Sold For $1,875
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The pride with which Samuel Francis Smith beheld his masterpiece, “America,” is demonstrated in this perfect pairing. Includes two items: 1) AQS on a 6 x 12 off-white sheet, signed at the conclusion, “S.F. Smith.” Smith lavishly penned in blue ink all four stanzas of “America,” to read in part: “My country, ’tis of thee,/Sweet land of liberty,/Of thee I sing;/Land where my fathers died,/Land of the pilgrims’ pride,/From every mountainside,/Let freedom ring…. Our father’s God to Thee,/Author of liberty,/To Thee we sing./Long may our land be bright,/with freedom’s holy light,/Protect us by Thy might,/Great God our King.” 2) One page ALS, signed “S.F. Smith,” on a 4.5 x 7 off-white sheet, dated May 15, 1895. Mailed to Mrs. S.V. White, Smith declares: “I have never, under any circumstances, received pay for autographs of ‘America,’ though I have written many for benevolent causers. I take pleasure in aiding your good designs by sending two copies of the song. I thank you for your interesting letter and its enclosed clippings.” Smith’s consistently gorgeous penning decorates this item, as well, and both pieces exhibit fine condition. In 1832, impressed by a previous trip to Germany that the nation’s youth began their school day by singing a hymn, Samuel Francis Smith wrote the now-popular patriotic song. On November 16, 1895, six months after writing the offered letter and four verses, the 87-year-old Rev. S.F. Smith died suddenly while on a train in Boston’s New England Railroad Station. Understandably, examples of these classic articles of Americana including all four stanzas have become quite elusive. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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