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拍品专文
The presentation inscription reads:
This Snuff Box
long used by
Thomas Paine
AUTHOR of the RIGHTS of MAN
Age of Reason &c.
was given by him to
DANL CONSTABLE
at New York the
1st Novr 1806
In his extensive biography of Thomas Paine published in 1892, Moncure Daniel Conway quotes from Daniel Constable's diary from 1 November 1806, where he says "Changed snuff-boxes with T. Paine at his lodgings..." and further notes that he had been shown the snuff box by Constable's nephew Dr. Clair J. Grece (1831-1905), which had had been fitted by Constable with a silver and gold plaque (The Life of Thomas Paine, Vol. II, Cambridge, 1892, p. 389).
THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809)
Thomas Paine was born in Norfolk, England, where he received a modest education before seeking work in a variety of unsuccessful positions. After meeting Benjamin Franklin in London, who encouraged him to move to America, Paine moved to Philadelphia in 1774 and immediately began work at the Pennsylvania Magazine, in addition to writing numerous other articles and essays. As tensions grew between the American colonists and English in the following years, Paine published his most famous pamphlet, Common Sense, in 1776 which argued for true independence from England, as opposed to just a revolt against taxation. This document would serve more than any other document from the period as an important influence on the Declaration of Independence, ratified later that year. Paine continued writing influential papers, as well as serving as volunteer aide-de-camp under General Nathanial Greene, secretary to the Committee for Foreign affairs from 1777 to 1779, and clerk of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania from 1779 until the end of the war.
After the war, Paine found himself in poverty as he had not accepted any profits from his highly influential writings to ensure cheap editions could be easily circulated. After petitioning Congress with the help of George Washington, Paine was granted $500 by Pennsylvania and a farm in new Rochelle by New York, where Paine retired to work on various engineering projects and inventions. Paine continued to write, traveling to England and France where he penned Rights of Man in 1791 arguing for republicanism and support for the French Revolution amongst other social reforms. Upon returning to the United States in 1802, Paine discovered that his contributions to the revolution had largely been forgotten, and he lived largely in poverty outside society until his death in 1809.
DANIEL CONSTABLE (1775-1835)
Born in Horley, England, Daniel Constable traveled to New York with his brother William and their dog Frank in 1806 for a two year trip throughout America. Believing the new democratic country to be a fulfillment of their political ideals, their trip took them through fourteen of the seventeen states, through the territories and wilderness of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and introduced them to important figures of the American revolution, including Thomas Paine and Aaron Burr. As a talented artist, William documented their travels alongside Daniel’s extensive journals, including one of the earliest extant pictures of Niagara Falls. After returning to England, Constable helped his sister Mildred and her husband John Purse move to Indiana in 1819, before returning to American himself in 1820, and getting citizenship in 1830.
This Snuff Box
long used by
Thomas Paine
AUTHOR of the RIGHTS of MAN
Age of Reason &c.
was given by him to
DANL CONSTABLE
at New York the
1st Novr 1806
In his extensive biography of Thomas Paine published in 1892, Moncure Daniel Conway quotes from Daniel Constable's diary from 1 November 1806, where he says "Changed snuff-boxes with T. Paine at his lodgings..." and further notes that he had been shown the snuff box by Constable's nephew Dr. Clair J. Grece (1831-1905), which had had been fitted by Constable with a silver and gold plaque (The Life of Thomas Paine, Vol. II, Cambridge, 1892, p. 389).
THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809)
Thomas Paine was born in Norfolk, England, where he received a modest education before seeking work in a variety of unsuccessful positions. After meeting Benjamin Franklin in London, who encouraged him to move to America, Paine moved to Philadelphia in 1774 and immediately began work at the Pennsylvania Magazine, in addition to writing numerous other articles and essays. As tensions grew between the American colonists and English in the following years, Paine published his most famous pamphlet, Common Sense, in 1776 which argued for true independence from England, as opposed to just a revolt against taxation. This document would serve more than any other document from the period as an important influence on the Declaration of Independence, ratified later that year. Paine continued writing influential papers, as well as serving as volunteer aide-de-camp under General Nathanial Greene, secretary to the Committee for Foreign affairs from 1777 to 1779, and clerk of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania from 1779 until the end of the war.
After the war, Paine found himself in poverty as he had not accepted any profits from his highly influential writings to ensure cheap editions could be easily circulated. After petitioning Congress with the help of George Washington, Paine was granted $500 by Pennsylvania and a farm in new Rochelle by New York, where Paine retired to work on various engineering projects and inventions. Paine continued to write, traveling to England and France where he penned Rights of Man in 1791 arguing for republicanism and support for the French Revolution amongst other social reforms. Upon returning to the United States in 1802, Paine discovered that his contributions to the revolution had largely been forgotten, and he lived largely in poverty outside society until his death in 1809.
DANIEL CONSTABLE (1775-1835)
Born in Horley, England, Daniel Constable traveled to New York with his brother William and their dog Frank in 1806 for a two year trip throughout America. Believing the new democratic country to be a fulfillment of their political ideals, their trip took them through fourteen of the seventeen states, through the territories and wilderness of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and introduced them to important figures of the American revolution, including Thomas Paine and Aaron Burr. As a talented artist, William documented their travels alongside Daniel’s extensive journals, including one of the earliest extant pictures of Niagara Falls. After returning to England, Constable helped his sister Mildred and her husband John Purse move to Indiana in 1819, before returning to American himself in 1820, and getting citizenship in 1830.