1787 Letter of Washington to Nephew Smashes Previous Auction Records

Made public for the first time, the original copy of a letter by George Washington was auctioned off at a thumping price of $3.2m (£1.9m), at Christie's yesterday. Composed at Mount Vernon on 9th November, 1787, Washington had addressed the 4 page billet to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, the issue of his younger sibling John Augustine Washington.

In the letter, Washington passionately presents his unfaltering support towards the validation of the American Constitution as well as elaborates to Bushrod, who went on to become Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court after his uncle's demise, the boons of adopting such a constitution. The American Constitution had been adopted only two months before the letter was written, on September 17, 1787 in the Philadelphia Convention. Washington shared a close bond with his nephew and in fact left his Vernon property to Bushrod. The letter which went under the hammer was indeed owned by successors of Bushrod for more than a century.

Washington also told Bushrod in the letter that the US Constitution would act like the cement to unify and hold together all the territories which had newly gained independence. "The power under the Constitution will always be with the people," he hoped in the letter.

An approximate estimate of around 1.5 million to 2.5 million dollars was previously given by Christie's based on the bidding price of Washington's last letter which had sold for $834,500 in 2002. Evidently it toppled all expectations and calculations. However, the house of Christie's has chosen to keep the name of the buyer under wraps.

In the same auction, at the Rockefeller center, a copy of the very first book by Edgar Allan Poe from the first edition, Tamerlane and Other Poems sold for 662,500 dollars, breaking its own previous record of 250,000 dollars. An extremely rare book, only 11 others of which exists today, previously belonged to William Self, the former president of 20th Century Fox Television. It is now the most expensive piece of US literature from the 19th Century. Also, a manuscript hand written by Poe in 1849 sold at 830,500 dollars, becoming the most expensive 19th century literary holograph. This two page script contains a partially scribbled verse by Poe dedicated to his one time infatuation Nancy L. Richmond, whom he lovingly called Annie. The first 8 stanzas of the unfinished poem was in fact christened For Annie by the poet himself.