Official Printing of the US Constitution

Bidding commences in November through Sotheby’s in New York

This copy of the first printing of the Constitution of the US, from the collection of philanthropist Dorothy Tapper Goldman, is the only one to remain in private hands. Estimated to fetch between US$15 million and US$20 million when it appears at Sotheby’s Evening Sales this month, it was acquired from the same auction house by Goldman’s late husband in 1988 for US$165,000. It is one of 11 known copies of the official printing produced for the delegates to the Constitutional Convention and for the Continental Congress, and is considered to be rarer than the first printing of the Declaration of Independence.