New York (AFP)
An extremely rare original copy of the American Constitution ratified on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia will soon be auctioned in New York for an estimated value of between $ 15 and $ 20 million, Sotheby's announced on Friday.
Sotheby's is exhibiting until Sunday a private collection of American constitutional documents dating from the revolutionary period, 1776 to 1789, including the famous Constitutional Charter signed in Philadelphia by the "Founding Fathers" of the United States of America, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.
For Selby Kiffer, a historian expert in manuscripts and ancient books at Sotheby's, it is a "fantastic first (copy) print of the Constitution of the United States, probably printed September 16 (1787) in the evening".
A document "extremely rare" since there are only "eleven known copies" while "five hundred" had probably been printed, explained to AFP Mr. Kiffer on the occasion of the 234th anniversary of the American Constitution .
The constitutional text which begins with the famous formula "We, the people of the United States, with a view to forming a more perfect union, (...) we decree and establish this Constitution for the United States of America", has was estimated by Sotheby's between 15 and 20 million dollars and will be auctioned at the end of November.
Mr. Kiffer assures that he does not fear that this copy - the only one still belonging to a private individual, the American collector Dorothy Tapper Goldman - may go abroad, even if he thinks that the document, in a fairly exceptional state of conservation. , will remain in the United States.
One of the 11 known copies of the Constitution of the United States of September 17, 1787 is presented to the press on September 17, 2021 at the headquarters of Sotheby's in New York Ed JONES AFP
Sotheby's has chosen to exhibit this collection of American constitutional history as the country experiences a tense and polarized political atmosphere.
On the eve of a demonstration scheduled for Saturday in Washington by supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump in support of the rioters arrested for having participated in the murderous assault on Congress on January 6.
The event caused a political earthquake in the United States and a shock wave abroad.
Hundreds of pro-Trump demonstrators had then forced the entrance of Congress, on Capitol Hill, when parliamentarians were gathered there to certify the victory of Democrat Joe Biden over the outgoing Republican President.
Mr. Kiffer finds "very interesting that the Constitution is still the subject of debate" and underlines that "in the current political climate (the Constitution) is debated as much as it was when it was ratified in 1787".
© 2021 AFP