2,000 dolls. Capital prize. By authority of the State of Rhode-Island. To be drawn under the superintendence of the Secretary of State. Rhode Island Lottery. For the benefit of the First Universalist Society in North Providence. Class number vtwo. F. W. Dazna, J. A. Scott, R. S. Gould, managers

Providence: [neither printer nor publisher identified], December 2, 1831. Narrow broadside (approx. 13" x 5"), announcing the lottery and listing 5051 prizes amounting to $10,643, the grand prize being $2000; docketed on the verso: "Prov. Decem 2 1831 True copy furnished the Secty according to law / P. Case / for the managers." And underneath that: "Secty's office Decem 2 1831 / the within class was drawn this day / Henry Bowen, Secty. / to the Gen Treas of Rhode Island &c." Some show-through from the docketing, otherwise near fine; encapsulated. The nature of the dockets, showing the trail of this copy from the managers of the lottery, to the Secretary of State (Bowen), to the General Treasurer suggests this was the official State copy of the lottery broadside. Lotteries were outlawed in Rhode Island in 1732, but were allowed again in 1744 as long as they were approved by the General Assembly. After that, lotteries played a "significant role ... in providing the revenue for public works such as the building and maintenance of roads, ridges and wharves. They were also used by towns as well as civic and religious societies to provide the necessary capital to build school and meeting houses, churches, Masonic halls, and armories" (DeSimone). As here, for the benefit of the First Universalist Society in North Providence. Not in American Imprints; not in Russell DeSimone's List of Rhode Island Lotteries 18th and 19th Centuries, Middletown, Bartlett Press, 2002. Item #57248

Price: $850.00