Doyle New York to Hold Historic Auction of the NYC Bar Association Rare Book Collection

Landmark Sale Will Take Place on November 24

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Nov 18, 2014, 01:35 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York City Bar Association is America's oldest bar association, and its library is one of our nation's great legal research facilities. The Association has decided to deaccession its extensive Rare Book Collection, which will be sold in several landmark auctions at Doyle New York beginning with a sale on Monday, November 24 at 10am. Subsequent auctions will be held in 2015.

The Charter of the City of New-York, Printed by John Peter Zenger, 1735. Estimate: $20,000-30,000

The historic sale of such a distinguished collection presents a unique opportunity to acquire rare and important material associated with the birth of our nation and its westward expansion. A number of the works are so rare that no copies have been offered at auction in over a century, and some have never before appeared.

"While we have treasured all of the one-of-a-kind books that have come to our library over the past century and a half, the City Bar's focus is on serving the legal profession. Making the works available for auction will better lead to their preservation for future generations," said Richard Tuske, Director of the Library of the New York City Bar Association.

The November 24 auction comprises over 300 lots of national and regional interest relating to New York, Colonial America, the American Revolution, the Federal Government, Territorial Expansion, Legal Incunabula and English Law.

Highlights include the 1788 first edition of The Federalist signed by Michael Hillegas, the first Treasurer of the United States, estimated at $60,000-80,000. Also noteworthy is an unrecorded copy of the 1796 Maxwell Code, the first book printed in Ohio, a fabled rarity of the Northwest Territory, estimated at $70,000-100,000.

From the Colonial era are the Boston 1672 The general laws and liberties of the Massachusets Colony, and the rare 1662 London Laws of Virginia. Revolutionary War era material includes James Madison's signed copy of the 1776 record of the Virginia General Assembly and a 1779 autograph passport of Benedict Arnold. Highlighting the offerings from the first years of our nation is Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America – the 1789 official printing of the first Congress containing the Constitution and the First Amendment.

Material relating to New York features a 1783 letter from George Washington to Governor George Clinton regarding the evacuation of New York City, and the Peter Zenger edition of the 1735 Charter of the City of New York. Certain to attract attention is the earliest known contemporary manuscript copy (circa 1787) of Alexander Hamilton's practice manual titled Practical Proceedings in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

Among the regional offerings are the rare Kearny Code for New Mexico, printed in Santa Fe in 1846; the first constitutions of Hawaii in both the English and Hawaiian editions; and early imprints of Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi and Texas, among others.

The public is invited to the exhibition at Doyle New York on November 21 through 23. Doyle is located at 175 East 87th Street in Manhattan. The fully illustrated auction catalogue may be viewed online at www.Doyle.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141118/159335

SOURCE Doyle New York