Gaspee reward poster at auction

Even before the Boston Tea Party, Rhode Islanders were rebelling. In 1772 they committed what many historians consider the first armed insurrection of the American Revolution: the burning of the Gaspee, a British customs ship.

The hated revenue schooner was burned off the coast of Warwick in a clandestine raid by rebel colonists.

Incensed, the British governor of the colony issued a proclamation offering a 100-pound reward for the capture of the perpetrators of the "villainy."

Now, 232 years later, this Colonial-era wanted poster itself has a price on its head.

The rare parchment may bring a Rhode Island family as much as $30,000 when it's auctioned off tomorrow in New York.

Also to be auctioned is the country's first published rabbinic sermon, delivered in 1773 at Touro Synagogue in Newport.

Both documents are part of Swann Galleries' annual auction Printed & Manuscript Americana. This year, 486 items are to be auctioned. Only one is expected to fetch more money than the Gaspee reward flier, which is estimated to draw $20,000 to $30,000.

From the Providence Journal (also available without registration here). Only three other copies of the poster were known, all in public collections.

No sales results available as yet. The Swann catalog entry (lot 388) is here; more on the Gaspee here and here.

Though most everyone else seems to remember only the Tea Party, Rhode Islanders remember the burning of the Gaspee, as this site demonstrates.

Posted by David on October 25, 2004 8:48 PM