Rufus King Constitution Draft Tops Christie's
We the People: America at 250
Sale

Christie's' We The People: America at 250 auction offering foundational documents of American history in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries more than doubled its estimate to total $35,562,465.

The top three lots of the sale were:

• a printed copy of a working draft of the Constitution with handwritten edits by a founding father, Rufus King, the first to print the phrase: "We, the People of the United States…." which more than doubled its low estimate, making $7,395,000
• a printed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln as President, that sold for $6,785,000
• a printed copy of the Declaration of Independence from July 1776 ($5,687,000)

Other highlights included the signed agreement by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs that founded Apple Computers in 1976 ($2,515,000), and the only known study by Grant Wood for his American Gothic, rendered on the back of an envelope and from the collection of the artist Red Grooms, that went eight times its estimate at $584,200. 

“This was a historic sale on so many levels," said Head of Sale, Peter Klarnet. "We conceived it to celebrate America at 250. We assembled works of exceptional importance, and captured the market’s attention. More than that, we are proud that this sale also captured the imagination of so many people.”