Lot 240: [DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE]. In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. When in the Course of Human Events... [Washington, D.C., engraved by W.I. Stone, 1823, printed by Peter Force, 1848].

[DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE]. In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. When in the Course of Human Events... [Washington, D.C., engraved by W.I. Stone, 1823, printed by Peter Force, 1848]. Folio broadside (30¼ x 25 5/8 in.), a narrow strip (1/2 in. wide) of blank margin trimmed at top (where once bound), the fine-grained paper with almost invisible evidence of old folds, very slight cockling and minor spots at extreme edges, otherwise in clean, fresh condition. Neatly matted. A FINE COPY OF PETER FORCE'S 1848 PRINTING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM THE W.J. STONE 1823 COPPERPLATE, ON FINE PAPER Twenty-five years after Stone's elaborate engraved facsimile on parchment had been printed and distributed, Peter Force (1790-1868) utilized Stone's surviving copperplate to print new impressions on fine rice paper with a color tone quite similar to parchment. These were intended for inclusion in Force's American Archives, a planned monumental compilation of important original American documents, prepared at the instigation of and funded by Congress. Force conscientiously deleted Stone's 1823 imprint in the upper portion of the plate, and added a new imprint ("W.J. Stone sc. Washington.") in the lower left. A total of 1,500 copies of American Archives were authorized by Congress, but subscriptions for the elaborate edition were disappointing, and in the end many fewer copies (perhaps only 500) were issued. Since copies of Force's Declaration exist both with and without folds, it is probable that a handful were never folded for binding (an unfolded copy was sold at Christie's, 18 December 2003, lot 249, $40,000).

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION