United States ConstitutionThe Evening Chronicle. Vol. II, Numb. 90. Philadelphia: Printed by Robert Smith in Front-street, next door to the Coffee-House, Tuesday, September 18, 1787
4-page small folio newspaper issue (385 x 224 mm), printed on a bifolium of laid paper, text in three columns; headline of p. 3 just shaved, repaired and remargined at central fold and foot of second leaf, not affecting text.
The only known copy of this issue of an important Philadelphia newspaper featuring a next-day report on the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, 17 September 1787, the day the delegates signed the U.S. Constitution.
A brief, but momentous, announcement appears in the third column of the second page: "Yesterday afternoon, about 4 o’clock the federal convention, after having concluded the important task of framing a federal system of government, broke up: and many of the delegates, we are informed, are already on their way to communicate to their constituents the result of their deliberations. And we trust every friend to the peace and prosperity of America, is prepared to receive with respect, and to consider with candor the propositions which will soon be divulged." The report is actually mistakenly datelined September 15, but the date of this issue of the Chronicle and the key word "Yesterday" make the accurate date clear.
In 1970, when no copy of this issue of The Evening Chronicle was known to exist, Leonard Rapport speculated that Smith may have printed the text of the Constitution in this issue. If it did not appear in the then-missing issue, Rapport concluded, “the Chronicle would have the distinction of being the only Philadelphia newspaper not to have published the Constitution” (“Printing the Constitution: The Convention and Newspaper Imprints, August–November 1787,” in Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives 2). We now know that this was the case, although the Chronicle did have one of the earliest reports of the adjournment of the Constitutional Convention; Dunlap and Claypoole's Pennsylvania Packet also printed that news in its 18 September issue.
Smith did, in fact, print the Constitution in an undated bifolium. The evidently sole surviving copy of that edition was sold at Christie's, 14 June 2006, lot 439; the inferred date was given as "[probably September 1787]." Depending on when it was actually printed, it is possible that Smith consciously left the date of printing off his publication to prevent the text from seeming like "old news."
United States ConstitutionThe Evening Chronicle. Vol. II, Numb. 90. Philadelphia: Printed by Robert Smith in Front-street, next door to the Coffee-House, Tuesday, September 18, 1787
4-page small folio newspaper issue (385 x 224 mm), printed on a bifolium of laid paper, text in three columns; headline of p. 3 just shaved, repaired and remargined at central fold and foot of second leaf, not affecting text.
The only known copy of this issue of an important Philadelphia newspaper featuring a next-day report on the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, 17 September 1787, the day the delegates signed the U.S. Constitution.
A brief, but momentous, announcement appears in the third column of the second page: "Yesterday afternoon, about 4 o’clock the federal convention, after having concluded the important task of framing a federal system of government, broke up: and many of the delegates, we are informed, are already on their way to communicate to their constituents the result of their deliberations. And we trust every friend to the peace and prosperity of America, is prepared to receive with respect, and to consider with candor the propositions which will soon be divulged." The report is actually mistakenly datelined September 15, but the date of this issue of the Chronicle and the key word "Yesterday" make the accurate date clear.
In 1970, when no copy of this issue of The Evening Chronicle was known to exist, Leonard Rapport speculated that Smith may have printed the text of the Constitution in this issue. If it did not appear in the then-missing issue, Rapport concluded, “the Chronicle would have the distinction of being the only Philadelphia newspaper not to have published the Constitution” (“Printing the Constitution: The Convention and Newspaper Imprints, August–November 1787,” in Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives 2). We now know that this was the case, although the Chronicle did have one of the earliest reports of the adjournment of the Constitutional Convention; Dunlap and Claypoole's Pennsylvania Packet also printed that news in its 18 September issue.
Smith did, in fact, print the Constitution in an undated bifolium. The evidently sole surviving copy of that edition was sold at Christie's, 14 June 2006, lot 439; the inferred date was given as "[probably September 1787]." Depending on when it was actually printed, it is possible that Smith consciously left the date of printing off his publication to prevent the text from seeming like "old news."
Testen Sie LotSearch und seine Premium-Features 7 Tage - ohne Kosten!
Lassen Sie sich automatisch über neue Objekte in kommenden Auktionen benachrichtigen.
Suchauftrag anlegen