January 30, 2018 - 4:24 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A book signed by George Washington that made its way from the Founding Father's personal library to a now-deceased Tennessee man has sold for $138,000 at an auction.
A Case Antiques vice-president, Sarah Drury, tells WBIR-TV an anonymous phone bidder purchased the leather-bound copy of Volume 1 of the Massachusetts Magazine during Saturday's auction in Knoxville.
Washington gave the book to his biographer and former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. The book last belonged to a Chattanooga man who died in 2017.
It was offered for a preliminary catalogue estimate of $28,000 to $32,000. The same bidder also purchased a copy of Marshall's biography of Washington for $21,600.
Drury said 4,500 registered bidders from more than 50 countries bid on the nearly 900 items up for auction.
___
Information from: WBIR-TV, http://www.wbir.com/
News from © The Associated Press, 2018