New York and New England.

Keet’s works include a copy of the rare and largest map of the first edition of Samuel de Champlain’s travel journals, Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain Xaintoneois, which has a high estimate of $500,000. His nearly complete set of Jesuit Relations of New France, one of the most important primary sources on 17th-century Canadian history, is expected to fetch up to $120,000.

All proceeds from the sale of Keet’s library will benefit the Cloudsplitter Foundation, an organization focused on social, regional and economic improvements in the Adirondacks.