A Chance to Own a Piece of Turkey Day (and American) History
- by Thomas C. McKinney
Growing up, the story I heard—and I imagine you’ve all heard—about Thanksgiving had to do with pilgrims and Native Americans coming together to share a feast in the early 17th century. As it turns out, Thanksgiving has more history behind it, and just in time for turkey day this year, you have the chance to buy a piece of it at Christie’s in New York on November 14th in a single lot sale of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation. I’ll warn you now, history doesn’t come cheap.
So we all know the story of the first, first Thanksgiving in 1621, after Tisquantum, aka Squanto, and his tribe the Wampanoags, helped the Plymouth Colony of pilgrims survive by donating food and showing them how to live off the land. Contemporary accounts from the period, though limited as they are, do not specify a “thanksgiving,” while themes of gratitude towards God and to the Natives resonate. Therefore, it’s not surprising this first Thanksgiving is also not actually the first Thanksgiving. As Christie’s notes in their description, “The story of the Pilgrim Thanksgiving has prompted its share of debunkers over the years, who like to point out that it was not the ‘first.’ English settlers in Virginia held a Thanksgiving in 1610; French Huguenots conducted a Thanksgiving in Florida in May 1564; and the newly arrived conquistador, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, shared a thanksgiving feast with the Timucua Indians on September 8, 1565 in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. Texans enjoy pointing out the stone marker in their state that reads ‘Feast of the First Thanksgiving - 1541.’” Still, U.S. education has the majority of Americans believing Squanto’s feast was the first.
As for how the tradition of Thanksgiving continued after 1621, the rite of thanksgiving occurred periodically during colonial times and the Revolutionary War. The first recorded Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth happened two years later in 1623 after rain relieved a two-month drought. Those people were definitely full of gratitude. By 1630, an annual thanksgiving after the harvest in Massachusetts became common, and other colonies followed suit. This continued into the Revolutionary War when Congress recommended national days of thanksgiving, fasting, and prayer.
So where does Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation fit in to this story? And why is it estimated at $8,000,000-12,000,000? To start, the proclamation is not significant just to Thanksgiving’s history. It is significant to American history. It is the first presidential proclamation, and it came at a defining time for the fledgling nation, being the byproduct of the end of the first session of the 1st United States Congress. The Bill of Rights originated from this first session, and the President himself was inaugurated. With the full-scale deployment of the government, Washington (and the founding fathers) felt gratitude about “the peaceable and rational manner” in which the government had proceeded. Victory in the war was now six years old, and it had not always seemed clear the nation would know what to do with its independence. It was only after the Constitution was ratified, and with this first session of Congress winding to a close, that Washington allowed himself to correctly feel that a page had been turned. Thanks had to be given.
Did I mention the proclamation, while not written in Washington’s hand, is signed by him?
SALE INFO
Auction Time
Nov 14, 6:00pm, Lots 1-1
Sale Location
Christie's Saleroom 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
Editor's note: Document seller Seth Kaller informs us that though this document is regularly described in many historical sources as the first presidential proclamation, there are two slightly earlier though less significant proclamations - Proclamation to the Southern Indians, 29 August 1789, and Proclamation on the Treaty of Fort Harmar, 29 September 1789. This error was ours, not Christie's.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.