Leigh Keno sold the most expensive lot of Americana week with Robert Livingston letter that made $912,500:
On January 26th, Keno Auctions of New York City sold a highly important and historically significant document entitled Letter fromthe Twelve United States Colonies, by their delegates in Congress to the Inhabitants of GreatBritain. After heated competition between several phone bidders in a packed salesroom, the gavel dropped at $912,500 (including Buyer’s Premium), well above its pre-sale auction estimate of $100,000 to $400,000.
The winning bid of $912,500 was by private collector Brian Hendelson who, shortly after the auction, said “I am very excited about adding this amazing piece of history to my collection. To be able to buy any original manuscript relating to our independence is an extremely rare opportunity. To have the opportunity to own the original draft of the final plea to Great Britain is even more extraordinary. The only thing I can compare this to would be to own the original draft of the Declaration of Independence”.
This document was long thought to be lost, but in July 2013 archivist Emilie Gruchow discovered it in the attic of the Morris-Jumel Mansion inside a folder of colonial doctor’s bills tucked away in a drawer.
