As the United States continues to commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding, Freeman's August 20 Books & Manuscripts (including Americana) auction presents an exceptional selection of books and documents that illuminate the nation's history. Spanning virtually all 250 years of American Independence, the sale brings together rare and important books, presidential manuscripts, fresh-to-market abolitionist and African American material, natural history, and important works of literature, offering collectors the opportunity to acquire objects that helped shape the American experience.
Led by an extraordinarily rare 1781 promissory note printed and twice signed by Benjamin Franklin to facilitate repayment of a French loan that helped finance the American Revolution, the auction is particularly strong in Revolutionary and presidential history, while also featuring significant works of religion, African Americana, science, and literature. Additional highlights include a first edition of The Book of Mormon, two important presidential letters signed by George Washington, and a rare autograph letter by Black abolitionist and entrepreneur Paul Cuffe.
“This sale features many extraordinary items—Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, Audubon, to name just a few — but as a whole, the selections being offered from the archive of American abolitionist Rev. Samuel J. May may prove the most extraordinary of all,” said Darren Winston, SVP, Head of Department, Books & Manuscripts. “These twenty-five lots of unique documents dealing primarily with the abolitionist movement, but also educational reform and anti-slavery in general, have descended through May’s family and have never before been offered for sale. They may not rewrite history, but they will certainly help to color in the lines.”
The top lot of the sale, the exceptionally rare promissory note was printed, accomplished, and twice signed by Benjamin Franklin at his celebrated Passy press outside Paris in December 1781 and is expected to fetch between $200,000 - $300,000. Issued less than two months after the American victory at Yorktown, the document records repayment of a French government loan that helped finance the Revolutionary War at a pivotal moment in the nation's fight for independence. Printed as part of a limited series of certificates supporting loans negotiated by Franklin during his tenure as Minister Plenipotentiary to France, the document is among the last works produced at his Passy press. Only a small number remain in private hands, making it one of the most significant Revolutionary-era financial documents to come to auction in recent decades.
One of the defining religious publications of the nineteenth century, a rare first edition of The Book of Mormon was published in 1830, just days before the formal establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the only edition identifying Joseph Smith as the book's author rather than its translator and retains its original witness testimonies. With only an estimated 500–700 copies surviving from the original 5,000 printed, it stands among the most sought-after works in American religious history and is estimated to fetch $100,000 - $150,000.
Signed only months after taking office as the nation's first president, an important letter finds George Washington transmitting the Tariff Act of 1789 — the first major legislation enacted under the newly ratified Constitution — to Maryland Governor John Eager Howard. The act established the federal government's first significant source of revenue and laid the financial foundation for the young republic, and is expected to sell for $100,000 - $150,000. Examples of Washington's signed transmittal letters for this landmark legislation are exceedingly scarce, making the document an important milestone in the development of the federal government.
Signed by both President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, a 1791 manuscript letter reaffirming the Treaty of Friendship and Peace between the United States and Morocco following the death of Sultan Mohammed III, is estimated between $50,000 - $80,000. Addressed to his successor, Sultan al-Yazid bin Mohammed, the letter offers America's condolences while introducing Thomas Barclay as the first United States Consul to Morocco, tasked with reaffirming the alliance between the two nations. First established in 1786, the U.S.-Morocco treaty marked the first treaty between the United States and an African nation and remains the longest unbroken diplomatic relationship in American history.
A rare autograph letter by Black entrepreneur, abolitionist, Quaker, and pioneering Pan-Africanist, Paul Cuffe, documenting preparations for his final voyage to Sierra Leone in 1815 is estimated to fetch $15,000 - $25,000. Written just weeks before his departure, the letter details the logistical and financial arrangements for transporting free Black families from Massachusetts to West Africa aboard his brig Traveller. Largely financed by Cuffe himself, the expedition became the first African American-led effort to voluntarily resettle free Black Americans in Africa. With only a handful of Cuffe letters known to have appeared at auction, the document offers an extraordinary firsthand account of one of the earliest chapters in the Back-to-Africa movement.
Highlights from the auction may be previewed at Freeman’s Philadelphia gallery located at 2400 Market Street in Philadelphia from August 17–19, between the hours of 10:00am – 5:00pm. For more information call (312) 280-1212.
