Sotheby's Auctions Rare First Edition of the US Constitution

An extremely rare official first edition copy of the US Constitution adopted at the Philadelphia convention in 1787 will be sold by Sotheby's in mid-November.

On September 17, Sotheby's announced the auction of a printed copy of the Constitution on the occasion of the 234th anniversary of the signing by delegates to the Constitutional Convention, estimated to be worth between 15 and 20 million USD, according to Reuters.

The last time in 1988 this print was purchased by S. Howard Goldman, a New York real estate investor and private collector of American autographs, historical documents, and manuscripts, for $165,000.

His wife, Dorothy Tapper Goldman, is selling the rare print. All proceeds will go to a charity she founded to promote public understanding of democracy, Sotheby's said.

The first printed copy of the Constitution is one of only 11 known copies in existence and is the only one still in private hands from the first official printing of the U.S. Constitution, adopted in Philadelphia and submitted to Congress for consideration.

A book and manuscript specialist at Sotheby's in New York places a 1787 printing of the U.S. Constitution in a display case on September 17, 2021.

PHOTO: CHICAGO SUN TIMES

Subsequent copies from that first printing, unsigned and believed to have originally numbered about 500, were also provided to delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Two surviving copies are housed in the Library of Congress.

The first printing of the Constitution is rarer than the first edition of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Sotheby's confirmed. The first printing of the Constitution contains only the original seven articles that set the framework for the U.S. government , along with its powers, its relationship with the states, and the procedures used to later ratify and amend the Constitution.

Although unsigned, the six-page edition for sale includes a list of delegates to the Constitutional Convention attesting to its adoption in 1787 and a letter from George Washington, who presided over the convention, to Congress. The Constitution was ratified by the states in 1788 and went into effect the following year. To date, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times.

Sotheby's said the copy by S. Howard Goldman will be auctioned at an evening event in New York next November, marking the first time a historical document has been auctioned alongside precious works of art.

"The Goldman copy of the Constitution ranks as one of the rarest and most coveted historical documents ever offered at auction," Selby Kiffer, senior specialist in Sotheby's books & manuscripts department, said in a statement.

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