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[DIMENSIONS]: 5.5" x 8"
Up for sale is a rare, exceptionally beautiful original antique 1907 dual-society institutional document broadside issued jointly by The American Humane Education Society and The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA).
Dated May 29, 1907, out of their headquarters at the Goddard Building (19 Milk Street, Boston), this historic piece officially charters the "Band of Mercy" youth chapter assigned to the town of Bolton, Massachusetts, recording it as Chapter No. 71,059. The text promises a shipment of organizational supplies along with a year-long subscription to their foundational animal rights periodical, "Our Dumb Animals."
Important Historical Leadership & Provenance:- Prominently features the name and authority of GEO. T. ANGELL, the globally famous American reformer, attorney, and primary founder of the MSPCA and the Humane Education movement.- Lists Hon. ALBERT E. PILLSBURY (former Attorney General of Massachusetts) as corporate Counselor.- Lists LAURENCE MINOT (iconic Boston trustee and first chairman of the National Municipal League) as a Fund Trustee.- Hand-signed at the lower left by local Bolton chapter officers Helen M. Rowe (Pres.) and Benjamin A. Goding (Secy.).
The top margin displays two magnificent, deeply detailed circular woodcut vignettes: the text-driven shield of the Humane Education Society and the classic historic MSPCA seal depicting an angel defending a maltreated horse.
Rarity Notes: Early turn-of-the-century paperwork from the dawn of the American animal rights movement is highly scarce. Because these chapter acknowledgment sheets were sent directly to small local schools or church groups, their survival rate is incredibly low. This is a premier, museum-grade acquisition for collectors of historic social reform movement ephemera, antique animal rights advertising, or localized Bolton, Massachusetts history.
Condition: Complete single-sheet institutional document. The printed woodcut emblems, crisp typography, and dark fountain pen handwriting/signatures remain brilliantly clear, dark, and perfectly legible. Displays original horizontal mailing/filing folds and minor soft handling wear along the outer margins consistent with its 120-year age. Reverse side is blank. Please review the high-resolution scans closely to evaluate precise condition details. Sold as-is.