graphic provided by FReeper C210N.
Posted on 06/23/2012 7:34:03 AM PDT by ETL
A book owned by George Washington and containing his own annotated copy of the Constitution sold for almost $10 million at Christie's, more than three times what it was expected to draw.
A fierce bidding war between two unidentified parties forced the price up, and applause erupted in the venerable auction house when the hammer came down and the 223-year-old book sold for $9,826,500 to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.
The Acts of Congress volume includes a copy of the Constitution, a draft of the Bill of Rights, and acts creating the executive, State and Treasury department. The book was printed for him in 1789 and is in nearly-pristine condition.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States.
Founded by Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina, the Association might never have come into existence were it not a tradition for ships to toll their bells when passing Mount Vernon. When in 1853 Miss Cunningham’s mother was summoned to deck by such a bell, ringing in homage to the nation’s first president, she was horrified at the sight of Washington’s once grand house covered with peeling paint and overgrown weeds, its famous portico so dilapidated that it was propped up by a sailing mast. “I was painfully distressed,” she later wrote to her daughter, “at the ruin and desolation of the home of Washington, and the thought passed through my mind: Why was it that the women of his country did not try to keep it in repair, if the men could not do it? It does seem such a blot on our country.”
Inspired by her mother’s conviction, Ann Pamela Cunningham launched a campaign to raise the funds necessary to purchase and preserve the home of Washington. The Association she founded in 1853—a nationwide organization of women—appealed to the American people for $200,000 in an unprecedented grassroots fundraising campaign. The country responded, and five years later the Association purchased the Mansion, outbuildings and 200 surrounding acres from John Augustine Washington III, a great-grandnephew of George Washington.
Recognized as the first national preservation organization in America, the women who banded together in 1853 to form the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association were embarking upon a single-minded mission — to protect George Washington’s home from commercial development. But the rescue of Mount Vernon was just the first chapter in a long and illustrious preservation story. Inside, the Mansion was almost empty — only a handful of Washington Family pieces were left behind. The challenge of preserving the estate at a time when there was no historic preservation standard was made even more daunting by the fact that the country was about to be torn apart by Civil War. Room by room, garden by garden, and building by building, Washington’s estate was returned to its former glory. The women of Mount Vernon proved to be closely-watched pioneers in the evolving field of preservation and became an inspiration and guide to other preservation groups, often spearheaded by women, for protecting the homes of other founding fathers, inventors, and community leaders.
The Ladies took possession of Mount Vernon and opened it to the public in 1860. Under the Association’s 150-year long trusteeship, the estate has been authentically restored to its original appearance. Today Mount Vernon is a national monument that is open to the public every day of the year, serving an average of over one million visitors annually. ..."
http://www.mountvernon.org/educational-resources/library/mount-vernon-ladies-association
Hopefully the seller will have a sudden attack of ‘conscience’ and donate/return a portion of the $10 mill to the association.
Thanks, Pharmboy, for providing the FoxNews link.
PING.
Could somebody please make a copy of the Constitution and send it to the current POS residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? I believe that he’s never read it before.
Could somebody please make a copy of the Constitution and send it to the POS currently residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? I believe that he’s never read it before.
Who do you appoint to read it to him? You don’t expect the black messiah to read that ‘white man’s declaration of negative rights do you?’
graphic provided by FReeper C210N.
That communist SOB is nobody's "messiah". Like most of the hard left, he's in it for personal power and wealth.
What's with the $500 on the end of this bid?
Reminds me of the one about the guy who has been out of work for over a year and finally tells his wife they are going to lose everything they have unless there is some cash coming in immediately. He says she has to go out on the street and raise some money, there is just no other way.
So that evening she gets dressed up and leaves the house about 6 PM and returns at 4 A.M. the following morning. He asks her how she did and in response she opens her purse and hands him an envelope which he opens. After counting what's in there he looks at her and says, "$26 dollars and 10 cents? Who the hell is the cheap S.O.B. who gave you 10 cents?"
The women looks at him and says, "All of them"
badda boom boom.
Sadly, he IS a messiah to too many black people and commie democrats.
Probably part of the sales tax.
I don't think we'll see it for sale again.
Wiping one’s derriere is about the only thing his book is good for.
$10M? Those ladies must have one heck of an endowment budget!!!!!
I don’t think we will ever see it sold again either. This particular piece is fascinating. Just think.... decisions around and at the infancy of our nation were extracted from this as a reference book.
It has been virtually completely restored, down to the legacy plants in the garden, the slave quarters, and the distillery. It is well worth a visit and a contribution by anyone in the DC area on vacation or otherwise. Went there a few years back and donate ever since. They even have a boat ride/tour on the Potomac leaving from Washington's dock. It is a great patriotic landmark, without any Gubbermint support or interference.
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