Charleston Library Gets Disputed
Newspaper on Permanent Loan
In a settlement over the disputed ownership of a rare 1776 newspaper that sold for $140,000 last year, the publication will eventually go on permanent loan to the Charleston (S.C.) Library Society. Following the auction by Christie’s of the August 2–14 issue of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette, the private membership library suspected that the paper may have originally come from its collection. The auction house then canceled the sale to the Post and Courier Foundation and held the paper, which contains the only text of the Declaration of Independence printed in South Carolina at the time, in its vault until the ownership could be determined.
The foundation, which agreed to pay the seller the auction price and some expenses, will display the newspaper for five years, the Associated Press reported July 4. After that, it will go on permanent loan to the Library Society, which will keep a color copy with its other issues for researchers and preserve the original in its vault.
“The real winners are the people of this state, who will now be able to see the declaration,” said Library Society President Warren Ripley.
Posted Jul
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