RARE DOCUMENT SIGNED BY JOHN HANCOCK, FIRST SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AS A BOSTON SELECTMAN IN 1773
HANCOCK, John. Document signed. Boston, July 9, 1773.
Very rare 1773 manuscript document signed by John Hancock as a Boston Selectman and six others, including Timothy Newell, granting permission to a Boston ship captain's widow to "retail rum and other distilled spirits." Three years after signing this document, in 1776, Hancock, as President of the Second Continental Congress, would be the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, reportedly penning his name large so King George III could read it without glasses. As Founding Father, Hancock was "a key figure in securing independence and creating the republic." Twice governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in 1788 he was named President of the Constitutional Convention debating the U.S. Constitution—urging its ratification in what many historians consider "Hancock's finest moment." Handsomely matted with an engraved portrait. $13,500.
Read More