A copy of the first US census sold rececntly for $122,500 at Sotheby's. Signed by Thomas Jefferson in 1791, it was auctioned this past April in New York City.
The 56-page document lists the population for the nation's 13 states and Southwest Territory.
Today, in honor of the July 4th American holiday, the ARTKABINETT network of savvy collectors explores some cool historical ephemera...
The American Constitution -- established in 1789 -- mandates a national census every ten years. This year, 2010, is a census year.
Census data is used to calculate the number of representatives elected to Congress; minority status for various groups; necessity of infra-structure development of municipalities, etc.
Every American is required by law to complete their census forms, although prosecution for failure to do so is rare.
The particular census document, which was recently auctioned, gives state and county breakdowns. The state population is listed according to five categories: free white males 16 years and upward, free white males under 16, free white females, all other persons and slaves.
Jefferson was US Secretary of State at the time. Hillary Clinton is the present US Secretary of State.
Only two other 1791 census copies signed by Jefferson have been auctioned since 1975. A manuscripts specialist at Sotheby's estimates that as few as 200 copies were printed but says not all were signed by Jefferson.
Signed by Thomas Jefferson, the document was the star of the James Copley sale at Sotheby's sale on April 14.
A library of rare books and valuable manuscripts, the James S Copley collection, which we profiled in a recent newsletter, would probably be impossible to match today by any private collector.
Particularly fine were the Presidential autographs, which had Americana collectors barely able to contain their excitement in the run- up to the first of eight auctions, which took place yesterday at Sotheby's, New York.
A rare find…this was a first edition of the first American census, issued by then secretary of state Thomas Jefferson, listing all people across the then 13 states of American, and South-West Territory, by both state and county.
People are divided into four categories of free people adult and juvenile males, females and others, whilst there is just one category for slaves.
As few as 200 copies of the 1791 document may have been printed, according to Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts expert Selby Kiffer. The census was treated as a document for viewing by the political class, not the public. The 56-page document was purchased by a private collector, according to Sotheby's spokeswoman Lauren Gioia. It had been expected to fetch only $50,000 to $70,000, but went for much more.
The census covered the population of the nation's 13 states and Southwest Territory, breaking it down by state and county.
The state population is listed according to five categories: free white males 16 years and upward, free white males under 16, free white females, all other free persons and slaves. The county breakdown is the same, but starts with free white males 21 years old instead of 16.
Jefferson was secretary of state at the time. His signature certified that the information was an official accurate count. "Probably as few as 200 were printed," said Selby Kiffer, Sotheby's books and manuscripts specialist.
"They were distributed to the members of the House and Senate and to the state governments. In that sense it was very much an official governmental document and not a public document."
The first census was a "straightforward headcount" that did not include the amount of land or animals owned, Kiffer said. Unlike census data collected today, it is not a measure of socio-economic standards.
The 1791 census lists the population for New York City and county - Manhattan and the South Bronx - as 33,131. The population for Westchester County, now considered the suburbs of New York City, is listed as 24,003. The Washington, D.C., area, with some districts unreported, had 35,691 people.
Only two other 1791 first edition copies signed by Jefferson have come up at auction since 1975. One sold in 2004 at Christie's New York for $85,000; the other sold at Sotheby's in 2000 for $47,500.
The Jefferson-signed census is part of a large collection of handwritten letters, documents and other manuscripts of American history that is part of the James S. Copley Library. Copley (pictured right), a newspaper publisher, was editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune and CEO of Copley Press.
Given a guide price of $50,000-70,000, the collectible piece sparked some frenetic bidding, finally selling for $122,500. It is only the third copy of the 1791 census to sell at auction since 1975, and the other two brought only $85,000 (Christie's) and $47,000 (Sotheby's), perhaps showing an increasing value for top end autographs and Americana.
This was not the only Jeffersonian document in the collection, of course. There were several others, of which the most interesting was probably a one-and-a-half page letter to Judge Spencer Roane.
This touches on several matters concerning the now third President, one being his worries about the judiciary subtly drawing power in to themselves.
"The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. that body, like Gravity, ever acting, with noiseless foot, & unalarming advance, gaining ground step by step, and holding what it gains, is ingulphing insidiously the special government into the jaws of that which feeds them."
Jefferson also touches on the question of Missouri, which was being admitted to the Union despite being a slave-owning state. Jefferson held an anti-slavery position in general, but was worried about the effects imposing special limits on the Missouri's self-control in order to phase out slavery would threaten the Union.
