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"In Defence of America..." - 1776.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,750.00 USD Estimated At:3,500.00 - 4,750.00 USD
 In Defence of America...  - 1776.
Significant, excessively rare printed broadside-style Continental Army order, "Head-Quarters, Philadelphia, Dec. 13th, 1776," signed-in-type by Maj.-Genl. Israel Putnam, 6 1/2 x 8 3/4 oblong. Its size and centering suggest this official imprint was intended for public posting, its overly wide margins unusual. With fascinating allusion to conscientious objectors, and shedding light on contemporary context for the Second Amendment. "The General has been informed that some weak or wicked Men have maliciously reported, that it is the Design and Wish of the Officers and Men in the Continental Army, to burn and destroy the City of Philadelphia. To counteract such a false and scandalous Report, he thinks it necessary to inform the Inhabitants who propose to remain in the City, that he has received positive Orders from the Honorable Continental Congress, and from his Excellency General Washington, to secure and protect the City of Philadelphia against all Invaderss 'sic] and Enemies. The General will consider every Attempt to burn the City of Philadelphia as a Crime of the blackest Dye, and will, without Ceremony, punish capitally any Incendiary who shall have the Hardiness and Cruelty to attempt it.

"The General commands all able bodied Men in the City...who are not conscientiously scrupulous against bearing Arms, and who have not been known theretofore to entertain such Scruples, to appear in the State-House Yard Tomorrow Morning...with their Arms and Accoutrements. This Order must be complied with; the General being resolutely determined that no Person shall remain in this City an idle Spectator of the Present Contest, who has it in his Power to injure the American Cause, or who may refuse to lend his Aid to the Support of it...All Persons who have Arms and Accoutrements, which they cannot or do not mean to employ in Defence of America, are hereby ordered to deliver them to Mr. Robert Towers, who will pay for the same. Those who are convicted of secreting any Arms or Accoutrements will be severely punished."

Thin spots at three corners and traces of very old linen hinges, only noted when held to light; slightly irregular left margin, suggesting previously bound or tipped; lightly mottled, with one honey-toned spot on text, two short tears at blank top edge, else very good, and highly appealing for display. Core Americana, ascribed by Evans to the press of John Dunlap, printer of the Declaration of Independence some five months earlier, his name also suggested by John Carter Brown Library. A key period in that fateful year, the month of December saw setbacks and hardships for the Americans; six days after this broadside's date, Thomas Paine penned, "These are the times that try men's souls." December 1776 was forever gilded in the glory of history by Washington's Christmas crossing of the Delaware. An example of this Dec. 13, 1776 broadside appeared at Sotheby's in 2012, inserted within a bound volume of newspapers, the whole selling for $722,500. Such 1776 broadsides are rarer than newspapers and newspaper supplements by (at least) several orders of magnitude. Evans 15181. OCLC 62821619, but all WorldCat listings are qualified as "Document type: ...computer file," evidently the Readex Early American Imprints series of facsimiles. An advanced search of Library of Congress database finds no examples. Provenance: from a major New England art collection.