A first printing of the United States Constitution is headed to auction in November. It's one of just eleven known copies of the 500 printed for the Constitutional Convention and Continental Congress back in 1787, and the only one still privately-owned. Sotheby's auction house estimates it will sell for $15-$20 million. It currently belongs to Dorothy Tapper Goldman, a philanthropist who is donating full proceeds from its sale to her foundation "which is dedicated to furthering the understanding of our democracy and how the acts of all citizens can make a difference." From Sotheby's:
The present document emerged in 1988 from a private Philadelphia collector, and was sold at Sotheby's that same year for $165,000, when it was acquired by Mrs. Goldman's late husband, S. Howard Goldman. It has remained in the Goldman collection ever since. Through the Goldman's commitment to philanthropy and education, this edition of the constitution has been on loan at the New-York Historical Society, New York, the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, United States Supreme Court, National Constitution Center, Museum of the American Revolution, and more across the more than 30 years it remained in their collection.
