Nov 7, 2023 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
22
Signed by the Chief Justice of the Court of Oyer and Terminer in the Salem Witch Trials
Estate / Collection: The Victor Gulotta Collection
STOUGHTON, WILLIAM [and BRADSTREET, SIMON]
Document signed as Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Dorchester: 17 September 1700. Manuscript document with wafer seat stitched with an early and ribbon in a secretarial hand relating to the appearance of Elizabeth Shrimpton, executrix of the will of Colonel Samuel Shrimpton, before Stoughton. Signed in Stoughton's hand "Wm Stoughton" in the lower margin. The second page provides Elizabeth Shrimpton's signed attestation with a red wax seal, this page also signed by Isaac Addington and J. Roberts as witnesses. The third page is an earlier document on a shorter sheet here appended, dating from 1684 and being the bond of payment of 400 pounds from William Strong to Colonel Shrimpton, this page signed by Simon Bradstreet as Governor ("Simon Bradstreet Gobn.") as well as Edward Lyde and Thomas Longe. Overall 13 3/4 x 9 inches (35 x 22 cm); housed in a folder with portraits of Stoughton, Bradstreet, Cololonel and Elizabeth Shrimpton. Some staining and minor wear but well preserved overall. Provenance: The collection of the late Charles P. Greenough Brookline, Massachusetts, sold Anderson Galleries, New York, 3 May 1926, lot 74; Pacific Book Auctions, 12 November 2012, lot 21.
William Stoughton (1631-1701) is one of the most notorious figures of the Salem Witch Trials, having served as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer throughout the affair. Born in England, it is known that Stoughton and his parents were in Dorchester, Massachusetts by 1632. He graduated from Harvard in 1650 and chose politics over religion for a career. During the Dominion of New England period in the 1680s, Stoughton and his friend and business partner Joseph Dudley served in high-ranking positions under Governor Sir Edmund Andros. In 1692, when the Dominion of New England fell and Sir William Phips arrived from England carrying the new charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Stoughton was made Lieutenant Governor. Rumors of witchcraft at Salem were already rampant at this time, and Stoughton was appointed head of a special tribunal to deal with the many accusations and in June he was appointed Chief Justice of the colonial courts, a post he held for the rest of his life. During the trials he was notoriously harsh, for example sending the jury that had exonerated Rebecca Nurse back to keep deliberating, and he repeatedly defended the allowance of spectral evidence into the courtroom despite the protestations of many. It was only when the accusations of witchcraft reached the wife of Governor William Phips that the trials were shutdown in October 1692 after 20 had been killed. Stoughton never expressed remorse for his actions.
The present document dates to late in his life during the period in which he served as Acting Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The 1700 document signed by Stoughton recognizes an early document signed in 1684 by Simon Bradstreet, both relating to the Estate of prominent landowner Colonel Samuel Smith as executed by his wife Elizabeth Shrimpton. Thus, many important late 17th-century Massachusetts figures collide in this interesting document.
Sold for $2,520
Estimated at $2,500 - $3,500
Includes Buyer's Premium
Estate / Collection: The Victor Gulotta Collection
STOUGHTON, WILLIAM [and BRADSTREET, SIMON]
Document signed as Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Dorchester: 17 September 1700. Manuscript document with wafer seat stitched with an early and ribbon in a secretarial hand relating to the appearance of Elizabeth Shrimpton, executrix of the will of Colonel Samuel Shrimpton, before Stoughton. Signed in Stoughton's hand "Wm Stoughton" in the lower margin. The second page provides Elizabeth Shrimpton's signed attestation with a red wax seal, this page also signed by Isaac Addington and J. Roberts as witnesses. The third page is an earlier document on a shorter sheet here appended, dating from 1684 and being the bond of payment of 400 pounds from William Strong to Colonel Shrimpton, this page signed by Simon Bradstreet as Governor ("Simon Bradstreet Gobn.") as well as Edward Lyde and Thomas Longe. Overall 13 3/4 x 9 inches (35 x 22 cm); housed in a folder with portraits of Stoughton, Bradstreet, Cololonel and Elizabeth Shrimpton. Some staining and minor wear but well preserved overall. Provenance: The collection of the late Charles P. Greenough Brookline, Massachusetts, sold Anderson Galleries, New York, 3 May 1926, lot 74; Pacific Book Auctions, 12 November 2012, lot 21.
William Stoughton (1631-1701) is one of the most notorious figures of the Salem Witch Trials, having served as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer throughout the affair. Born in England, it is known that Stoughton and his parents were in Dorchester, Massachusetts by 1632. He graduated from Harvard in 1650 and chose politics over religion for a career. During the Dominion of New England period in the 1680s, Stoughton and his friend and business partner Joseph Dudley served in high-ranking positions under Governor Sir Edmund Andros. In 1692, when the Dominion of New England fell and Sir William Phips arrived from England carrying the new charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Stoughton was made Lieutenant Governor. Rumors of witchcraft at Salem were already rampant at this time, and Stoughton was appointed head of a special tribunal to deal with the many accusations and in June he was appointed Chief Justice of the colonial courts, a post he held for the rest of his life. During the trials he was notoriously harsh, for example sending the jury that had exonerated Rebecca Nurse back to keep deliberating, and he repeatedly defended the allowance of spectral evidence into the courtroom despite the protestations of many. It was only when the accusations of witchcraft reached the wife of Governor William Phips that the trials were shutdown in October 1692 after 20 had been killed. Stoughton never expressed remorse for his actions.
The present document dates to late in his life during the period in which he served as Acting Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The 1700 document signed by Stoughton recognizes an early document signed in 1684 by Simon Bradstreet, both relating to the Estate of prominent landowner Colonel Samuel Smith as executed by his wife Elizabeth Shrimpton. Thus, many important late 17th-century Massachusetts figures collide in this interesting document.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection, Nov 7, 2023
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Successful Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps Tops $1 Million!
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November 7, 2023 Sale Featured the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana & Travel
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle's successful auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on November 7, 2023 topped $1 million amid competitive international bidding. Offerings in this popular sale spanned early illuminated manuscripts to modern literary first editions.
The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana and Travel comprised fascinating material that attracted bidders from around the world. Highlighting the collection was a copy of the first Latin edition of the earliest published collection of voyages, including those of Columbus and Vespucci: the 1508 Milan Fracanzo da Montalboddo, which achieved a strong $239,400. The collection also featured a rare uncut copy of Livio Sanuto's 1588 atlas of Africa that doubled its estimate at $25,200, as well as a group of 19th and early 20th century material relating to Zanzibar that attracted intense competition, sending the lots soaring over expectations. (Read more about Esmond Bradley Martin below.)
Property of other owners was highlighted by a first edition of Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking scientific work, On the Origin of Species, 1859, which realized $94,500. This copy bore provenance of Charles Darwin's great-grandson Quentin Keynes, to the naturalist Richard Bayard Dominick, thence by descent to the consignor.
Robert Browning's first edition copy of John Keats’ poem, Endymion, 1818, sold for $37,800, many times its $7,000-10,000 estimate. The poem begins with the well-known verse, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."
The selection of livres des artistes featured François-Louis Schmied's Daphne in a major Art Deco binding by Pierre Legrain, 1924, one of 140 copies. The book tripled its $8,000-12,000 estimate, selling for $32,760.
Manuscripts in the sale were highlighted by a medieval manuscript on paper, Calculus temporum Ecclesiasticus, which sailed past its estimate of $3,000-5,000 to achieve an exceptional $31,500. This fascinating calendrical manuscript in Latin, circa 1360, possibly English in origin, was once the property of antiquary and collector Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872).
100 years before the Revolution: from Plymouth Colony to the Salem Witch Trials - The Victor Gulotta Collection, offered a curated collection of 17th and 18th century manuscripts documenting life in colonial New England. Among the rarities were a 1691 document signed by two notorious Salem witch trials magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin that realized $5,670, a document from 1686/87 signed by Edmund Andros as Governor of the Dominion of New England that sold for $5,670, and a 1656 Boston court document relating to a divorce case that achieved $6,300, all three exceeding their estimates.
Esmond Bradley Martin
Esmond Bradley Martin (1941-2018) was educated as a geographer and philosopher. He and his wife Chryssee had an enduring fascination with Africa, and settled in Nairobi, Kenya, in the mid-1970s. He wrote extensively, oftentimes in conjunction with his wife, publishing works including Zanzibar. Tradition and Revolution, Hamish Hamilton, 1978; Cargoes of the east. The ports, trade, and culture of the Arabian Seas and western Indian Ocean, Elm Tree Press, 1978; and many other works on African history and conservation. In the late 1970s, he began extensive research into the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, which included substantial stints incognito posing as a buyer of illicit wildlife products. For a while, he served as special envoy for rhino conservation for the United Nations. He continued this work until 2018 , when tragically he was stabbed to death in his Nairobi home
For about thirty years, beginning in the mid-1960s, Esmond Bradley Martin assiduously collected books and manuscripts on Africa and its history, acquiring a phenomenal collection of letters by many of the major English explorers of the nineteenth century, as well as numerous rarities from earlier centuries. He was buying at a time when troves of such material surfaced frequently at English auctions. Doyle was privileged to offer the first selection of his collection in the November 7 auction. A second and final portion will be offered early next year.
We Invite You to Auction!
Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.
For information, please contact Peter Costanzo at 212-427-4141, ext 248, or Edward Ripley-Duggan at ext. 234, or email Books@Doyle.com
