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Force Print DOI In American Archives

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Force Print DOI In American Archives
"WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED AFTER THE AUCTION ENDS BY THE AUCTIONEER ONCE ALL BIDS HAVE BEEN PROCESSED TO DETERMINE THE WINNER FOR EACH LOT."
Extremely rare fold-out Force print of William J. Stone's official engraving of the Declaration of Independence from ''American Archives,'' Volume I of the Fifth Series. Edited by Peter Force. Washington, D.C.: M. St. Clair Clarke and Peter Force: 1843. Folio volume with marbled boards and endpapers runs 951pp. Most extant copies of this volume are missing the highly sought after fold-out rice paper Declaration of Independence. When Congress commissioned Peter Force to compile the nine-volume, 15,500pp. ''American Archives'' series documenting the nation's history in 1843, it was determined that a copy of the Declaration would be included in the volume covering 1776. Twenty-three years earlier, as the original document was rapidly deteriorating, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams had authorized engraver William J. Stone to create a copperplate of the Declaration via painstaking wet-ink transfer. It took Stone three years to create a plate with absolute fidelity to the original, although the process caused additional deterioration to the original document, now exhibited in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. Stone printed 201 copies on vellum. He kept one copy for himself, now residing in the Smithsonian, and the other copies were distributed to Thomas Jefferson, President James Monroe, members of Congress, surviving original Signers, various colleges and universities, and others. Of the original 201 copies, only 31 examples are currently known to exist, 19 of which are permanently housed in museums. The remaining dozen vellum examples are rarely offered for sale. The ''American Archives'' copies were made from Stone's plate, now housed in the National Archives. Congress authorized up to 1,500 copies of the book to be printed, but subscriptions fell far short of that number. The actual number of copies of the book printed is unknown, with estimates ranging at around 500 copies. Fewer than half are believed to have survived, in varying states of preservation, most missing the Declaration. This is an extremely rare opportunity to find the book with the Declaration still intact and in such pristine condition. The fold-out document measures 26'' x 29'' and is stamped at lower left, ''W.J. Stone S.C. Washn.'' Document shows minor ink transfer from being folded in book and very minor creases from folding. All other American Archives volumes present as a set. Boards on several book show separation. Books are in good condition. The Declaration, near fine.