Lot 178
[Franklin, Benjamin] Engraving by Juste Chevillet After a Painting by Joseph Duplessis, Paris, 1778. " Benjamin Franklin. Né à Boston, dans la Nouvelle Angleterre, le 17 Janv. 1706. " Copper-plate engraving, 12 x 8¼" on 14 x 9¾" sheet. An inscription in French translates: "Honor of the New World and of Humanity, This lovable and true sage guides and enlightens them; Like another mentor, he conceals from the common eye, Under the features of a mortal, a divinity." The original oil portrait, upon which this engraving of Franklin was based, was a prized possession of Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, Franklin's host in the Paris suburb of Passy, where he lived from 1777-1785. The French adored Franklin and he adored them; many French households had an engraving of Franklin on the mantelpiece. Without his service and influence, the French would not have been forthcoming with the aid which was instrumental in winning the American Revolution. Upon his death in 1790, the French National Assembly declared a month of mourning for the man they called "the genius who freed America and shed torrents of light upon Europe." Estimate Value $350 - UP
Goodspeed's, 1975.
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| Realized $750 |
