Reproduction, Binns Declaration of Independence

Collectibles > Autographs Dealer: The Kreisman Gallery Contact: Daniel Z. Kreisman - Email Dealer
Price: $1,250.00 USD  - Currency Converter Shipping inside United States: Quoted at time of purchase Shipping outside United States: Quoted at time of purchase

Description: Reproduction Copy – John Binns Declaration of Independence THE DOCUMENT: After the War of 1812, there was a resurgence of patriotism. The events of 1776 were more than thirty-five years past. The signers were aging, and many had died. Americans had begun to revere the parchment document that signaled the birth of the American nation. Two entrepreneurs, John Binns and Benjamin Owen Tyler, each saw a market for large prints of the Declaration. They entered into a bitter competition to be the first to publish and sell monumental prints with the official text of the Declaration. Each publisher pressed for attestation that his version was correct and true from the State Department, which had custody of the original Declaration at that time. Tyler, in his bid to get the upper hand, pressed Richard Rush, the acting secretary of state and son of signer Benjamin Rush, to compare Tyler's proof text to the original entrusted to his care and to certify its exactitude. Rush did so, noting the effects "of the hand of time" on the original Declaration. Rush's facsimile certification, reproduced on the Tyler engraving, is the first documented condition report on the Declaration. A year later, Binns published his engraving with a facsimile note at the bottom from John Quincy Adams, secretary of state and son of signer John Adams, dated April 1819, stating, "I certify, that this is a CORRECT copy of the original Declaration of Independence. . . ." The competition and politicking of Binns and Tyler very likely influenced Adams to take action. About 1820, Adams commissioned Washington engraver William Stone to produce a facsimile of the Declaration text and signatures. It is with this “Stone Copy” that most people are familiar. THE ARTIST: John Binns, journalist, born in Dublin, Ireland, 22 December 1772: died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 16 June 1860. He received a good education, but, becoming involved in the revolutionary movement in Ireland, was arrested, and for two years imprisoned. Soon after his release in 1801 he went to Baltimore with his brother Benjamin, and in March 1802, founded at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, the "Republican Argus," which gave him great influence with the Democratic Party. From 1807 until November 1829, he conducted, at Philadelphia, the " Democratic Press," the leading paper in the state until, in 1824, it opposed the election of Jackson. He was for twenty years an alderman of Philadelphia. In 1854 he published "Recollections of the Life of John Binns; Twenty-nine Years in Europe, and Fifty-three in the United States." He was also the author of " Binns's Magistrate's Manual" (1850). OFFERED HERE: Contemporary Reproduction Copy of the Binns Declaration of Independence, 21-1/2" x 29-1/2". Excellent condition, no folds, no tears, no age-toning.

Status: For Sale	Reference#: X113B70
Condition: Excellent	Year: unknown
Height: 29.5 in. (74.93 cm)
Width: 21.5 in. (54.61 cm)
Title: Reproduction, Binns Declaration of Indep.

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