HISTORIC NEWSPAPER FETCHES $140,000 AT CHRISTIE'S

By: Josef Crosby S.C. Paper Announced Declaration Of Independence



Uses for yesterday's daily newspaper include wrapping fish, lining
birdcages, and housetraining the puppy. But 224 years later, that might
turn out to be quite a financial blunder.



Christie's auction house sold a Revolutionary War era colonial
newspaper, The South-Carolina and American Gazette, for $140,000
to an anonymous telephone bidder in Friday's printed books and
manuscripts auction in New York. It is believed to be the first and only
South Carolina newspaper to print a copy of the Declaration of
Independence at the time of its conception.



Published in 1776, this important piece of U.S. history appears to be
the only surviving copy. Except for a few slight repairs, it is in
excellent condition for a newspaper of its period, and the text of the
Declaration of Independence itself is clear and complete.



The paper was originally a weekly and semi-weekly publication printed by
Robert Wells and his son John. As the first stages of the war began to
develop, Robert, who had sided with the king, returned to England. Under
John's editorship, the Gazette moved into the direction of the
revolutionary cause. News of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence is known to have reached Charleston Aug. 2, 1776, which
lead to the printing of The South-Carolina and American Gazette
No. 922.