Indiana National Guard Captain Nathan Harlan bought a 1788 first edition copy of “The Federalist when he was in High School; he paid $7. Now, his treasure, also known as “The Federalist Papers”, is expected to fetch somewhere between $20,000-$30,000 dollars when he auctions it off with Heritage Auction Galleries.
Advertisement for The Federalist
Captain Nathan Harland, currently training for his second tour of duty in Iraq, says that his mother found the book at a South Bend Indiana Flea market in 1990. He said that his high school class happened to be studying “The Federalist Papers” the same week in which he bought it, so in his mind, he knew the book was special.
The two volume set known as “The Federalist” was published a few months after the Constitution was drafted in 1787 in Philadelphia. The collection of essays were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay; all went by the pen name Publius. Their intention’s for the essays were to make the case in favor of the Consitution.
Captain Harlan displayed his find in a shadow box for almost 20 years, until deciding to sell it this past April. He originally planned to list his first edition copy of “The Federalist” on Ebay, that is until he did an internet search and saw that Heritage Auction Galleries had recently sold a two volume set for $262,900.
Harlan has only one volume of the two volume set and has had the leather cover replaced; experts say the book could command between $8,000-$12,000 dollars. But most agree that by the time the bidding is over due to the popularity of “The Federalist Papers”, Harlan could rake in between $20,000-$30,000 dollars.
Kudos to Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas; they are waiving their standard 20% auction fees for Captain Harlan for his service in Iraq. Captain Harlan will already be overseas when he receives his money. He is currently training at Camp Atterbury in Indiana.
The Federalist Papers are an extremely important piece of political literature in our nation’s history; an important political document, right alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself. Captain Nathan Harland, finding a first edition copy of The Federalist for $7.00 is a total miracle. Here’s hoping it brings in a bundle.
The Federalist Papers Authors
The Federalist Papers Video
June 16th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Very few Americans realize the miracle that was the birth of this country. Thousands of failed states, regimes, barbaric hordes, etc., over the millennia and we are lucky enough to be living in the only country in world history with the freedom to write what we want without fear from the government.
So far. With a few more million Muslims we may soon fear to write the truth.