Hardly spiffy. Should be forced to keep it in a well preserved museum open to the public. He can pay for the upkeep as well.

Yeah, I really can not say that I agree with the "Spiffy" tag

Sad, yes. Spiffy, no.

For that matter, the right thing to do is get it appraised, donate it back to the State of Maine and then write it off on your taxes, considering there is no historical purpose of keeping it in Virginia.

/Pissed off Mainer.

That bastard still has my copy of "War and Peace".

sloppy shoes: Hardly spiffy. Should be forced to keep it in a well preserved museum open to the public. He can pay for the upkeep as well.



/rather warm link

Help-Im-Sober: Sad, yes. Spiffy, no.

Perhaps, but the guy did nothing wrong. He found a private dealer who had an original copy of the Declaration and he paid $475k for it. Then if TFA is accurate, the state of Maine said "hand it over". It doesn't say they offered him his money for it. Granted the article is short and may have omitted some relevant details, but I sure wouldn't expect him to just give it up for nothing after paying so much.

also owns toilet paper roll once used by Marie Antoinette

Little known quote: "Let them eat shiat."

If Marie Antoinette actually looked like Kirsten Dunst I'd probably be interested in that roll of toilet paper.

In 50 years, historians will have slapfights over the skidmarks.

pureobscure: If Marie Antoinette actually looked like Kirsten Dunst I'd probably be interested in that roll of toilet paper.

Eww, how dare you obsess over a woman's lower body.

you know,these days
it's not worth the olde paper it's printed on


/wipes ass

mrEdude: "you know,these days it's not worth the olde paper it's printed on"
~George W. Bush

Eww, how dare you obsess over a woman's lower body.

I once obsessed all over a woman's lower body. Now I come to think about it, she wiped herself less dirty with something that had the words 'We the people..' written on it.

RosevilleDan: I still prefer the original

Careful what you say there, citizen.

Dirty Hot Linker: mrEdude: "you know,these days it's not worth the olde paper it's printed on"
~George W. Bush

Running out of material?

PHHHT, Some can never give it up, and move on.


/OH, I know Jimmy Carter ......
//Never mind, moved on yrs ago ....

... Wiscasset's town clerk copied the text of the Declaration of Independence into the town's record books on Nov. 10, 1776.

Good thing RIAA wasn't around then.

Meh. It's probably all lemony smelling and hairdryer scorched. He can keep it.

/and the treasure
//in the house of Pass and Stowe
///would bang Diane Kruger like a screen door in a hurricane.

phlegmmo: also owns toilet paper roll once used by Marie Antoinette

Little known quote: "Let them eat shiat."

I thought it was "Let them shiat cake"

Dirty Hot Linker: mrEdude: "you know,these days it's not worth the olde paper it's printed on"
~George W. Bush

You know, I had a loaf of bread that went stale .....



DAMED YOU BUSH .....

So, is he goind to wipe his ass with it like President Bush did? Can there be only one shiat stained copy?

I thought everyone knew that Marie Antoinette only wiped her arse on her lackey's tongues.

So, is he goind to wipe his ass with it like President Bush did?

Well said ....

/goind to back away from this before I pull a goind muscle.

//Just kidding, your opinion ....you has ...

Didn't the article state that there were 250 copies made and this was just one?

I'm a descendant of the guy who actually declared it.

How's that for some balls? Tell the entire country of England to piss off.

Pud: So, is he goind to wipe his ass with it like President Bush did?

No, thats the Constitution, but close enough ;)

sloppy shoes and Help-Im-Sober can eat a dick.

You farktards make me sick.

If I had it in my possession, the state of Maine wouldn't be getting it. Nor would anybody else.

I wish someone had submitted this with a funnier headline.

Paulistinian:
You farktards make me sick.

Why?

sloppy shoes: Hardly spiffy. Should be forced to keep it in a well preserved museum open to the public. He can pay for the upkeep as well.

Since the Court found him to be the lawfull owner, he can't be "forced" to do anything with it. It is now his personal private property, his to do with as he sees fit.

Fark Infested Waters: Didn't the article state that there were 250 copies made and this was just one?

GregoryD: I'm a descendant of the guy who actually declared it.

How's that for some balls? Tell the entire country of England to piss off.


Not only that (the " Tell the entire country of England to piss off" part), but they followed through with it.

/Golf clap to your predecessors ....

scotty425:
Since the Court found him to be the lawfull owner, he can't be "forced" to do anything with it. It is now his personal private property, his to do with as he sees fit.


And the Government should be allowed to reclaim it for national preservation. It belongs to the country. It should be covered under eminent domain. The guy should have known better.

FTA Richard Adams Jr. of Fairfax County purchased the document from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000.

Is anyone else wondering how it got to London? I think this town has less of a claim on it.

sloppy shoes: Paulistinian:
You farktards make me sick.

Why?

You did not comply ...

/you poo poo head

//Heh..Heh ..heh

Did he take the secret rotunda elevator, or did he go through the sub-basement?

sloppy shoes: Hardly spiffy. Should be forced to keep it in a well preserved museum open to the public. He can pay for the upkeep as well.

Yeah, it's a printed copy. The original is on display.

patrick767: original copy
Isn't that an oxymoron. Jumbo shrimp. Military Intelligence.

sloppy shoes
And the Government should be allowed to reclaim it for national preservation. It belongs to the country. It should be covered under eminent domain. The guy should have known better.


Not sure why.... I've seen the actual Declaration of Independence. In the National Archives. As well as the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution (as has many millions of people).

This guy has a copy.

NOT the same thing.

NateIsInKentucky: FTA Richard Adams Jr. of Fairfax County purchased the document from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000.

Is anyone else wondering how it got to London? I think this town has less of a claim on it.


That is something I thought about. It may be more valuable if it is the copy (or one of) presented to the English as the war either was about to begin, or had already began.

sloppy shoes: scotty425:
Since the Court found him to be the lawfull owner, he can't be "forced" to do anything with it. It is now his personal private property, his to do with as he sees fit.


And the Government should be allowed to reclaim it for national preservation. It belongs to the country. It should be covered under eminent domain. The guy should have known better.

Should every letter written by Lincoln now in private collections be confiscated under eminent domain? Sorry, whatever your own feelings are, the Court has ruled; he is the owner of the document in the eyes of law.

Obviously, if he so chose, he could loan it to a reputeable museum for display so that all may appreciate this piece of American history. In most cases like this, wouldn't the museum be responsible for the care and preservation, security and insurance of the document, not the owner?

Fark Infested Waters: Didn't the article state that there were 250 copies made and this was just one?

Yeah but there are only 11 of those original 250 left.

exPFCWintergreen: Did he take the secret rotunda elevator, or did he go through the sub-basement?

More important, did he trick "Button Gwinette" into handing it over, or did he have to destroy him?

sloppy shoes: And the Government should be allowed to reclaim it for national preservation. It belongs to the country. It should be covered under eminent domain. The guy should have known better.

This document has zero historical value. We have the originals. This is not an original, but a print. We don't need this copy to tell us what was originally written. There is no disputed language in the old texts, like there might be for and old medieval document. The only reason it matters is that it's old and rare.

As far as eminent domain goes, they'd still need to compensate the guy for its fair market value.

robbiedo:
Yeah, it's a printed copy. The original is on display.

number_seven:
Not sure why.... I've seen the actual Declaration of Independence. In the National Archives. As well as the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution (as has many millions of people).

This guy has a copy.

NOT the same thing.


It is the same thing. It's not just any copy- it's a 1776 copy. It's important. We need to preserve these things; notions of "private property" do not apply. You do not get to have whatever you want just because.

What about this lucky guy.... Talk about making a profit......

http://www.snopes.com/luck/declare.asp

"Well, as you can see, its wrapper is a piece of the original US Constitution. It was hand rolled by Queen Elizabeth during her 'wild' years and was buried with George Burns until grave robbing space mushrooms... eh, well, you know the rest."

/this would make one epic joint, I'm sure

scotty425:
Should every letter written by Lincoln now in private collections be confiscated under eminent domain? Sorry, whatever your own feelings are, the Court has ruled; he is the owner of the document in the eyes of law.

Obviously, if he so chose, he could loan it to a reputeable museum for display so that all may appreciate this piece of American history. In most cases like this, wouldn't the museum be responsible for the care and preservation, security and insurance of the document, not the owner?

Nicholas Urfe:
This document has zero historical value. We have the originals. This is not an original, but a print. We don't need this copy to tell us what was originally written. There is no disputed language in the old texts, like there might be for and old medieval document. The only reason it matters is that it's old and rare.

As far as eminent domain goes, they'd still need to compensate the guy for its fair market value.

I don't care what the courts ruled. I obviously believe they are wrong. And yes, it is important, because it is a rare copy. We need to preserve all of these.

And as for the regular payments for upkeep of documents, it depends. However, this guy should have to pay for it as a lesson to all art collectors and rich people that certain documents and works of simply belong to the public. As I said before, private property need not apply to these asshats.

It belongs in a museum!

/Bore repeating.

robbiedo: patrick767: original copy
Isn't that an oxymoron. Jumbo shrimp. Military Intelligence.

No. Government documents were often executed in duplicate/triplicate. There were multiple original copies of the Declaration of Independence, and no official one.