January 21, 2005
Proclamation of Independence fetches £140,000
A COPY of the most important document in the history of the Irish nation, the Proclamation of Independence printed at Liberty Hall, on Easter Sunday, 1916, realised £140,000 at Sotheby’s on December 16. Some 2500 copies were to have been produced, but a shortage of paper and type meant that the first part had to be printed and the types broken up before the second half could be set up, and the chaos that ensued on that historic day resulted in the vast majority of the 1000 copies that were printed being destroyed.From the Antiques Trade Gazette.Around 20 of those original copies seem to have survived, but this example is not only free of the smudges and faint printing found on some other copies, it is one of only three copies (one already in the National Library of Ireland) signed by the printer Christopher Brady – who added his authentication in a shaky hand in 1969.
Posted by David on January 21, 2005 7:16 PM
I have what appears to be a lithographic reproduction of the Declaration of Independence. It is printed on real newsprint and measures 18x28 inches,the original owner was the late Governor of New Hampshire, Hugh Gallen, it was presented to him on a trip he made to Ireland many years back. It defenitely is a reproduction shot from the original. Do you have any record as to when this would have been produced or any other information regarding it. Thanks Ed. Farrington, Plymouth New Hampshire.
Posted by: Ed. Farrington on March 2, 2005 11:09 AM
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