Sold For $6,250
*Includes Buyers Premium
English-born Quaker (1644–1718) and founder of the colony that became the State of Pennsylvania. Historic partly-printed vellum DS, signed “Wm. Penn,” one page, 27.25 x 21.5, October 28, 1681. Indenture by which Penn conveys 5,000 acres of land in the newly chartered Pennsylvania to Christopher Taylor for the sum of £100. In part: "Whereas King Charles the Second…hath given and granted unto the said William Penn, his heirs and assigns, all that tract or part of land in America…together with divers great powers, pre-eminences, authorities, royalties, franchises and immunities; and hath erected the said tract of land into a province or signory, by the name of Pensylvania, in order to the establishing of a colony and plantation in the same…for and in consideration of the summe of one hundred pounds…paid by the said Christopher Taylor…assign the full and just proportion and quantity of five thousand acres." Neatly signed in the lower margin in ink by William Penn. Affixed by its top edge to a 32.5 x 23.5 mat. In very good condition, with soiling, staining, and small areas of loss at the fold intersections.
In 1681 William Penn received a royal charter from King Charles II for an expansive tract of land in North America that would become the Province of Pennsylvania, part of the Crown’s effort to satisfy a debt owed to his father and to establish a proprietary colony built on principles of religious tolerance and orderly governance. Penn’s strategy for financing and populating the new province was to sell large blocks of land to investors and settlers willing to support and develop the colony. These early buyers, known as the 'First Purchasers,' provided critical capital to Penn, and many of them subsequently emigrated to Pennsylvania or sent tenants to settle and work the land.
Christopher Taylor, a Quaker born in Yorkshire, England, immigrated to the colony by sailing with Penn's fleet in 1682, probably aboard the ship Welcome. On arriving, he was immediately immersed in early Pennsylvanian politics: he stood alongside William Penn when he and Tamanend of the Lenape concluded the Treaty of Shackamaxon on November 22, 1682, and was appointed by Penn as a member of Pennsylvania’s first Provincial Council.
Illustrated in The Western Pursuit of the American Dream: Selections from the Collection of Kenneth W. Rendell (p. 20, University of Oklahoma Press, 2005).
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$150.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
