Broadside of George Washington’s First Inaugural Address Tops Americana Auction

Detail from Printed Broadside of George Washington's inaugural speech sold for $381,500
The top lot at Freeman’s | Hindman’s Printed and Manuscript Americana sale was a printed broadside of George Washington’s first Inaugural Address which soared past its $15,000 – $25,000 estimate to finally sell for $381,500.
While newspaper printings of Washington’s address are relatively common, broadside editions are rare, and this Providence printing is one of only two known surviving copies, the other housed at The Henry Ford Museum.
Materials from three landmark expeditions to the American West led by photographer Joseph K. Dixon and funded by philanthropist Rodman Wanamaker to document the lives and cultures of Native American communities were also popular. Dixon’s original diary from the Second Wanamaker Expedition went for $54,400, while Dixon’s original typed manuscript for The Vanishing Race, estimated at $3,000 – $5,000, sold for $25,600.
Other highlights included:
- a first edition of The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay which fetched $127,500
- a broadside of Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address, printed in the mid-19th century, sold for $19,200
- a selection of works by John James Audubon, including Wild Turkey ($54,400), Fish Hawk ($44,800), and the first octavo edition of Birds of America ($38,400)
- William Birch's The City of Philadelphia, first Edition ($41,600)
- John Eliot's New Englands First Fruits, first edition ($51,200)
The sale in Philadelphia achieved nearly $1.2 million, more than double its pre-sale estimates.