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Hosted LIVE at the Royal Sonesta Boston on September 20th, 2025, RR Auction’s annual Remarkable Rarities event brings a hundred significant autographs and artifacts to auction. Bid in person, by phone, or online in this premier annual sale. Highlighting this singular occasion are an Apple-1 Computer, handwritten manuscripts by Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton, and a 16th-century edition of Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. Other top lots include an archive of significant Sun Yat-sen material from his revolutionary efforts in China, an early Oscar award for cinematography, an 18K solid gold Omega Speedmaster Pro ‘Tribute to Astronauts’ watch, an autograph letter signed by Edgar Allan Poe, and superlative autographs from the realms of art, music, and literature. RR Auction is a globally recognized and trusted auction house specializing in historical autographs and artifacts. Join us live as we make history selling history in September 2025.
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Robert S. Eaton Sr. 1940–2001
Thomas Jefferson communicates
“an uniform rule of Naturalization”— the first laws for the granting of United States citizenship to immigrants, which limited naturalization to ‘free white persons of good character’
LOT 7001
Thomas Jefferson Letter Signed Communicating Acts for the First United States Census and Rules for Granting Citizenship to Immigrants
LS signed “Th: Jefferson,” one page, 7.75 x 10, March 31, 1790. Handwritten letter to Samuel Huntington, “His Excellency the Gov’r of Connecticut,” in part: “I have the honor to send you herein enclosed two copies duly authenticated of the Act providing for the enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States; also of the Act to establish an uniform rule of Naturalization; also of the Act making appropriations for the support of Government for the year 1790.” Docketed on the reverse in Samuel Huntington’s hand: “Mr. Secretary Jefferson, March 31st, 1790, rec’d April 14, 1790, answer’d same day.” In fine condition.
With this letter, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson communicated significant acts of the First United States Congress to Governor Samuel Huntington of Connecticut: namely, the act calling for the nation’s first census and the act setting the first rules for the granting of United States citizenship to immigrants, which limited naturalization to ‘free white persons of good character.’
The Census Act of 1790, passed on March 1, 1790, authorized the first U.S. census, mandating that U.S. Marshals conduct the enumeration of the population, collecting data on the number of free white males, free white females, other free persons, and slaves—numbers essential to determining proportional representation in Congress. The first census, conducted on August 2, 1790, recorded a population of 3,929,214.
Starting Bid $5,000
Ca. 1800 brass parallel calipers belonging to Thomas Jefferson, measuring 3.5˝ x 1.75,˝ with a missing bottom arm to the right side. Mounted with an engraved plate and another period caliper in a window box display measuring 11˝ x 14˝ x 2.5˝. In fine condition. Accompanied by a signed and notarized letter of provenance that details the instrument’s line of ownership and the connection between the Jefferson-Randolph and Monroe-Hoes families. Provenance: Thomas Jefferson; by descent to his great-great-great granddaughter, Frances Maury Burke (1861-1933); by gift or purchase to Rose Gouverneur Hoes; by descent to Laurence G. Hoes; by bequest to Camilla Hoes Pope; Heritage, November 2011; Bonhams, April 2025.
‘Science is my passion, politics, my duty.’ – Thomas Jefferson A polymath of considerable degree, Thomas Jefferson’s expertise ranged across a broad array of disciplines, with his extensive library at Monticello offering him a near-unlimited wealth of literature. Jefferson’s wide-ranging curiosity led him into a variety of scientific explorations, in agriculture, architecture and drafting, technology, botany, and medicine, among others. He not only served as the nation’s third president, but for 17 years, he served as president of the American Philosophical Society.
Starting Bid $500
“The great question upon the Louisiana Treaty was decided before I got here; but we have some other questions resulting from it, on which my vote will be called for”
John Quincy Adams
Autograph Letter Signed on the Louisiana Purchase: “The great question upon the Louisiana Treaty was decided before I got here”
ALS signed “John Q. Adams,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, October 25, 1803. Handwritten letter to his “dear Brother,” Thomas Boylston Adams, with a noteworthy reference to the Louisiana Purchase. In part: “I am obliged to you for the trouble you took in attempting to procure me the Swiss boy; and as you found him already engaged, I only wish you in case you should meet with any other, to think of me, as it would be much for my convenience and that of my family to have one. You will have seen by the newspapers that the great question upon the Louisiana Treaty was decided before I got here; but we have some other questions resulting from it, on which my vote will be called for among the rest. We are all well here excepting Mrs. Hellen, who has been excessively ill, but is now recovering. I dined yesterday with Mr. Crouch, who is about to publish a volume of Reports of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of the United States, since they have held their sessions in this city. Let me hear from you often, and perhaps I shall get through here in time to go to Quincy with you, if you conclude upon that course. They tell us we are not to sit beyond Christmas time.” In fine condition, with some light toning along the left edge. Accompanied by a handsome custom-made quarter-leather presentation folder with marbled boards.
Although John Quincy Adams was not directly involved in negotiating the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, he played an important role in shaping its legacy and interpreting its constitutional implications. As a U.S. senator from Massachusetts at the time, Adams expressed initial concern over the constitutionality of acquiring new territory—fearing that it violated American principles by allowing the people of Louisiana to be taxed and governed without their consent—but he ultimately supported the purchase as a necessary step for national expansion. In Congress, Adams advocated for a constitutional amendment that would admit the new territory into the Union, and also pushed for a referendum to the people of the province—though neither effort was successful. His views reflected his broader commitment to strengthening the United States through diplomacy and careful adherence to legal principles.
Writing in The Constitutional History of the Louisiana Purchase, historian Everett Somerville Brown observes: ‘John Quincy Adams was a sturdy defender of strict construction of the Constitution in the Louisiana affair. At a later date he criticized Jefferson for getting into office under the banners of states’ rights and state sovereignty, and the pretense that the Government of the Union had no powers except those expressly delegated by the Constitution, and immediately purchasing Louisiana, ‘an assumption of implied power greater in itself and more comprehensive in its consequences, than all the assumptions of implied power in the twelve years of the Washington and Adams Administrations put together.’’
Starting Bid $1,000
Amid his historical debates with Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln writes to Illinois Congressman Elihu B. Washburne that “Douglas alledged that you were everywhere, pledging yourself unconditionally against the admission of any more Slave States. If his allegation be true, burn this without answering it”
“If his allegation be true, burn this without answering it”Abraham Lincoln Seeks to Refute Debate Claims Made by Opponent Stephen Douglas Regarding a Fellow Republican’s Stance “against the admission of any more Slave States”
Historic ALS signed “A. Lincoln,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, September 16, 1858. Handwritten letter to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, concerning an allegation made by Stephen Douglas against Washburne at the preceding Lincoln-Douglas debate in Jonesboro, Illinois. The letter, in full: “Yesterday at Jonesborough, Douglas, by way of placing you and me on different ground, alledged that you were everywhere, pledging yourself unconditionally against the admission of any more Slave States. If his allegation be true, burn this without answering it. If it be untrue, write me such a letter as I may make public with which to contradict him.” To the lower left, Lincoln adds, “Address to Springfield.” Elihu B. Washburne was elected as a Whig to the 33rd Congress in 1852 and was reelected as a Republican in 1854 and 1856. By this time, he was seeking his fourth term in Congress and
had been present at the second Lincoln-Douglas debate held in his congressional district of Freeport on August 27, 1858. Includes a handsome presentation folder with quarter-bound slipcase. Professionally cleaned, rice paper-backed, and restored to near-fine condition. An astounding Lincoln letter that mentions both his pivotal debates with Douglas and the admission of slave states to the Union, the issue that divided the nation and led to the Civil War.
The Lincoln letter here offered is published in Roy P. Basler’s ‘The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln’ (Rutgers University Press, 1953). Basler notes, ‘Apparently, Washburne did not reply to this letter, for in the Lincoln Papers there are no Washburne letters between May 31, 1858 and May 20, 1860.’ It is possible that Washburne did reply, addressing his letter “to Springfield” as requested by Lincoln, but Lincoln would not have received it until he returned home on October 16th after the final debate with Douglas. If he did receive Washburne’s reply, the issue was now moot, so Lincoln may have destroyed it. According to The Collected Works, after Elihu Washburne died, this letter was owned by his son, Hempstead Washburne..
Starting Bid $10,000
A
‘lost and found’ Lincoln check from 1859, deriving from the estate of a D.C. autograph collector, whose missing ‘pet autograph’ made headlines in The Washington Post in 1944
LOT 7005
Abraham Lincoln Filled Out and Signed Check (1859) - Lost and Found on the Streets of Washington, D.C., and the Subject of Washington Post Headlines in 1944
Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Company check, 7.5 x 2.25, filled out and signed by Abraham Lincoln, “A. Lincoln,” payable to W. B. Farnham for $30.45, June 10, 1859. In fine condition. The payee, W. B. Farnham, was a daguerreotypist and owner of the National Gallery in Springfield, Illinois. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA, an ink signature of Mary Harlan Lincoln, the wife of Robert Todd Lincoln, and two TLSs from Frederic N. Towers, which were sent to autograph collector Mary Atwood on behalf of Mary Harlan Lincoln. The earlier letter from Towers, Lincoln’s attorney, November 14, 1933, acknowledges that Lincoln has agreed to send her an autograph. The second letter, sent in 1935, extends Lincoln’s gratitude for a bouquet sent as a ‘thank you’ gift from Atwood.
The check, which derives from the personal collection of Mary Atwood (1914-2009), an early autograph collector from Washington, D.C., is also accompanied by photocopied newspaper articles from The Washington Post from November 1944, which relate to an episode when Atwood, then owner of the offered Lincoln check, accidentally dropped it on her way home. The check was retrieved by a local bus driver, Philip S. McKenney, who returned it to Atwood after she accurately described both the check and its black leather storage case, which is also included with the lot. Atwood, who hadn’t known that she had lost her ‘pet autograph,’ only learned of its absence when an image of it appeared in the Washington Post. ‘There she saw a reproduction of the check the late Mary Harlan Lincoln, wife of the former President’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, gave her about 10 years ago.’ Includes a vintage glossy 8 x 10 photo of Atwood accepting the check from McKenney, an image similar to those printed in the Washington Post.
This check is listed in the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 8, Page 458.
Starting Bid $1,000
“He is a good officer”—President Lincoln demands reappointment of Capt. Alexander J. Dallas III
Abraham Lincoln Civil War-Dated Autograph Endorsement Signed as President, Calling for the Reappointment of Alexander J. Dallas III
Civil War-dated AES as president, signed “A. Lincoln,” one page, 7.5 x 6.5, August 17, 1861. Lengthy handwritten endorsement by President Lincoln, replying to a letter from Generals Lorenzo Thomas and William B. Franklin concerning Captain Alexander J. Dallas III. Lincoln writes, in full: “I repeat that if Adjutant Genl. Thomas is reasonably well satisfied that Capt. Dallas was rejected by the Senate through misappre[hen]sion of facts, he is to be re-appointed. It is the opinion of the Adjutant General, and of Genl. Franklin, as shown by what they have written written [sic] within, that he is a good officer.”
In a statement signed by Lorenzo Thomas, “L. Thomas, Adjt. Genl,” he affirms that Capt. Dallas “was assiduous in the performance of his
duties.” On the reverse is the conclusion of Franklin’s letter, signed “W. B. Franklin, Brig. Gen.,” offering his opinion that “by the rejection of Mr. Dallas the Country loses the services of an excellent officer. In very good to fine condition, with toning along the professionally reinforced fold directly beneath the signature.
The grandson of statesman Alexander J. Dallas, Capt. Alexander J. Dallas III he was appointed midshipman in the US Navy on March 24, 1846, serving as an aide to Commodore Perry during the Mexican War (1847-48) before being discharged on June 12, 1851. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted as a private in Company H, 3rd District of Columbia Infantry Battalion on April 27, 1861, and was discharged on June 11, 1861 to accept a federal commission. He was appointed Captain, 12th United States Infantry to date from May 14, 1861. He saw action at Antietam on September 17, 1862, and was brevetted major for gallant and meritorious services at Petersburg, Virginia, in July 1864.
Starting Bid $1,000
“There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the Territories of the United States”— Congress passes the Territorial Slavery Act of 1862
LOT 7007
Abolition: ‘Engrossed Bill’ Draft of the Territorial Slavery Act of 1862, Prohibiting Slavery in All U.S. Territories
Manuscript draft of the ‘Territorial Slavery Act of 1862’ passed by the 37th Congress, one page, 13 x 13.75, June 17, 1862. Draft of the ‘engrossed bill’—the final text of a bill passed by both houses before sent for printing by the Government Printing Office—prepared by the “Thirty Seventh Congress, Second Session,” for the ‘Territorial Slavery Act of 1862,’ prohibiting slavery in all current and future territories of the United States. In full: “Be It Enacted By the Senate House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That from and after the passage of this act there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the Territories of the United States now existing, or what may at any time hereafter be
formed or acquired by the United States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” Docketed on the reverse, “H.R. 374,” with “An Act to secure Freedom to all persons within the Territories of the United States,” written multiple times below. In very good condition, with foxing, fold splits (some repaired with tape on the reverse), and loss to the bottom edge. The Territorial Slavery Act of 1862 was a landmark piece of legislation passed by the U.S. Congress that formally abolished slavery in all current and future federal territories. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on June 19, 1862, the act marked a significant—if largely symbolic—step toward national emancipation and reflected the growing power of anti-slavery sentiment during the Civil War. It laid the legal groundwork for the later abolition of slavery nationwide through the Thirteenth Amendment.
Starting Bid $300
“Atlanta Campaign and ‘March to the Sea’”—“Had it not fallen to me, someone else would have accomplished the same”
William T. Sherman Autograph Letter Signed on His ‘March to the Sea’ and Women’s Service in the Union Army: “Our race cannot bear children and be subject to the alarms & vicissitudes of war”
ALS signed “W. T. Sherman,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.5 x 8.25, 912 Garrison Avenue letterhead, April 14, 1886. Handwritten letter to Emily W. Peck of Boston, with remarks on his heroic ‘March to the Sea’ and insightful commentary on the service of women during the Civil War. In part: “I have received your letter…and though you are to me a stranger and have sent an envelope postpaid, I will return an answer, with a request that you do not publish it. This happens to me too often and destroys all the pleasure of social correspondence. As to the Atlanta Campaign and ‘March to the Sea,’ I prefer not to write further than I have already done in my memoirs. No two things in this world are alike—but somebody had to make that Campaign. And had it not fallen to me, someone else would have accomplished the same or similar.
As to women serving as soldiers I heard of several cases, but can only recall two which came to my personal notice. When in Atlanta a very handsome young corporal was brought to me with a report that he was a woman. She was sun-burnt with short hair—and dressed as a corporal of Cavalry. I asked how she happened to enlist—and she described her case fully—she was about 26 yrs old, was living in Indiana with her husband in 1861, had no children and her husband insisted on enlisting. She would not stay alone, and under disguise
enlisted with her husband as his older brother. The husband was killed in battle and she continued on for a year or more. When she was wounded in the body—the surgeon discovered her sex and as soon as she was out of the hospital was brought to me, and I ordered her discharge. This person was peculiarly bright and absolutely virtuous. The other case was similar…Women have as much fortitude and endurance as men, but not what we call ‘aggressive courage’—that is they will defend but not attack. Of course the whole question turns on women bearing children. Our race cannot bear children and be subject to the alarms & vicissitudes of war. Indians may—their squaws sometimes fight like wild cats.” In overall fine condition, with some light brushing to ink and a rusty paperclip stain to the top edge.
In this remarkable letter, Civil War hero William T. Sherman downplays his own role in the Atlanta campaign, attributing its success to necessity rather than individual genius. His comments also reveal a rare acknowledgment of women who disguised themselves to fight in the Union Army, recounting in vivid detail two cases that came to his attention during the war. Written at a time when veterans and historians were shaping the dominant narratives of the war, the letter underscores Sherman’s ambivalence about public attention and his complex, often progressive views on women’s capabilities—tempered by the 19th-century gender and racial norms he still upheld.
Starting Bid $500
“so terrible and appalling a national calamity”
Theodore Roosevelt (2) Typed Manuscripts
Signed as President on the Red Cross Response to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, with Clara Barton ALS: “The country has gone wild over this disaster and relief”
Two typed manuscripts signed as president, “Theodore Roosevelt,” totaling three pages, 8 x 13, April 19 and 25, 1906. Roosevelt’s hand-corrected drafts of proclamations issued in the aftermath of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which led to dayslong fires that took the lives of over 3,000 people and resulted in the destruction of 80% of the city. The day after the earthquake, President Roosevelt issued a proclamation placing the American Red Cross in charge of the relief work and announcing the appointment of a special agent to coordinate those efforts. When the first proclamation was released, city officials in San Francisco became upset at being usurped by a national organization. They were already in firm control of the situation, setting up various committees to handle each aspect of the disaster. When informed of the difficulty, Roosevelt drafted a second proclamation, cleverly and eloquently returning the relief response to local control.
The first, in part: “In the face of so terrible and appalling a national calamity as that which has befallen San Francisco, the outpouring of the Nation’s aid should, as far as possible, be entrusted to the American Red Cross, the National Organization best fitted to undertake such relief work. A specially appointed Red Cross Agent, Dr. Edward Divine, starts to-day from New York to California to co-operate there with the Red Cross Branch in the work of relief. In order that this work may be well systematized and in order that contributions which I am sure will flow in with lavish generosity may be wisely administered, I appeal to the people of the United States, to all cities, chambers of commerce, boards of trade, relief committees and individuals to express their sympathy and render their aid by contributions to the American National Red Cross.” Roosevelt heavily edits the text in his own hand, striking through a few parts and writing about twenty words.
The second, in full: “When the news of the dreadful disaster at San Francisco first came it was necessary to take immediate steps to provide in some way for the receipt and distribution of the sums of money which at once poured in for the relief of the people of San Francisco.
At the moment no one could foretell how soon it would be possible for the people of San Francisco themselves to organize; and to tide over the interval the American National Red Cross Association was designated to receive and disburse the funds. But the people of San Francisco, with an energy and self-reliant courage, a cool resourcefulness, and a capacity for organized and orderly endeavour which are beyond all praise, have already met the need through committees appointed by the Mayor of the City, ex-Mayor James D. Phelan being chairman of the Finance Committee. The work of these committees has been astonishing in its range, promptness and efficiency. As I am informed by Major General Greeley, although all local transportation was destroyed, as well as practically every supply store in the city, those local committees, with the help of the army, have succeeded in caring for three hundred thousand homeless people in the last five days. Thanks to their efforts, no individual is now suffering severely for food, water or temporary shelter. This work has been done with the minimum of waste and under conditions which would have appalled men less trained in business methods, endowed with less ability, or inspired with any but the highest motives of humanity and helpfulness. The need of employing the Red Cross, save as an auxiliary, has passed, and I urge that hereafter all contributions from any source be sent direct to James D. Phelan, Chairman Finance Committee, San Francisco. Mr. Devine, or the Red Cross, will disburse any contributions sent to him through ex-Mayor Phelan and will work in accord with him in all ways.” Roosevelt makes a few handwritten corrections to the text. In fine condition.
Additionally includes an ALS by the founder of the American Red Cross, signed “Clara Barton,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.25 x 6.5, May 6, 1906, commenting on the country’s overwhelming response. in part: “I am sure it was a gratification to you to receive the letter from the Governor, and for this I am glad, but you must not be disheartened if the great, and steady drain of San Francisco holds you back over the year. The country has gone wild over this disaster and relief, and the collecting of money for it is almost a craze, a competitive popularity, to see who can give the most, and this will go on till finally exhaustion produces a reaction.”
In overall fine condition. Accompanied by a custom-made presentation folder for the Roosevelt manuscripts.
Starting Bid $2,500
“Within the past twenty-four hours the matter came to final discussion and determination”—FDR commits to opening a second front
World War II–dated TLS as president, one page, 7 x 8.75, White House letterhead, April 3, 1942. Letter to influential British newspaper publisher Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, alluding to the Allied decision to open a second front against Germany during World War II. In full: “Within the past twenty-four hours the matter came to final discussion and determination. Harry and George Marshall are in the process of leaving this morning. We talked of the great benefit it would have been if you could have been there too, but I had to make a personal decision and I put my foot down for the very good reason that I want you here.
As you know, there is no one else I can talk to when we get word in the course of the next few days. I ought to hear by Tuesday and I hope you can arrange to get here by Tuesday afternoon. If there is delay, I will telephone. Thank the Lord the matter seems to be moving swiftly toward what I trust will be a momentous and successful conclusion.” In fine condition.
Beaverbrook played a major role during World War II as an intimate ally of Winston S. Churchill, mobilizing industrial resources as Minister of Aircraft Production and shaping public opinion through the Daily Express—then the newspaper with the largest circulation in the world. In March 1942, Churchill sent him to the United States to meet with President Roosevelt. Publicly, Beaverbrook was there to discuss supplies; privately, he pitched the Americans on the idea of opening second front against Germany.
In the meantime, a little-known staff officer named Dwight D. Eisenhower had prepared a plan to launch a cross-channel as soon as possible, and had his conclusion endorsed by the Joint Chiefs. Their recommendation was on Roosevelt’s desk at the time of Beaverbrook’s visit. On April 1st, FDR accepted the plan and dispatched two key aides—Harry Hopkins and George C. Marshall—to England to present it to Churchill and his chiefs of staff.
Writing to Churchill on April 3rd, the same date as this letter, FDR explained: ‘What Harry and Geo. Marshall will tell you all about has my heart and mind in it. Your people and mine demand the estab-
lishment of a front to draw off pressure on the Russians, and these peoples are wise enough to see that the Russians are today killing more Germans and destroying more equipment than you and I put together. Even if full success is not attained, the big objective will be.’
Some of these circumstances of are documented in The White House Papers of Harry L. Hopkins: An Intimate History, Volume II (pp. 523), which reports that on the next day April 4, 1942, ‘Hopkins and Marshall took off for London to propose the invasion of the Continent of Europe.’ They brought with them to two plans for the Allied invasion of Northern France: Operation Roundup, a massive cross-channel invasion to land on beachheads between the French ports of Boulogne and Le Havre; and Operation Sledgehammer, a limited operation to be executed more quickly, aiming to capture and hold the French seaports of either Brest or Cherbourg.
In spite of Churchill’s cordial and unhesitant acceptance of their ‘momentous proposal,’ his enthusiastic support was tempered by more immediate concerns in North Africa and the Far East, combined with shortages of supplies that had been earmarked for other operations. Either plan required a buildup of American forces and materiel in the United Kingdom—a time-consuming project known as Operation Bolero—and a large invasion looked to be at least a year away. Resistance in London led to a pivot toward the less ambitious ‘Operation Torch,’ an invasion of North Africa. Launched in November as the first major joint operation between American and British forces in WWII, the week-long assault was intended to draw Axis forces away from the Eastern Front—offering some relief to the Red Army—and establish a base of operations for the future invasion of Southern Europe.
The canceled plans for Operation Roundup laid the groundwork for what became Operation Overlord—an even more ambitious strategy that culminated in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. On that day, Allied forces launched the largest amphibious assault in history, storming the beaches of Normandy, France, to establish a vital foothold in Western Europe. The invasion involved over 150,000 troops from the United States, Britain, Canada, and other Allied nations, supported by thousands of ships and aircraft. D-Day marked a decisive turning point in World War II, opening a Western front against Nazi Germany and accelerating the liberation of occupied Europe.
Starting Bid $1,000
“We come as conquerors, but not as oppressors”— Eisenhower and his Allied Army occupy Germany, pledging to “overthrow the Nazi rule, dissolve the Nazi Party and abolish the cruel, oppressive and discriminatory laws and institutions which the Party has created”
Dwight D. Eisenhower Signed Broadside of Proclamation No. 1, Issued in Occupied Germany during World War II: “We come as conquerors, but not as oppressors...We shall obliterate Nazi-ism”
Bilingual broadside in English and German, 20.75 x 20, headed “Military Government—Germany, Supreme Commander’s Area of Control, Proclamation No. 1,” issued in areas of Allied occupation beginning in 1944. Signed at the conclusion of the English section in fountain pen, “Dwight D. Eisenhower.” In full: “To the People of Germany: I, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, do hereby proclaim as follows:
The Allied Forces serving under my command have now entered Germany. We come as conquerors, but not as oppressors. In the area of Germany occupied by the forces under my command, we shall obliterate Nazi-ism and German Militarism. We shall overthrow the Nazi rule, dissolve the Nazi Party and abolish the cruel, oppressive and discriminatory laws and institutions which the Party has created. We shall eradicate that German Militarism which has so often disrupted the peace of the world. Military and Party leaders, the Gestapo and others suspected of crimes and atrocities will be tried and, if guilty, punished as they deserve.
Supreme legislative, judicial and executive authority and powers within the occupied territory are vested in me as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and as Military Governor, and the Military Government is established to exercise these powers under my direction. All persons in the occupied territory will obey immediately and without question all the enactments and orders of the Military Government. Military Government Courts will be established for the punishment of
offenders. Resistance to the Allied Forces will be ruthlessly stamped out. Other serious offenses will be dealt with severely.
All German courts and educational institutions within the occupied territory are suspended. The Volksgerichtshof, the Sondergerichte, the SS Police Courts and other special courts are deprived of authority throughout the occupied territory. Re-opening of the criminal and civil courts and educational institutions will be authorized when conditions permit.
All officials are charged with the duty of remaining at their posts until further orders, and obeying and enforcing all orders or directions of Military Government or the Allied Authorities addressed to the German Government or the German people. This applies also to officials, employees and workers of all public undertakings and utilities and to all other persons engaged in essential work.” In fine condition, with intersecting folds.
This historic document represents the first official declaration of Allied military authority over occupied Germany near the end of World War II. First distributed in 1944 as Allied forces entered German territory, it laid the groundwork for the dismantling of the Nazi regime, the imposition of military governance—a de facto rule established not by law or treaty, but by physical fact of military occupation—and the assertion of Allied control over all aspects of civil, judicial, and administrative life. The proclamation signaled a clear intent to eradicate Nazism and militarism, prosecute war criminals, and reestablish a lawful, democratic order under strict Allied oversight, marking the beginning of a transformative occupation that would shape postwar Germany.
Starting Bid $1,000
Dwight D. Eisenhower
World War II-Dated Typed Letter Signed on the “defeat of the Nazi hordes in battle” and victory in Europe: “A continent has been liberated”
World War II–dated TLS signed “Sincerely, Dwight D. Eisenhower,” one page, 8 x 10.5, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, Office of the Supreme Commander letterhead, July 13, 1945. Letter to Lt. General Sir Miles C. Dempsey, commanding general of the Second British Army, addressed in Eisenhower’s hand, “Dear Dempsey.” In full: “Combined Command terminates at midnight tonight, 13 July 1945, and brings to a close one of the greatest and most successful campaigns ever fought.
History alone will judge the Allied Expeditionary Force in its true perspective, but we, who have worked and struggled together, can feel nothing but pride in the achievements of the men we have been honored to command, and sadness at having to be parted now. Whatever history may relate about the exploits of this Allied Force, and the memory of man is short and fickle, it is only we, at this time, who can fully appreciate the merit and due worth of the accomplishments of this great Allied team.
These accomplishments are not limited to the defeat of the Nazi hordes in battle—a continent has been liberated from all that is an antipathy to the ideal of democracy which is our common heritage. Above all, we have proved to the whole world that the British and American peoples can forever be united in purpose, in deed and in death for the cause of liberty.
This great experiment of integrated command, whose venture was cavilled at by some and doubted by many, has achieved unqualified success, and this has only been made possible by the sympathetic, unselfish and unwavering support which you and all other commanders have wholeheartedly given me. Your own brilliant performance is already a matter of history.
My gratitude to you is a small token for the magnificent service which you have rendered, and my simple expression of thanks sounds totally inadequate. Time and opportunity prohibit the chance I should like to shake you and your men by the hand, and thank each one of you personally for all you have done. I can do nothing more than assure you of my lasting appreciation, which I would ask you to convey to all those under your command for their exemplary devotion to duty and for the most magnificent loyalty which has ever been shown to a commander.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original transmittal envelope.
Dwight D. Eisenhower served as the Supreme Commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), the central command of Allied forces in Western Europe during World War II. Under his leadership, SHAEF orchestrated the successful D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and directed the subsequent liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe, coordinating military operations among American, British, Canadian, and other Allied forces. Eisenhower’s diplomatic skill and strategic coordination were instrumental in maintaining unity among the Allies. Following the unconditional surrender of Germany in May 1945 and the end of combat operations in Europe, SHAEF’s mission was complete, and it was formally dissolved on July 14, 1945.
Starting Bid $2,500
President Eisenhower’s historic ‘Atoms for Peace’ proposal lays the foundation for Israel’s secret atomic weapons program—“It is my hope that this agreement represents but the first stage of cooperation in the field of atomic energy between the United States and Israel”
LOT 7015
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Israel’s Secret Atomic Weapons Program - Letter Affirming a U.S.Israel Accord “for collaboration concerning the peaceful uses of atomic energy”
TLS as president, two pages, 8 x 10.5, White House letterhead, June 7, 1955. Letter to Lewis Strauss, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, in full: “Under date of June 6, 1955, you informed me that the Atomic Energy Commission had recommended that I approve a proposed agreement between the Government of Israel and the Government of the United States for cooperation concerning the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The agreement recites that the Government of Israel desires to pursue a research and development program looking toward the realization of the peaceful and humanitarian uses of atomic energy and desires to obtain assistance from the Government of the United States and United States industry with respect to this program.
I have examined the agreement recommended. It calls for cooperation between the two Governments with respect to the design, construction, and operation of research reactors, including related health and safety problems; the use of such reactors as research, development, and engineering tools and in medical therapy; and use of radioactive isotopes in biology, medicine, agriculture, and industry. The agreement contains all of the guarantees prescribed by the Atomic Energy Act. No restricted data would be communicated under the agreement, but the Commission would lease to the Government of Israel special nuclear material for use as reactor fuel.” Eisenhower lists three provisions before concluding: “It is my hope that this agreement represents but the first stage of cooperation in the field of atomic energy between the United States and Israel, and that it will lead to further discussions and agreements relating to other peaceful uses of atomic energy in Israel.” Housed in a handsome cloth-bound clamshell presentation case. In very fine condition.
Starting Bid $5,000
‘Above all, among the English-speaking peoples, there must be the union of hearts based upon conviction and common ideals. That is what I offer. That is what I seek.’—
Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower present a vision of postwar peace and cooperation at the Virginia State Capitol
Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower Signed Photograph - Allied Leaders Stress Postwar Unity at the Virginia State House (March 8, 1946)
Vintage matte-finish 12 x 10 photo of Winston Churchill delivering a speech before the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 8, 1946, with General Dwight D. Eisenhower seated to his left, signed below in fountain pen, “Winston S. Churchill” and “Dwight D. Eisenhower.” The photo is also signed by Virginia Governor William M. Tuck, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Lewis Preston Collins II, and Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson. In fine condition, with lightly trimmed edges, and some creasing to the wide borders. Accompanied by a group of 10 vintage matte-finish 11 x 8.5 photos taken during Churchill’s visit to Richmond, several of which depict Churchill and Eisenhower together at the Virginia State House.
Three days after his famous ‘Sinews of Peace (Iron Curtain)’ speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, Churchill traveled to the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, where he gave an address to the joint houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Flanked by General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Wilson, Churchill built upon his Iron Curtain message, emphasizing the importance of post-war unity by drawing historical parallels with past conflicts such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. A resounding applause followed the conclusion of his speech:
‘It is in the years of peace that wars are prevented and that those foundations are laid upon which the noble structures of the future can be built. But peace will not be preserved without the virtues that make victory possible in war. Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments expressed in terms of platitudes or by official grimaces and diplomatic correctitude however desirable these may be from time to time. It will not be preserved by casting aside in dangerous years the panoply of warlike strength. There must be earnest thought. There must also be faithful perseverance and foresight. Great Heart must have his sword and armor to guard the pilgrims on their way. Above all, among the English-speaking peoples, there must be the union of hearts based upon conviction and common ideals. That is what I offer. That is what I seek.’
After a series of boisterous chants, Eisenhower also took to the podium and addressed the assembly: ‘Of all the things that supported me through three and a half years of warfare on the European continent, I know of no other single thing that was of greater moral benefit than the unwavering, staunch, indomitable, courageous support of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. It is my earnest conviction that only history can measure even remotely the true value of the worth of the service he has rendered to all of us. But I am certain that in meetings such as this, with the wholehearted welcome he finds in this city from my own countrymen to him, he will gain some little measure of understanding in his own time of what we think of him.’
Starting Bid $1,000
“This was their finest hour”—hand-illuminated quote from Churchill’s enduring speech
LOT 7017
Winston Churchill Hand-Illuminated
Signed Quotation: “This was their finest hour”
Gorgeous hand-illuminated manuscript quotation executed in colorful calligraphy on an off-white 7.75 x 10 card, signed at the bottom in fountain pen, “Winston S. Churchill.” Taken from Prime Minister Churchill’s historic speech to the House of Commons on June 18, 1940, the quote reads: “Let us brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire last for a thousand years, men will say: This was their finest hour.” Affixed to a slightly larger cardstock sheet and in fine condition, with a couple of trivial stains to the left edge. Accompanied by a letter by Mrs. R. E. K. Hill, personal private secretary to Prime Minister Churchill, on 10 Downing Street letterhead, July 20, 1942, in part: “I should be very glad to see you here in connection with the book at 3 p.m. on Wednesday next, the 22nd, or on Friday next between 3 and 4 p.m., whichever day would be more convenient to you.”
Winston Churchill’s 36-minute speech, ‘This Was Their Finest Hour,’ delivered to the British House of Commons on June 18, 1940, stands as one of the most significant addresses in modern history. Coming at a time when much of Europe had fallen to Nazi Germany and Britain stood virtually alone, Churchill’s words were a rallying cry that bolstered national morale and steeled the resolve of the British people. By framing the coming struggle as a defining moment not only for Britain but for the survival of Western civilization, Churchill stirring oratory transformed fear and uncertainty into a sense of duty and purpose. The speech’s legacy endures as a symbol of leadership under pressure and the power of words to unite and embolden a people in their darkest hour
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7018
Winston Churchill
World War II-Dated
Signed Photograph, Shown with Cigar and Naval Anti-Aircraft Gun
World War II–era vintage glossy 8.25 x 6.5 photo of Winston Churchill staring down the sights of an antiaircraft gun onboard a Navy ship, neatly signed in fountain pen, “Winston S. Churchill, 1945.” Reverse bears a Ministry of Information credit stamp. In very good to fine condition, with a few creases, and a surface stain affecting the end of Churchill’s signature.
This remarkable candid photograph captures Winston Churchill in an unstaged wartime moment, shown in unmistakable profile with his iconic cigar clenched between his teeth. Churchill’s close interaction with military weaponry and his intense focus evoke the grit and resolve that defined his leadership during Britain’s darkest hours—a vivid glimpse of Churchill at war.
Starting Bid $500
“Secret”
of Britain—the foundational narrative of the campaign—complete with pre-production hand-colored maps
Secret “despatch” on the Battle of Britain by Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh C. T. Dowding, 8 x 13.25, 48 pages, signed on the title page in fountain pen, “H. C. T. Dowding.” The report is bound in its original paper wrappers, marked “Secret, Copy No. 6,” with “To Be Kept Under Lock and Key” printed in red. In the preamble, Dowding observes: “I have been instructed by the Air Council to write a Despatch on the Air Fighting of last Autumn, which has become known as the ‘Battle of Britain.’ The conditions are a little unusual because, firstly, the Battle ended many months ago, secondly, a popular account of the fighting has already been written and published, and, thirdly, recommendations for Mention in Despatches have already been submitted…I have endeavoured, therefore, to write a report which will, I hope, be of Historical interest, and which will, in any case, contain the results of more than four years’ experience of the Fighter Command in peace and war.”
Dowding’s report offers details on the preliminary situation in Europe at the start of the battle, the readiness and methods of the Royal Air Force, the phases of battle, and night operations. The appendix includes a listing of the Fighter Command’s order of battle, report of the 6th Anti-Aircraft Division, reports on allocation of armaments, lists of ammunition expenditures and aircraft destroyed, and notes on the offensive and defensive equipment of aircraft. Three separate maps and charts include associated hand-colored original copies: a map of the “A.A. Command, HY. A.A. & LT. A.A. Guns as Deployed 7/7/40,”
marked “Secret”; a map of the “Fighter Command and Layout, July 1940,” marked “Secret”; and a chart of “Aircraft Losses: Comparison of R.A.F. Fighter Losses with Corresponding German Aircraft Losses by Day.” Also includes a mimeographed draft of the despatch, plus the “Supplement to The London Gazette” published on September 10, 1946, printing the declassified text of Dowding’s despatch. All are held together in a cardstock folder, stamped “Secret,” and curiously marked as “Copy No. 8.” In overall very good to fine condition, small tears to the spine of the printed report, and some wear and staining to the accompanying papers.
Consignor notes that this archive originates from the collection of Wing Commander Robert C. Wright, former PA to both Dowding and Sholto Douglas, 1940–1941; it was presumably given to him directly by Dowding, with the pre-production materials possibly sent to him for review or editing.
Written and submitted to the Air Ministry in 1941, Hugh Dowding’s official dispatch on the Battle of Britain has become the foundational narrative of the campaign, shaping its public understanding for the next eighty years. As the leader of the RAF Fighter Command—the ‘Few’ who defended Britain against the Luftwaffe—Dowding offered an authoritative, firsthand account of how the battle was fought and won. His dispatch not only set out the strategy, challenges, and outcome of the air campaign with unmatched clarity, but also formally established the very dates of its beginning and end. As such, it stands as both a definitive military report and a vindicating testament to Dowding’s leadership and vision.
Starting Bid $5,000
of his “Dispatch on the ‘Battle of Britain’”—
“I will do my best to produce a document of some Historic interest”
Hugh Dowding World War II-Dated Autograph Letter Signed to Lord Beaverbrook, on Preparing His “Dispatch on the ‘Battle of Britain’”
Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force who was in command during the Battle of Britain (1882–1970). ALS signed “H. C. T. Dowding,” one page both sides, 4.5 x 7, United Service Club letterhead, July 1, 1941. Handwritten letter to influential British newspaper publisher Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, in part: “I tried to see you yesterday, but you were very busy in connection with your new appointment, on which please accept my congratulations. I wanted to tell you that I had received a letter from the Air Ministry asking me to write a Dispatch on the ‘Battle of Britain,’ and informing me that I shall be placed on the retired list on October 1st. It is an odd request, after this lapse of time, & after they have already issued an official account, but I will do my best to produce a document of some Historic interest.” In fine condition, with two file holes to the left edge.
The Air Chief Marshal’s forced retirement and report on the Battle of Britain is discussed in Dowding and the Battle of Britain by Robert Wright: ‘Towards the end of June 1941, an official letter arrived for Dowding from the Air Ministry stating that it was the Air Council’s wish ‘that you will be good enough to write a despatch on the Battle of Britain, which was fought under your Command during July, August and September last.’ That in itself, Dowding felt, was a pleasant enough task to look forward to, and he gladly accepted it. But the very next paragraph of that letter, for all its official coolness, had about it an all too familiar ring. ‘I am at the same time to inform you that the Council greatly regret that, with the conclusion of your work on this despatch,
they will have no further employment to offer you…You will accordingly be placed on the retired list with effect from 1st October next.’
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding faced forced retirement from Fighter Command in the wake of the Battle of Britain in a politically charged reshuffle far removed from the glory of his achievements. Though initially scheduled to retire in June 1939, his term was extended through the summer and autumn of 1940 due to the crisis gripping Britain. By November 1940, however, official concerns had emerged around his defense-oriented ‘Dowding System’ and his reluctance to endorse ‘Big Wing’ tactics championed by Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Douglas Bader. Alongside criticisms of Fighter Command’s inadequate night-time defense during the Blitz, Dowding became a target within the Air Ministry and was abruptly asked to relinquish command, replaced by Sholto Douglas soon after the victory of the Battle of Britain.
Written and submitted to the Air Ministry in 1941, Hugh Dowding’s official dispatch on the Battle of Britain has become the foundational narrative of the campaign, shaping its public understanding for the next eighty years. As the leader of the RAF Fighter Command—the ‘Few’ who defended Britain against the Luftwaffe—Dowding offered an authoritative, firsthand account of how the battle was fought and won. His dispatch not only set out the strategy, challenges, and outcome of the air campaign with unmatched clarity, but also formally established the very dates of its beginning and end. As such, it stands as both a definitive military report and a vindicating testament to Dowding’s leadership and vision.
Starting Bid $1,000
Wounded and withdrawn from battle, Rommel watches from the sidelines as Allied troops liberate Paris: “The way the situation in the west is developing is very depressing. I saw it coming and tried with all my force to resist it”
Erwin Rommel World War II-Dated Typed Letter Signed, Enclosing a Report on His Near-Fatal Wound and Alluding to Patton’s Liberation of Paris
TLS in German, signed in indelible pencil, “Rommel,” one page, 8.25 x 11.75, August 28, 1944. Letter to “Generalleutnant Meise,” sent the month after a near-fatal attack on his convoy left him largely incapacitated. In addition to enclosing a report on the incident, Rommel makes reference to General George Patton’s Third Army’s crossing of the Seine River, completed from August 18–20th in advance of the liberation of Paris.
In part (translated): “I am especially happy that you have returned to headquarters, and hope that in the coming difficult weeks, the luck of the soldier will be with you. You can imagine how difficult it is for me not to be able to be part of it, but at the moment, even with the best will in the world, that is not yet possible. I can get up, sit at a table, dictate something, but reading with one eye and walking are still very taxing.
The way the situation in the west is developing is very depressing. I saw it coming and tried with all my force to resist it, since I have experienced the very same situation at Alamein in 1942, when the same enemy using the same means destroyed the German Panzer army in Africa. Dummler informed me yesterday of the crossing of the lower reaches of the Seine. It was therefore a good thing that such eventualities had been prepared for. Of course, under such heavy enemy action and pressure, only fragments of our armies will be able to reach the north bank of the Seine. I am enclosing a copy of the report on my wounding. With my best wishes to you and the gentlemen at headquarters and, Long live the Führer!” In fine condition.
Accompanied by the original enclosure, Rommel’s personal copy of the three-page typescript report in German, dated August 21, 1944. In part (translated): “Report on the Wounding of the Commander-inChief of the Army Group B, Field Marshal Rommel, in a low-flying air attack on the 17.7. On the 17.7, as on preceding days, Field Marshal Rommel undertook a journey to the front…At about 18.00 hours, the Field Marshal’s vehicle reached the region of Livarot. Here, recently shot-up vehicles were piling up: it seemed that squadrons of enemy aircraft were intensifying their work in the area...When we arrived there, we saw about 8 enemy fighter-bombers patrolling…Suddenly, the air lookout, Corporal Holke, announced that two aircraft had turned and were heading for the road...the enemy aircraft, flying at great speed, had come to within 500 metres of us, flying a few metres above the road, and the first aircraft opened fire. At this moment, Field Marshal
Rommel was looking backwards. The aircraft’s cone of high explosive fire hit mostly the left half of the vehicle. Sergeant Daniel was hit in the left shoulder and left arm. Field Marshal Rommel was wounded by glass splinters in the face, and sustained a hit to the left temple and cheekbone, which, among other things, caused a triple fracture of the skull and immediate loss of consciousness...
On account of his serious injury, Driver Daniel had lost control of the vehicle: it first ricocheted off a tree stump on the right side of the road, then veered sharply over to the left side and into a ditch. Field Marshal Rommel, who at the beginning of this attack was holding the door handle in his right hand, was propelled out of the car by this movement, and lay unconscious 20 metres behind the car on the right of the road. Captain Lang and Corporal Holke jumped out of the car, and took cover on the right hand side of the road. At this moment, a second aircraft flew off over the site of the incident, peppering those lying on the ground with bullets. Shortly after that, Captain Lang and Corporal Holke carried Field Marshal Rommel to cover, in order to remove him from the risk of any further attack.
Field Marshal Rommel lay covered in blood on the ground, and had lost consciousness. He was bleeding from many wounds to his face, particularly from an eye and from the mouth. His left temple, which appeared smashed in, was pointing upwards. The Field Marshal, in cover, still remained unconscious...It was possible to transfer Field Marshal Rommel, still in an unconscious state, together with Corporal Daniel, to the Luftwaffe Military Hospital in Bernay, four kilometres away, where the duty doctors were able to confirm his wounds as follows: a severe fracture of the skull (fracture at the base of the skull, two fractures at the temple, disintegration of the cheek bone), a wound to the left eye, splinter wounds to the head, and concussion. In the course of the night, and despite blood transfusions, Corporal Daniel succumbed to his severe wounds...The Field Marshal’s state of health is satisfactory. His left eye is still swollen and closed. The wounds to his skull are on the way to recovery.” Further includes the personal combat report of South African flying ace Johannes le Roux, signed “J. J. le Roux,” one page, 7 x 8.75, for July 17, 1944—the date of the strafing attack on Erwin Rommel. Le Roux, who is credited with having shot down at least eighteen German aircraft during WWII, may have been the fighter pilot that hit Rommel; Canadian ‘train buster’ Charley Fox has also been credited, and other pilots have claimed responsibility. Le Roux reports hitting two Luftwaffe Me 209 fighters, with one damaged and one destroyed. He would go missing in action mere weeks later, believed to have died in an aircraft accident.
Starting Bid $5,000
the Holocaust, protecting a Budapest native
“in the context of repatriation of Jewish persons from Hungary”
Raoul Wallenberg ‘Schutzbrief’ Document Signed, Saving a Hungarian Jew During World War II, with Jewish Badge Exemption Document and Residency Permit
DS in German and Hungarian, signed “R. Wallenberg,” one page, 8 x 11.5, August 5, 1944. Important “Schutzbrief,” or letter of protection, issued by Wallenberg to a Hungarian Jew in order to save his life. In full (translated): “With this letter we certify that Dr. Laszlo Vamberi is under the protection of the Swedish Consulate, in the context of repatriation of Jewish persons from Hungary to travel to Sweden, included in a collective passport. The Royal Swedish Legation requests all relevant authorities to show benevolent consideration for the above circumstance and to allow the holder of this passport to remain in his residence until his departure.” A small, passport-style photograph of Vamberi is affixed at the upper right. In good to very good condition, with irregular toning and staining, small edge tears, and separations along the intersecting folds; Wallenberg’s signature is unaffected by any of the flaws.
Wallenberg arrived in Hungary in July 1944 as the country’s Jewish population was under siege. Nearly every other major Jewish community in Europe had already been decimated, and the Nazis were dispatching more than 10,000 Hungarian Jews to the gas chambers daily. An announcement that any Jew, even those holding foreign citizenship, would be interred led to Wallenberg’s urgent plan to save as many lives as he could. With time of the essence, he devised and distributed thousands of ‘Schutzbrief’ letters of protection and ‘Schutz-Pass’ passports—official-looking, but essentially invalid, Swedish passports granting the Hungarian bearer immunity from deportation. Nazi officials readily accepted the paperwork. Thus, with this letter, Wallenberg saved the life of Budapest resident Dr. Laszlo Vamberi, whose name is recorded in the Nevek Project’s Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database.
Notably, Wallenberg’s ‘Schutzbrief’ protection letters typically boast a more complete, legible version of his signature—as seen on this example—while the ‘Schutz-Passes’ were signed with a quick scribble.
Additionally includes: a Hungarian document exempting Vamberi from wearing the yellow star badge distinguishing him as a Jew (August 19, 1944); a Hungarian residency permit issued to Vamberi, stamp-dated several times throughout from August to December 1944; and a bilingual Hungarian and Russian certificate describing Vamberi as an indispensable employee of the Swedish embassy (February 23, 1945).
Starting Bid $1,000
“There remains only the one straightforward path: that of giving everything to America, the standard bearer of the West, all that lies within our limited capabilities and energies so that in peace and, if need be, war it can put everything in the balance to prevent another Bolshevist advance”
Wernher von Braun Autograph Letter Signed to Walter Dornberger, Emphasizing the Goals of Operation Paperclip: “To make available to the West our experience gathered over long, painstaking years”
ALS in German, signed “Wernher von Braun,” nine pages, 8 x 10, October 23, 1947. Handwritten letter to “Herr Dr. Dornberger,” Walter Dornberger—formerly the head of the V-2 rocket program in Nazi Germany, who also emigrated to the United States under Operation Paperclip—sent from Fort Bliss. Two years earlier, in September 1945, von Braun and other members of the Peenemünde team signed a work contract with the United States Army Ordnance Corps and were transferred from Germany to the United States in ‘Operation Paperclip.’ Von Braun and much of his team were stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, training personnel on rockets and missiles while studying potential future rocket applications. Dornberger was attached to the USAF at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, working on the development of guided missiles.
In part (translated): “Finally I have the chance to write you and, at the same time, to thank you for your long letter, which gave me much pleasure to read. Naturally, we were all very pleased to hear when R. brought word that you finally crossed the big pond. That was the first decisive step in realizing our plan made in S. to make available to the West our experience gathered over long, painstaking years. It pains me that we cannot work together at this time, but time does not stand still. We are used to thinking in long time frames owing to our many years of joint development work. By and large we can say in looking back that we always have estimated things quite correctly— not only technically but also politically. For as much as we hope that the world in general, and Germany in particular, will be saved from another military conflict, developments in the world in the last two years prove beyond all doubt [several words missing] has become bitter reality: the great East-West issue.
Can we really do anything more noble than give the West our knowledge and good will so that it will remain strong in the defense of the Last Things that will make life worth living for us and the coming generations. Naturally one is often torn by the misery in Germany today as well as by the Iron Curtain that is dividing Germany into two halves that cannot physically live one without the other. But the prospect that the whole world could become Bolshevist must remain the strongest factor determining our actions. So there remains only the one straightforward path: that of giving everything to America, the
standard bearer of the West, all that lies within our limited capabilities and energies so that in peace and, if need be, war it can put everything in the balance to prevent another Bolshevist advance...
We have busied ourselves with many things in the first few months here which one could not do during the continuous rush of wartime developments. For example, we have looked more closely at many things that earlier we just did because they seemed expedient—whether and why they were so expedient and whether there are also other, conceivably better ways to do things. In doing so we have learned a whole lot and already come to some practical conclusion…that a kind of ‘inactivity’ is advantageous for a master planner and design engineer. The approach is simply better.
I hope we will see one another in the near future and that we somehow will be able to have a meeting of the minds. My work under you and for you will always be among my most pleasant memories. why should they be at an end for all time? Everyone sends his heartfelt greetings (should I enumerate over a hundred names here?)” In very good to fine condition, with a small area of paper loss to the right edge of each page, and discreet old tape repairs to tears on the first and last pages.
This lengthy letter by von Braun, written to his former superior, offers a revealing glimpse into the postwar realities of Operation Paperclip—the secret U.S. program that brought former German scientists to America to advance military and aerospace technology. Both men had been leading figures at the Peenemünde Army Research Center, developing the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany before being recruited by the United States in the wake of World War II.
In this candid correspondence, von Braun reflects on their shared goal of transferring their technical expertise to “the West” to counter the perceived Soviet threat in the emerging Cold War. He acknowledges the mistrust and bureaucratic inertia faced by former enemy scientists, as well as America’s shifting focus from wartime production to civilian needs. At the same time, he underscores a sense of ideological alignment with the United States, casting their work as part of a larger mission to strengthen the West against communism. The letter is not only personal and nostalgic but also historically significant, encapsulating the intersection of wartime legacies, Cold War strategy, and the controversial integration of German scientists into America’s defense and space programs.
Starting Bid $300
very vintage served at the diplomatic breakfast in Moscow that resulted in the release of 10,000
LOT 7024
Exceptionally rare unopened bottle of 1953 Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Spätiese from Weingüter Wegeler, representing the exact vintage served at one of the Cold War’s most pivotal diplomatic events – Chancellor Adenauer’s breakfast meeting with Soviet leaders Nikolai Bulganin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Vyacheslav Molotov on September 11, 1955, during the historic Moscow negotiations that secured the release of the last 10,000 German prisoners of war from Soviet camps.
Offered on the 70th anniversary, this vintage embodies a moment when carefully chosen German wines helped bridge the ideological divide and achieve one of the Cold War’s greatest humanitarian victories. A recently opened bottle from the same lot revealed complex evolved aromas of dried fruit, leather, and tobacco with flavors of dried fig and mushroom — testament to this wine’s remarkable preservation and the craftsmanship of its era.
In September 1955, ten years after the end of World War II, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer embarked on a historic journey to Moscow. His goal: the return of the last German prisoners of war from Soviet captivity. At a symbolic breakfast on September 11th, Adenauer sat at a table with Soviet leaders Premier Nikolai Bulganin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Vyacheslav Molotov. Determined to succeed, Adenauer put his best foot forward by placing something special on the menu: a bottle of 1953 Bernkasteler Doctor Spätlese from the house of Wegeler, one of the finest wines ever produced in Germany.
The wine, served alongside blini and caviar, became a tasteful bridge between two worlds. Its selection was no coincidence: the Doctor represents nobility, maturity, and depth, ideal qualities for diplomatic finesse. Despite Cold War tensions, the meeting was a resounding victory for Adenauer, who succeeded in securing the return of the last 10,000 German prisoners of war. This achievement marked not only a humanitarian success but also the beginning of diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union. The year 1953 was a fortunate one for Riesling on the Moselle. Following a cold winter and a warm, extended autumn, grapes of exceptional ripeness were harvested. The Spätlese wines of this vintage are noted for perfect balance, fine fruit aromas, and remarkable aging potential. The 1953 Doctor embodies everything that defines a great Riesling: complexity, elegance, and character. Founded in 1882, the Wegeler estates rank among Germany’s most esteemed wineries. With locations in the Rheingau and the Moselle, they represent top-tier quality from the finest vineyards. The Bernkasteler Doctor, one of their most famous parcels, is among Germany’s oldest and most expensive wine sites. Worldclass Rieslings have been maturing here since Julius Wegeler acquired the first parcel in 1900.
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7025
King Henry VIII Document Signed to the Keeper of the Wardrobe, Directing “Crimson velvett for a gowne” to Sir Robert Curson
King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547, remembered for his role in the English Reformation, his six marriages (and his beheaded ex-wives), and his radical changes to the English Constitution. Vellum manuscript DS, signed “Henry R,” one page, 9.25 x 4.25, January 2, 1514. Warrant addressed to Sir Andrew Windsor (“To our trusty and welbeloved Ser Andrew Wyndesore, knight, keper of our great wardrope”), given under the King’s signet at Windsor Castle, commanding him to deliver unto Lord Curson fourteen yards of crimson velvet for a gown and as much black budge as shall suffice for furring the same: In part: “We wooll and commaunde you that unto the lorde Kurson ye deliver xiiij yerdes of Crimson velvett for a gowne and asmoche blacke boogi as schall suffice for furring of the same gowne.” In very good to fine condition, with light creasing and soiling, an early 19th-century filing annotation (“60”) to the upper left corner, and the blank lower left corner neatly excised.
Andrew Windsor (1467–1543), 1st Baron Windsor, was an English peer and politician who served as Keeper of the Great Wardrobe from 1504 to 1543. He played a key role in King Henry VIII’s 1513 military campaign in France, taking part in the Battle of the Spurs on August 16th, where he was among the first to be advanced as Knights Bannerets. In 1514, he accompanied Mary Tudor to France for her marriage to King Louis XII and later signed the 1518 marriage and peace treaties with France. Windsor also attended the historic Field of the Cloth of Gold in June 1520, a summit between Henry VIII and Francis I which saw an opulent display of wealth by both kings.
Sir Robert Curson (c.1460–1535), known as Lord Curson, was an English soldier and courtier who served both Henry VIII and Emperor Maximilian I. Despite being publicly declared a traitor at Paul’s Cross in 1501, Curson evaded punishment and was granted an annual pension of £400 in 1509, which continued until at least 1520. Though never formally made a peer, his title of Lord Curson was acknowledged at court from around 1513, and either he or his son was also present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
Starting Bid $2,500
The ‘Father of the English Church’ makes diligent study of four Ecumenical councils— an annotated copy of Quatuor conciliorum generalium from Thomas Cranmer’s personal library
Thomas Cranmer’s Heavily Annotated Religious Book - Quatuor conciliorum generalium [The Four General Church Councils] (1524)Representing His Scholarly Approach to the English Reformation
Extraordinary book from Thomas Cranmer’s personal library: Quatuor conciliorum generalium [The Four General Church Councils], in two volumes bound as one, edited by Jacques Merlin (Paris, 1524). Hardcover rebound in half-leather in 1865 by Cass & Co., Glasgow, 10.5 x 14.75, heavily annotated in the margins in Cranmer’s own hand, with a few annotations slightly cropped by binder. Cranmer annotates the book in Latin on nearly 200 pages, with frequent underlinings and markings throughout the volume. The title page bears the name “Thomas Cantuarien” in the hand of one of his secretaries, with the later signature (heavily deleted) of John, Lord Lumley, who acquired much of Cranmer’s library; this volume corresponds to No. 210 in Lumley’s library catalogue, described as ‘Concilia generalia, duobus tomis, unico volumine, Parisiis 1524,’ as recorded in ‘The Lumley Library: The Catalogue of 1609,’ ed. Sears Jayne and Francis R. Johnson (1956). A few pages bear notations in other 17th and 18th-century hands, attesting to the book’s active use in theological studies. Book condition: G+/None, with moderate wear to exterior (including heavy scuffing to spine and corners), restored losses to title page, bookplate of Sir Archibald Edmonstone of Duntreath to front pastedown, and some minor foxing to textblock.Writing on Cramner’s library in the ‘Dictionary of English Book Collectors’ (1969), Edward Burbidge observes that the books ‘reveal the man, and make known by their existence, and marginal notes, the influences which moulded the mind of the most prominent actor in the reformation of the Church of England.’ Burbidge makes note of Cranmer’s close-reading practice: ‘Many are underlined and annotated with marginal notes from beginning to end. Important passages were laboriously copied out into notebooks, arranged under headings in such a way as to give a clear view of authorities for and against all the debated topics of the day.’ His early biographer, John Strype, also made note of Cranmer’s ‘diligence in marking and making extracts from all sorts of works.’
Thomas Cranmer is believed to have owned a library of about 500 printed books and 100 manuscript volumes. When he was imprisoned in 1553, Queen Mary ordered the confiscation of his books and the collection was absorbed into the library of her Lord High Steward, Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel (1512–1580). Most—but not all—of the library later passed to Arundel’s son-in-law, John, Lord Lumley (1534–1609), a noted book collector and tutor to Prince Henry. After Lumley’s death, a significant portion of his library—including many of Cranmer’s books—was purchased by James I for Prince Henry.
These volumes were eventually gifted by George III and are now part of the King’s Library in the British Library. Other books from Cranmer’s collection have been dispersed over time and can now be found at Lambeth Palace, University of Cambridge, and other institutions. They are easily identified by their characteristic markings, including the ‘Thomas Cantuarien’ notations to the title pages—systematically added to the books by a secretary toward the end of Cranmer’s life—as well as their distinctive marginalia. Thomas Cranmer’s library was a practical, working theological collection that he actively used throughout his life, and shared with fellow scholars like Bishop Latimer, who ‘spent many an hour’ there. His books were typically heavily annotated, reflecting a disciplined and systematic approach to study. Cranmer routinely marked up texts and had key passages transcribed by secretaries into organized theological commonplace books, several of which survive today in the British Library and Lambeth Palace collections. Cranmer’s typical method is on full display in this compendium of early Church Councils, containing detailed summaries, canons, and significant Papal documents. Concentrated especially around the Carthaginian Councils, Council of Antioch, and various foundational Papal writings, Cranmer’s marginalia underscores the theological significance of the work within his broader library.While the annotations largely do not bear witness to Cranmer’s own original ideas, his hand is seen throughout summarizing declarations relating to the fundamental tenets of the Christian religion: Baptism, the Eucharist, the Trinity, the significance of Easter, and so forth, as well as the canons of priesthood and such matters as ordination, the Papacy, the consecration of bishops and archbishops, celibacy, dealings with the Emperor, and blasphemy. None of Cranmer’s notes relate directly to the divorce of King Henry VIII, but he does make several marginal references to the question of matrimony and to the status of clergymen’s wives (“de clericoru[m] uxorib[us]”).Once owned by Thomas Cranmer, this remarkable, heavily annotated 1524 edition of Merlin’s Quatuor conciliorum generalium stands as a critical witness to the intellectual underpinnings of the English Reformation and the private scholarly habits of its leading architect. Beyond its documentary and bibliographic interest, the volume illuminates a crucial moment in the shaping of Anglican theology. Cranmer, faced with the monumental task of articulating a new ecclesiastical identity for England, turned not to radical innovation but to early Christian precedent. His deep engagement with conciliar texts, and his careful notation of passages dealing with clerical marriage, sacramental theology, and ecclesiastical authority, reflect a reformist strategy that grounded Protestant departures from Rome in the purported consensus of the ancient Church.
Provenance: English Literature and English History, Sotheby’s, December 6, 1984.
Starting Bid $20,000
of the wardrobe”
LOT 7027
Marie Antoinette Document Signed, Ordering Payment for Extravagant Royal Household Expenditures Amidst the French Revolution
Manuscript DS in French, signed “Marie Antoinette,” one page, 9.5 x 14.5, November 20, 1789. Document addressed to the Administrator of the Royal Treasury during the first months of the Revolution, directing Marc Antoine Francois Randon de la Tour to pay for expenditures of the household. In part (translated): “Pay in cash to our two valets of the wardrobe the sum of seven hundred and thirty two livres, which we granted them as an additional food payment, in consideration of their service during the year.” Signed at the conclusion in ink by Marie Antoinette, and countersigned by Pierre Jean Baptiste Beaugeard. In fine condition, with light foxing and toning to edges.
In 1788, the spending of the Royal Household alone made up 13% of total state expenses. By 1789, the country’s finances were in disarray and the impoverished people were in uproar over the king’s absolute power and frivolous lifestyle. On October 5, 1789, an angry mob marched on the Palace of Versailles and attempted to kill Queen Marie Antoinette. After the situation was defused by the Marquis de Lafayette, Marie Antoinette and the royal family were forced to return to Paris from Versailles and placed under house arrest in Tuileries Palace. This document, dating to mere weeks after their arrival at Tuileries, documents the reality of Marie Antoinette’s ostentatious lifestyle, reinforcing the legend of the queen’s extravagant spending.
Starting Bid $1,000
Unique book of nine hand-painted devotional miniatures of outstanding quality, each signed and inscribed on the reverse by an archduchess of Austria—highlighted by Marie Antoinette—carefully mounted under mats and bound in calf of the late 19th century, with a manuscript description of the contents in the rear. The handsome leatherbound book measures 5 x 7.
The inscriptions are to countess Maria Anna von Callenberg, née countess Thurn-Valsassina (1721-86), first lady-in-waiting to Empress Elizabeth Christina, mother of Maria Theresa and since 1757 married to general Karl Kurt Reinicke, count Callenberg. Five of the nine miniatures are signed by daughters of Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I (thus uniting five out of eight princesses that survived infancy), one by a sister of Maria Theresa, another by the youngest sister of Francis I, yet another by the Imperial couple’s daughter-in-law, and one by an unidentified writer. A scholarly study of the album, published in 1999 (cf. the sources below), praises the “outstanding graphic quality” of the miniatures, arguing that they must have been created by “professionally trained artists” (Feldhaus, p. 19). Presented in a slipcase and in fine condition, with the St. Expeditus miniature detached from its mount. All inscriptions are in French or German; they include:
1) St. Cajetan (S. Cajetanus Thieneus), 3-line inscription signed by Archduchess Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (1746-1804), dated 1769.
2) Charles Borromeo (S. Carolus Borromaeus), 6-line inscription signed by Archduchess Maria Anna (1718-1744), sister of Maria Theresa, dated 1743.
3) St. Jerome (S. Hieronimus), 6-line inscription signed by Archduchess Maria Josepha (1751-67), dated 1767.
4) Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa), 4-line inscription signed by Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine (1714-73), youngest sister of Emperor Francis I; undated.
5) The Virgin and Child (“Du Königin des guten Raths bitt für uns”), 5-line inscription signed by Maria Theresa’s eldest daughter, Archduchess Maria Anna (1738-89), dated 1757.
6) King Stephen I of Hungary (S. Stephanus Rex Hung.), 5-line inscription signed by Maria Luisa of Spain (1745-1792), Grand Duchess of Tuscany and later Empress as the spouse of Leopold II; dated 1770.
7) St. Expeditus (S. Expeditus), signed by Archduchess Maria Elisabeth (1743-1808), undated.
8) St. Aloysius Gonzaga (S. Aloysius Gonzaga S. I.), 3-line inscription signed by Archduchess Marie Antoinette (“Auspice Deo. En regardant cette image souvenez vous toujours chère Callenberg de Votre très affectionee Antoine Archiduchesse”), dated 29 March 1770, but a month before her fateful departure for France.
9) Man of Sorrows (Wahre Abbildung des schmerzhaften Heilands auf dem S. Stephansfriedhof), 2-line inscription, undated and unsigned, ascribed to Charlotte von Reischach, lady-in-waiting, by the included index (4to, 4 pp.).
Provenance:
Owned by count Carl Callenberg (d. 1820), son of the recipient of these dedications; by descent to her daughter Henriette, the last countess of Callenberg (1764-1835), married in 1787 to count Johann Mittrowsky (1757-99), army surgeon to count Lássy’s Infantry Regiment; by descent to the counts Mittrowsky; later in the library of the Austrian collector and Keeper of the Purse, count Franz Folliot de Crenneville-Poutet (1815-88), with his collection stamp on fol. 1; sold through the Vienna art trade to a Rhenish private collection in 1969.
References: Irmgard Feldhaus, Gemalte Andachtsbilder aus dem Österreichischen Kaiserhaus aus den Jahren 1743-1770, in: Arbeitskreis Bild, Druck, Papier: Tagungsband Kassel 1998. Ed. by Christa Pieske et al. (Münster, Waxmann, 1999), pp. 13-28.
Starting Bid $2,500
Writing one year after the publication of his influential moral treatise, Adam Smith comments on his student’s fever:
“I immediately sent for a Physician who ordered him to be blooded”
Adam Smith Autograph Letter Signed on a Student’s Sickness - One Year
Scottish moral professor and a respected pioneer of political economy (1723–1790) whose magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations, is considered the first modern work of economics. ALS, signed “Adam Smith,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.25 x 9, March 10, 1760. Handwritten letter to the 1st Earl of Shelburne regarding the health of his son Thomas, then Smith’s student and lodger, in part: “I think it my Duty to inform your Lordship that Mr. Fitzmaurice has been for some days past ill of a slight fever, from which, however, he never appeared to be in the least danger and from which I hope he is now in a fair way of recovery. He was seized with it on Wednesday last. I missed him that forenoon from the Class, which I had never done before and upon my return to my own house, I found him lying upon his bed and complaining of a headache. I immediately sent for a Physician who ordered him to be blooded. He was a good deal relieved by the bleeding, but became very feverish that evening. He continued so all next day but the day following found himself greatly relieved in consequence of a sweat and a sound Sleep. I should have written to your Lordship that evening, that is by Fridays post, for I could have written no sooner, but he appeared to be so much better and Dr. Black assured me positively that all danger was now over, and that he would probably be quite well next day, that I resolved to wait one other post before I wrote anything that could possibly alarm your Lordship…
Your Lordship, perhaps, may think that as I ventured to delay writing to you by last post, I ought not to have written by this: and I shall readily acknowledge that my behaviour in this respect is not very consistent. But when Mr. Fitzmaurice had a slight relapse on Saturday evening I felt so much uneasiness for not having written to your Lordship the day before that I resolved never to expose myself to the like; your Lordship my depend upon his being treated with the utmost care and attention.” In fine condition, with partial splitting along the hinge and a bit of smudging to the closing sentiment.
During his tenure as a professor of logic and moral philosophy at Glasgow University, Smith graciously offered to share his residence with students who sought both housing and scholastic supervision, a tender he would uphold over the course of thirteen years. Beginning in 1759, Thomas Petty-Fitzmaurice, the youngest son of the 1st Earl of Shelburne, lodged and studied with Smith for two years before eventually moving on and becoming a Member of Parliament in 1761. Published in April of 1759, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith’s landmark book of ethical philosophy, embodied many of his Glasgow lectures, which in turn enhanced the standing of both the institution and Smith, whose noted genius and influential teachings attracted a generation of young minds to transfer to Glasgow. Representative of the unique concern Smith relayed to his students, this is an exceptionally rare and considerate letter penned less than a year after the publication of his classic work of sentiment and sympathy, The Theory of Moral Sentiments.
Starting Bid $2,500
Exceedingly rare Revolutionary War-dated partly-printed DS, in French, signed “Haym Salomon” and “Rob’t Morris, S. I. of Finance,” one page, 9.75 x 3.75, October 22, 1782. A seventh bill of exchange issued in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Haym Saloman for 656 Livres Tournois, payable at the Grand Bank of Paris, with the upper right annotated “Pour Compte des Estats Unis de L’Amerique.” Signed at the conclusion by Robert Morris as the Superintendent of Finance, and countersigned on the reverse by Salomon. In fine condition, with an unobtrusive professional repair to vertical tear, and show-through front writing on the front rendering Solomon’s signature indistinct but completely legible. An extraordinary historic American financial instrument coveted equally by autograph specialists, numismatists, and historical enthusiasts.
Exchanges of this type were the method used when unpredictable modes of transportation were used to ship the exchange forms domestically and abroad, often on multiple vessels in case of loss or capture. In nearly all cases with American bills of exchange such as this, the ‘First’ was usually paid, redeemed, or retired before any subsequent ones would be redeemed. Copious record-keeping was necessary, and paying out a rich sum like this was taken seriously at all points of potential redemption. Additionally, such instruments were issued to pay the interest on the domestic debt of the United States and to allow it to draw on its gold reserves in Europe to raise immediate specie in order to purchase supplies and prosecute the War for Independence. Such bills of exchange ‘were the eighteenthcentury equivalent of modern checks; they enabled persons having funds available in other places to raise money for local use’ (Edgar J. McManus, in American National Biography).
By the time British troops marched into New York in September 1776, Haym Salomon had cast his lot with the Patriot cause. Not long after the occupation began, British General James Robertson had him arrested on suspicion of spying and confined to the grim Provost prison. It was a place notorious for its cruelty. Yet fate intervened. Hessian commander General Leopold Philip von Heister, recognizing in Salomon a rare gift—fluency in a host of European languages—secured his release, putting him to work as an interpreter and supplier of provisions. Though officially in the service of the Hessians, Salomon carried on his own business, advertising in the New York papers goods for ships—wine and vinegar, bread and rice—sold from his shop on Broad Street.But beneath this appearance of loyalty to the British cause, Salomon was quietly at work for the Americans. He aided prisoners, American and French alike, in slipping their bonds and making their way to freedom. In 1778, his activities caught up with him. Arrested again, accused of plotting to burn British ships in New York Harbor, he was convicted of espionage and, by report, sentenced to hang. Somehow—exactly how remains unknown—he escaped. Crossing through New Jersey, he reached Philadelphia two weeks later, where in time he would become indispensable to the American cause.
Working closely with Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance, Salomon proved himself one of the Revolution’s great financiers. Between 1781 and 1784, through tireless fundraising and generous personal loans, he provided the staggering sum of more than $650,000—about $15 million today—to keep Washington’s army in the field. His finest hour came in August 1781, with the fate of the war in the balance. Washington’s troops, bound for Yorktown, were near mutiny for want of food, uniforms, and supplies; Congress’s treasury was empty. When Morris told Washington there was no money, Washington’s reply was immediate: ‘Send for Haym Salomon.’ Within days, Salomon had raised $20,000 through the sale of bills of exchange—enough to move the army south. Yorktown would be the decisive battle of the Revolution, and Haym Salomon had made it possible.
Starting Bid $2,500
Thomas Paine promotes the ‘Rights of Man’ in the aftermath of France’s “glorious revolution”—
“It would have given an additional triumph to our congratulations if the equal Rights of Man, (which is the foundation of your Declaration of Rights), had been recognized by the Governments around you a tranquilly established in all”
Thomas Paine Handwritten Manuscript on Revolutions and the Rights of Man:
“We can scarcely conceive a more diabolical System of Government than has been generally established over the World”
Historic handwritten manuscript by Thomas Paine, unsigned, one page both sides, 8 x 10, no date but circa 1791–1792. Paine pens an open letter to “Brothers and fellow Citizens of the World,” embracing the ideals of the French Revolution and expressing his principled views on the natural rights of man. In part: “The cordial and affectionate reception with which you have honored our worthy country men Mr. Thomas Cooper and Mr. John [sic, for James] Watt Members of the society of Manchester and united with our Society, has been communicated to me by…those Gentlemen and received with that glow of happiness that spontaneously flows from the heart.
In offering you our Congratulations on the glorious revolution your Nation has accomplished we speak a language which only sincerity can dictate. The formality of Courts, dull in every thing but mischief and intrigue affords no Example to us. To do our thoughts Justice we give to the heart the Liberty it delights in and hail you as brothers.
It is not among the least of revolutions which Time is unfolding to an astonished World, that our Nations, nursed…in reciprocal hatred should so suddenly break their common chain and rush into Amity. The principles that can produce such effects is not the offspring of any earthly court, and whilst it exhibits to us the expensive iniquity of former politics it enables us with bold felicity to say we have done with them. In contemplating the political Condition of Nations we can scarcely conceive a more diabolical System of Government than has been generally established over the World. To feed the avarice and gratify the wickedness of ambition, the brotherhood of the human race has been destroyed as if the several Nations of the Earth had been created by rival Gods.Instead of that universal benevolence which the morality of every known religion declares, he has been politically bred to consider his Species as his natural Enemy and to define virtues and Crimes by a Geographical Chart.
The declaration of principles we now make are not peculiar to the Society that addresses you. They are spreading themselves with accumulating force, thro’ every part of our Country, and derive Strength from an union of Causes which no other principles can produce. The religious friend of man, of every denomination, records them as his own; they animate the lever of national liberty; and they cherish the heart of the poor, now…under an oppression of Taxes, by a prospect of relief.
It would have given an additional triumph to our congratulations if the equal Rights of Man, (which is the foundation of your Declaration of Rights), had been recognized by the Governments around you, and tranquilly established in all…We have beheld your peaceable principles insulted by despotic Ignorance. We have seen the Right hand of fellowship, you held out to the World, rejected…We now behold you as a Nation provoked into defence and we can see no mode of defence equal to that of establishing the general freedom of Europe… we wish you success and in saying this we speak with the voice of Thousands.” In fine condition, with minor wear to the edges.
This remarkable manuscript by Thomas Paine reflects his fervent support for the French Revolution and his broader Enlightenment ideals of universal liberty and human rights. Written during the peak of revolutionary fervor in France—and following the publication of Paine’s influential treatise The Rights of Man—this open letter addresses “Brothers and fellow Citizens of the World,” signaling Paine’s belief in transnational solidarity against tyranny. At the time, Paine had aligned himself with revolutionary France—he would even become a member of the National Convention—while in Britain he faced persecution for his radical ideas. His rejection of monarchies and corrupt court politics, and his embrace of fraternity among nations formerly divided by war, mirrors the revolutionary optimism that briefly flourished in Europe. The letter’s emphasis on natural rights, social equality, and resistance to despotic governments encapsulates Paine’s vision of a global democratic awakening, forged not by conquest, but by shared principles and moral clarity.
Starting Bid $5,000
LOT 7032
John Hancock Revolutionary War-Dated Document Signed (1776) - Continental Congress Resolution Appealing to the King of Spain “to join with the United States in a war against Great Britain”
Revolutionary War–dated manuscript DS, signed “John Hancock Presid’t,” one page, 8 x 10.75, December 30, 1776. Manuscript resolution of the Continental Congress, penned in the hand of Secretary Charles Thomson and signed at the conclusion by John Hancock, appealing to Spain to join the war against Great Britain in the American Revolution. In part: “Resolved. That the commissioners for the courts of France and Spain consult together and prepare a Treaty of Commerce and Alliance, as near as may be, similar to the first proposed to the court of France…that if his Catholic Majesty will join with the United States in a war against Great Britain, they will assist in reducing to the possession of Spain the town and harbour of Pensacola, provided…the United States shall have free and un
interrupted navigation of the Mississippi and the use of the harbour of Pensacola.” In poor condition, with heavy overall staining and areas of loss to the fragile paper, both of which render some of the text difficult to read; Hancock’s signature is remarkably unaffected.
During the American Revolution, Spain played a crucial yet often overlooked role in supporting the American cause against Britain. Although Spain did not formally ally with the American colonies, it declared war on Britain in 1779 as part of the broader conflict of the Anglo-Spanish War. Under the leadership of Bernardo de Gálvez, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, Spain provided significant military and financial aid, including arms, supplies, and troops. Spanish forces achieved key victories against the British along the Gulf Coast, notably in battles at Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola, weakening British influence in the South. In 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Spain officially recognized the independence of the United States.
Starting Bid $2,500
to its ratification: “I believe it will be fairly and literally executed, unless new courses of irritation and disgust should arise”
John Jay Handwritten Letter Draft, Defending His Treaty with Great Britain: “I believe it will be fairly and literally executed, unless new courses of irritation and disgust should arise”
Historic unsigned handwritten draft of a letter by John Jay, three pages on two adjoining sheets, 8 x 10, June 1, 1795. Handwritten draft giving his defense of his treaty with Great Britain, prior to its ratification by the United States Senate. In part: “Your reasons for not thinking it advisable to leave Philadelphia at present are I think conclusive. In the course of the next week I hope to be with you and then to give you more full and satisfactory answers to the questions contained in your letter than the following concise ones, viz.
To the 1st Qu.: In my opinion the views of Great Britain when I arrived there had been and then were so far hostile to us, as they had been rendered so by indications of a disposition in this country to aid France in the war against her. Their apprehensions on this head gradually subsided in proportion as the wisdom, firmness and integrity of our government had become developed by their measures.
2. I am convinced that the evacuation of the posts at a more early period was (for the reasons mentioned in my letter on that subject) unattainable. A more early day would have given alarm and discontent to those who would have been affected by it, and among these are characters whose interests and wishes would not prudently be disregard[ed]. Throughout the negotiations the Minister seemed attentive to public opinion and well apprised of its importance. It was my duty, and I have strenuously and I believe successfully endeavored, to exhaust their ultimatum.
3. I did contend that the prohibition to sell prizes should not operate during the present war, but it was answered that they asked nothing from us but what they had a right to expect from a neutral nation, and deviations from the lien of impartiality not stipulated for by our pre-existing treaties could not possibly be admitted.
4. Most clearly the Treaty does prohibit the re-exportation from the U. S. in American vessels of the West Indies commodities enumerated in the treaty they brought from French Islands it being impossible to distinguish—but we may carry them from French or other islands (not British) to Europe. That article being offered as a privilege and a boon. I take it that we may accept it or not as we please.
5. The Danish spoliations were not adjusted when our treaty was signed, and I have no idea of their obtaining better terms.
6. The discussion in the admiralty will probably be tedious, and the more so from the want of documents in the great majority of the cases. In a large number of them appeals and claims have not yet been lodged for want even of the names of the parties.
7. Such orders may be expected as the Treaty according to its true intent and meaning shall dictate. I believe it will be fairly and literally executed, unless new courses of irritation and disgust should arise. I have for my part no doubt of their disposition and sincere desire to give the system of conciliation with us a full and fair Experiment.” Jay makes substantial revisions throughout the text, striking through and rewriting several lines. In fine condition. Accompanied by a custommade quarter-leather presentation folder.
In 1794 the United States faced its most important foreign crisis since the Revolution, and as Chief Justice, John Jay was selected by George Washington to negotiate a settlement with Great Britain concerning that country’s continued occupation of posts in the northwest, pending private debts to English creditors, and the British plunder of neutral American shipping during their hostilities with France. The importance to the young America of maintaining peace and financial stability was enormous, and Jay spent the summer of 1794 in London negotiating with Lord Grenville to reach an agreement. The result of his work, the Jay Treaty, which was signed on November 19, 1794, created a system to settle financial claims between the two nations, provided for the removal of British troops from the Northwest Territory, established commissions to settle boundary disputes on the northern frontier, and extended free trade and navigation guarantees to the English on the Mississippi River. It was submitted to the United States Senate for its advice and consent on June 8, 1795, and ratified by a two-thirds majority on June 24, 1795.The Treaty, however, aroused a storm of protest in the United States among the Jeffersonian Republicans, who denounced it as a sellout by pro-British Federalists. Mobs burned Jay in effigy, and opponents denounced him as a traitor. Before the negotiations, Jay at one time had been considered a leading candidate to succeed Washington, but the unpopular treaty ruined whatever chances he had for the presidency. New York Federalists, however, elected him governor after his return from England.
Starting Bid $1,000
“Three hundred dollars in full for a Portrait of George Washington late President of the United States painted by myself,” a work currently on display at the
Gilbert Stuart Signed Receipt for His 1822 ‘Lewis-Wilson Portrait of George Washington’On Current Display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi
Manuscript DS, signed “G’t Stuart,” one page, 8.25 x 6, January 25, 1822. Receipt of payment for John Langdon’s purchase of Gilbert Stuart’s commissioned portrait painting of George Washington, in full: “Boston, Jany 25, 1822. Rec’d of John W. Langdon, Three hundred dollars in full for a Portrait of George Washington late President of the United States painted by myself by direction of William D. Lewis Esq’r of St. Petersburg.” Signed at the conclusion by Stuart. In very good condition, with an old tape repair to the back of the central horizontal fold, and irregular staining affecting only appearance. Stuart remains rare across all signed formats, with this example’s desirability further augmented by the mention of one of the artist’s beloved Washington portraits.
Accompanied by a notarized TLS from prior owner Howard Young, dated March 19, 1926, which is headed “History of ‘The Portrait of George Washington’ by Gilbert Stuart…Painted by order of William D. Lewis in 1822 and to be known hereafter as ‘The Lewis-Wilson Portrait of George Washington.’ The letter reads, in full: “Two brothers named John D. Lewis and William D. Lewis of Philadelphia, were engaged in the export business to Russia and spent six months of each year in St. Petersburg. One of them, the younger, on his way to Russia, stopped in England and there learned that a life sized portrait of Washington, belonging to some nobleman, was being raffled. This is now known as the ‘Lansdowne Washington’ and he bought a ticket in the raffle for fifty guineas. When he reached St. Petersburg he told the elder brother about it, who ridiculed him for wasting his money and so convinced him that he sold the ticket to the elder brother who was better off. In the course of time the raffle took place, and to the disappointment of the younger brother, that ticket won. The one who now possessed the portrait decided to live his life in Russia where he died.
William D. Lewis, the younger brother, was so disappointed at having so nearly become the possessor of such a valuable portrait that he wrote to John W. Langdon, the American correspondent of the Lewises, instructing him to commission Stuart to paint a portrait of Washington for him. This order was given the latter part of 1821 and the portrait, 34 1/2 x 44 1/2”, was painted. The canvas is in a most excellent condition, never having been relined or restored, and the color is superb. The portrait is undoubtedly unique – Stuart never having painted anything like it, as far as is known, and there is no replica of it in existence. It was delivered to the family in March 1822, as evidenced by a receipted bill in which Gilbert Stuart acknowledges the receipt of $300. for the portrait – and this receipt is signed in Stuart’s own handwriting.
The portrait has been hanging in the same home, or in the homes of descendants of the family until it was taken to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, in 1910, where it has hung ever since. It has been called the ‘Pennsylvania Academy Washington.’ I took this painting out of the Pennsylvania Academy on March 10, 1926, having purchased it from the Estate of William D. Lewis, and sold it to Mrs. Alfred G. Wilson of Detroit, Michigan to whom I delivered the painting personally.” The letter is presented inside a folder that contains a 10.5 x 13.75 photograph of the Washington portrait by Stuart, published by the Crossman Studio of Brooklyn, New York.
The ‘Lewis-Wilson Portrait of George Washington’ is now on exhibit at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, as part of a longterm cultural agreement with the French government. The painting, which shows the first American president sitting at a desk, one hand resting on a document, the other cradling a sword hilt, was purchased for an undisclosed amount from the Los Angeles-based Armand Hammer Foundation in the spring of 2014, with similar portraits by the artist having sold for about $8 million in the past.
Starting Bid $1,000
“It is of the utmost importance that my divisions be brought to full operational strength, as Austria’s troop movements increasingly point to an attack”—
Napoleon readies troops led by his adopted son, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, for the War of the Fifth Coalition
Napoleon Archive of (29) Letters Signed to His Adopted Son, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Detailing Military Strategy in the War of the Fifth Coalition: “The army is maneuvering in all directions against the enemy”
Extraordinary archive of 29 LSs by Napoleon Bonaparte, signed with various shortenings of his first name—including “Np,” “Napole,” and “Napo”—addressed to his adopted son, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy, totaling 46 pages, 7.25 x 9, dated from March 3, 1809, to June 23, 1809. These letters constitute an important series of military communications from Napoleon Bonaparte to his son (“Mon fils”) during the War of the Fifth Coalition, particularly concerning military operations around Raab (present-day Győr, Hungary) and Austria. In early 1809, Austria, encouraged by Napoleon’s preoccupation with Spain and sensing an opportunity after French setbacks in the Peninsular War, mobilized for war. Napoleon moved swiftly to consolidate his forces across central Europe, while ordering Eugène to strengthen and position the Army of Italy for an Austrian offensive across the Alps and into northern Italy. The letters from March detail meticulous orders for troop organization, recruitment, artillery deployment, and strategic positioning along the Adige, the Piave, and in Tyrol, emphasizing Napoleon’s preference for precise control over military logistics and his constant anticipation of enemy movements. By mid-1809, the correspondence reflects the shifting momentum of the campaign. Following the French capture of Vienna in May and the ongoing suppression of Tyrolean uprisings, Napoleon presses Eugène to coordinate with French marshals such as Marmont and MacDonald to pursue Austrian forces under Archduke John and secure key strongholds like Raab. The letters frequently reveal Napoleon’s frustration at delays, his insistence on speed and secrecy, and his determination to maintain offensive pressure, even in the face of logistical challenges and regional revolts. Together, they offer a remarkable, near-daily record of Napoleon’s wartime command—combining high-level grand strategy with minute operational detail—at a pivotal moment in the 1809 campaign that culminated in the decisive French victory at Wagram in July.
A few key excerpts, in translation: March 5, 1809: “A new fourth battalion must be formed in Italy…It is of the utmost importance that my divisions be brought to full operational strength, as Austria’s troop movements increasingly point to an attack.”
March 16, 1809: “Russia’s movements against Austria are unclear, but significant. Russia is conducting suspicious activities, apparently arming itself.”
March 25, 1809: “Disrupt Austria’s lines of communication by all means, especially those with Trieste. Let none of my ships enter that port, so that they are not captured at the moment war breaks out.”
April 18, 1809: “You know about the uprising in Tyrol. The army is maneuvering in all directions against the enemy. Important decisions will soon be made…Everything suggests to me that the enemy on your side is not very numerous.”
May 17, 1809, from occupied Vienna: “The enemy has been defeated on all fronts. The enormous quantities of building materials needed to construct a bridge across the Danube are almost ready. I hope to be able to cross on the 18th or 19th and to defeat the armies that have concentrated between the Danube and Moravia.”
June 7, 1809: “It is not impossible that Prince John may once again try to give battle if he joins MacDonald. You must stay informed via officers already instructed for this purpose—not through letters, since they may be intercepted and fall into enemy hands.”
June 15, 1809: “In broad terms, you have the order to pursue Archduke John and to inflict as much damage as possible on him without taking undue risks. It is to be assumed that Raab is not sufficiently fortified, so it is unlikely that the enemy would dare to station a serious garrison of his best troops there. If he positions poor troops there, the city will surrender if it is surrounded, which benefits us by diverting forces and giving us a good base.”
June 18, 1809: “The enemy’s movements seem to indicate a concentration in Buda…Since it is to your advantage to act fast, it is essential that you do not burden yourself with wagons or anything else that slows you down. The enemy must never perceive any backward movement from you…Put all your effort into keeping possession of Raab, and make sure this is done irrevocably, without anything that could be interpreted as a retreat.”
June 23, 1809: “I assume that you have secured the siege of Raab from all sides, and that, should the enemy attempt to send 1500 or 2000 men…there are enough troops on the bank to prevent them from landing and entering the city. I cannot wait to hear news of the capture of Raab…I still firmly intend to launch a decisive attack at the end of the month.”
In overall fine to very fine condition.
Starting Bid $5,000
At the advent of the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon sends a handwritten letter of counsel to his younger sister, Pauline Bonaparte, on the responsibilities of her new title as princess consort of Sulmona and Rossano—“The only nation you should never receive in your home is the English as long as we are at war”
Signed to His Sister, Pauline Bonaparte“The only nation you should never receive in your home is the English as long as we are at war”
War-dated ALS in French, signed “Bonaparte,” one page, 7.25 x 10, November 19 [1803]. Addressed from the Camp de Boulogne, a handwritten letter to “Madame la Princesse Borghese,” his younger sister, Pauline Bonaparte, in full (translated): “I will still be away for a few days, however, the bad season is advancing. The Alps are going to be covered with ice. Leave then for Rome. Distinguish yourself by your gentleness, your kindness to everyone and your extreme consideration for the ladies, relatives and friends of your husband’s household. Conform to the customs of the country, never despise anything, find everything beautiful, do not say in Paris, there is better than that. Show a lot of respect and attachment to the prince whom I love very much and who is worthy by the simplicity of his morals of the position he occupies. Of all that will come back to me on your account, what I would like most to learn is that you are good. The only nation you should never receive in your home is the English as long as we are at war, and you should never even admit them into your intimate society. Love your husband for the happiness of your home and above all do not be frivolous and capricious. You are 24 years old. You must be mature and sensible now; I would always like to learn with pleasure that you are happy.” In good to very good condition, with staining and toning, tiny areas of paper loss along the central vertical fold, and several splits and tears bearing very old repairs on the reverse.
After a decade of war, France and Britain signed the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, marking the end of the French Revolutionary Wars. The peace, however, was short-lived, lasting roughly a year before
hostilities resumed between the two nations. Due to mutual distrust, broken promises, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s growing ambitions, Britain declared war on France on May 18, 1803, officially starting the global Napoleonic Wars that lasted for over 12 years and involved over 20 different sovereign states or coalitions.
As Napoleon’s great war began, a secret matrimony added unneeded strife within the Bonaparte family. On August 28, 1803, Napoleon’s younger sister, Pauline, married Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, in a wedding ceremony unbeknownst to her older brother and the First Consul of the French Republic. Napoleon was upset when he learned of the wedding, not because he was not in attendance, but rather because he insisted that Pauline – whose first husband, Charles Leclerc, died in November 1802 – honor the code of mourning and wait a full year before being wed. As such, and for a brief time, Napoleon refused to acknowledge her new title, writing to her, ‘Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess where I am.’
By the time of this letter, whatever tension existed between the siblings had since faded, as Napoleon indeed salutes his sister with her new title and tenders an array of helpful suggestions in her new life as a foreign princess; Pauline had arrived in Rome just five days earlier. The most glaring of his sundry counsels pertains to the present conflict, with Napoleon impressing extreme caution in the case of an enemy agent: “The only nation you should never receive in your home is the English as long as we are at war, and you should never even admit them into your intimate society.” Initially amicable, the marriage between Pauline and Camillo soon deteriorated, and following Napoleon’s defeat and exile in 1814, Camillo fled France and his wife. Pauline, true to her brother, liquidated all of her assets and moved to Elba, where she used that money to better Napoleon’s condition.
Starting Bid $1,000
Incredible handwritten manuscript and graphological notes from the Dreyfus Affair court-martial, penned neatly across 16 pages by Etienne Charavay, one of the original five handwriting experts summoned to determine the author of the famed ‘bordereau’
Dreyfus Affair: Etienne Charavay
Handwritten Manuscript and Graphological Notes from the 1894 Dreyfus Affair Court-Martial
Collection of 16 pages of handwritten graphological notes made by handwriting expert Etienne Charavay during the early stages of the Dreyfus Affair. A major political and social scandal in late 19th-century France, the Dreyfus Affair centered on the wrongful conviction of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French Army, for treason. A handwritten document—the famed ‘bordereau’—was discovered in a wastebasket at the German embassy in Paris, suggesting a French officer was passing military secrets to Germany. To determine the author of the ‘bordereau,’ a series of five handwriting experts were brought in by the French War Council in 1894. As one of the experts selected, Charavay initially determined that the handwriting in the ‘bordereau’ was natural, fast, and spontaneous, and not a forgery. His opinion changed, however, after consulting with lead investigator and forensic pioneer Alphonse Bertillon, and Dreyfus was convicted.
The lot contains a 9-page manuscript by Charavay, containing his detailed report that served as a side-by-side comparison of the anonymous bordereau and known handwriting samples of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. The untranslated report, in French, signed and dated at the conclusion, “Paris, a 29 octobre 1894, Etienne Charavay,” is penned neatly in crisp black ink on nine pages, each measuring 6 x 8. Included with the manuscript are an additional seven pages of handwritten notes by Charavay, penned in ink on pages ranging in size from 5.25 x 8.25 to 6 x 8, undated, which contain further graphological observations, with sections headed “Resemblances,” “Aspect general,” and “Differences entre la piece No. 1 et les pieces de comparaison.”
A group of irregular cut slips with sparse notations is also included with the lot. In overall fine condition, with a few short edge tears.
After the discovery of the bordereau, Etienne Charavay was one of five handwriting experts summoned by the French military to determine its author. Charavay, a noted autograph collector and handwriting
expert of the day, after analyzing the handwriting of the bordereau, deemed it quick, spontaneous, and natural, without any disguise. His comparison of the bordereau with Dreyfus’s own handwriting yielded no strong match. Charavay ultimately changed his opinion after a meeting with Alphonse Bertillon, the famed criminologist and inventor of the mug shot, who was serving as head of the Judicial Identification Service. Bertillon’s flawed evidence, autoforgery theory, and political influence were all contributing factors to one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice.
When Charavay took the stand, he switched stances and admitted that his first finding was a mistake and invalidated the initial conclusion. Charavay was quoted as saying: ‘I want to state that in 1894, deceived by a graphic resemblance, I made a mistake in attributing the piece known as the bordereau to the author of an anonymous writing that belonged to Captain Dreyfus. Having found a new writing element, I now recognize my error, and it is a great relief to my conscience to be able, in front of you, gentlemen, and especially in front of the one who was the victim of this mistake, to declare that I was wrong in 1894.’
Dreyfus was ultimately convicted and shipped to Devil’s Island, a remote and brutal penal colony in French Guiana, where he remained for nearly five years. Due to new evidence and intrepid Dreyfusard supporters like Emile Zola (whose open letter, ‘J’Accuse...!,’ in the L’Aurore newspaper caused a major stir in France), Dreyfus was granted a second trial in 1899, which resulted in another conviction and a 10-year sentence. Realizing political pressure and growing instability in France, President Émile Loubet granted Dreyfus a full pardon just weeks after the retrial in September 1899. The pardon freed him immediately, but it did not annul the guilty verdict—Dreyfus was still officially a convicted traitor. He was finally exonerated in 1906, and French Army Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, who was initially charged and acquitted after a controversial two-day trial, was later revealed to be the actual spy and author of the bordereau.
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7038
Karl Marx Autograph Note Signed, Returning an Errant Letter Sent to the RothschildsMarxism Meets Capitalism
Rare ANS in English, signed “Karl Marx,” neatly penned on a 6 x 3.25 envelope from Gebr. Lobbecke & Co., Braunschweig, January 4, 1879. An envelope addressed in another hand to “Herrn de Rothschild Frères, Paris,” which was accidentally delivered to Karl Marx’s house in London at 41 Maitland Park. Marx returns the envelope to the post, writing: “This letter has, it seems at the Brunswick PostOffice, accidentally got into a packet of newspapers sent to me from Brunswick.” In fine condition.
Karl Marx was a subscriber to the “Braunschweiger Volksfreund,” a socialist newspaper printed in Braunschweig, or “Brunswick,” Germany. The Braunschweiger Volksfreund was an important newspaper for the workers’ movement and helped spread socialist and Marxist ideas in northern Germany. Marx used such publications to stay informed about developments within the socialist movement in Germany. Interestingly, the firm that sent the letter, Gebrüder Löbbecke & Co., was a banking house founded in the mid-19th century in response to the growing capital requirements of the start of the industrialization. That their letter, addressed to the family-controlled bank of the Rothschilds (“de Rothschild Frères”), mistakenly wound up in the possession of Karl Marx—the world’s foremost critic of capitalism—is truly remarkable. A unique and historically serendipitous piece.
Starting Bid $2,500
“As a sincere supporter of monarchical—though constitutionally limited—institutions, and of the German dynasty in particular, I am firmly convinced that the present Kaiser must abdicate in the interest of the Reich and the dynasty”
Max Weber Archive of (5) Autograph Letters Signed on German Politics and the End of World War I: “The present Kaiser must abdicate in the interest of the Reich and the dynasty”
German sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economist (1864–1920) who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology. Archive of five ALSs in German, signed “Max Weber,” totaling 15 pages on 9 sheets, 4.5 x 7 to 8.5 x 11, dated from 1900 to 1919. Extensive correspondence with the economist and politician Gerhard von Schulze-Gaevernitz (1864–1943), spanning about 18 years of German history. In these letters, Weber comments, among other things, on party congresses and border blockades, on SchulzeGaevernitz’s 1906 publication British Imperialism and English Free Trade at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century, and, in the autumn of the final year of the war in 1918, on the question of Emperor Wilhelm II remaining as German Kaiser. In this significant letter, Weber writes (translated): “As a sincere supporter of monarchical—though constitutionally limited—institutions, and of the German dynasty in particular, I am firmly convinced that the present Kaiser must abdicate in the interest of the Reich and the dynasty. He can do so with full dignity if he declares: ‘He has acted according to his duty and conscience; fate has turned against him, and he does not wish to stand in the way of a new future for his people.’
It is unworthy of him and the institution of the Kaisership to remain as emperor in a mutilated Germany, surviving on ‘charity’—and that is what will happen. If he steps down now, voluntarily and without external pressure, he leaves with honor, and the chivalrous sympathy of the nation is with him. Most importantly, the position of the dynasty remains intact.
If he stays, the inevitable reckoning for the severe errors of policy will also fall upon him—this cannot be avoided. A suitable person must be found to explain the situation to the monarch, should he fail to recognize it himself.
I confess openly, I have watched his style of governance with resolute disapproval. But in the interest of the Kaisership, I cannot wish for an emperor to end in dishonor, whether he is later forced to leave under external pressure, or whether he continues to vegetate on the throne.
That, should he abdicate, we might obtain better terms, is only a secondary—though ultimately not insignificant!—consideration. But imagine the dreadful humiliations the monarch will face if he remains! It is terrifying to contemplate! And it will affect generations to come! I have written the same to Neumann and Hans Delbrück.” In overall very good to fine condition.
Starting Bid $1,000
“I am living through a period of universal condemnation.
May they judge me in any way that passes through their heads”
Grigori Rasputin Autograph Letter Signed“I am living through a period of universal condemnation”
Russian mystic and faith healer (1869–1916) who insinuated himself into the Russian royal family when he ‘healed’ the young Tsarevich Alexei’s hemophilia in 1905. From that point, his influence on the Romanovs grew ever greater, and his sway over the Empress Alexandra, who believed that God spoke to her through him, was especially powerful. In the waning days of Imperial Russia, he was viewed by the Russian nobility as increasingly dangerous and was assassinated in a legendary scheme involving poison, disguises, and multiple gunshots. ALS in Russian, signed “Grigory,” one page both sides, 5 x 8, no date. Handwritten letter to an unidentified recipient, presumably a child, in full (translated): “Precious little one. Thank you for your sensitive soul. I am living through a period of universal condemnation. May they judge me in any way that passes through their heads. God has the power to comfort, his strength is over me. May God protect your youth.” Rasputin draws his usual cross at the top of the letter, a mark suggesting that he is a mouthpiece of God. His message is followed by an editorial hand that has rewritten and corrected his rather idiosyncratic spelling and grammar in Russian. In very good to fine condition, with overall creasing, and a couple of small rust stains. A mysterious, boldly penned letter from the ‘Mad Monk.’
Although this letter is undated, Rasputin’s message, “I am living through a period of universal condemnation,” alludes to a time of widespread revilement toward the Russian mystic, a public temperament that aligns with his lofty standing within the Russian aristocracy, one buttressed by the strong support of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Of further interest and mystery is the un-
known identity of the letter’s recipient, which, given its salutation of “Precious little one,” implies that Rasputin sent the missive to either a child or a woman. The closing line, “May God protect your youth,” again, suggests both possibilities.
What is known is that Rasputin, a staple within the Tsar’s inner circle, wrote in great quantity to both Tsarina Alexandra and her five children, to whom Rasputin was granted unmitigated access. Per the biography Rasputin and His Russian Queen, author Marina Mayhew discusses how Alexandra and Rasputin exchanged nearly daily correspondence, and Felix Welch, in Rasputin: A Short Life, references instances where Rasputin sent letters to the entire royal household, children included, missives that sometimes included small tokens like food remnants or spiritual symbols.
Other notable aspects include Rasputin’s intimate phrasing, “Precious little one,” a salutation that historian Brian Moynahan, in his biography Rasputin, The Saint Who Sinned, matches with other letters sent by Rasputin to the imperial children, especially Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Anastasia, which use greetings like ‘moy malenki’ (‘my little one’) and ‘otyets’ (‘father’). Rasputin’s use of religious consolation during moments of public persecution, especially to assuage the worries of his devotees, is noted by Daniel Smith in Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs. In keeping with Rasputin’s declaration, “May they judge me in any way that passes through their heads. God has the power to comfort, his strength is over me,” Smith notes, ‘Rasputin’s writings are devoid of any desire for retribution. Vengeance was a foreign concept to Rasputin. All would be settled in the end by God himself.’
Starting Bid $1,000
Sun Yat-sen Autograph Letter Signed, Signed Photograph, and Signed Book - Sun Sends His Manifesto of the Chinese Republic, Putting Forth His Nationalist Ideology: “China for the Chinese”
Historic archive of materials sent by Sun Yat-sen to journalist Thomas H. Reid, editor-in-chief of the China Mail, including an ALS enclosing a manuscript translation of a manifesto of the Chinese Republic, a signed photograph, and a signed copy of his autobiographical book Kidnapped in London. Includes:
- ALS signed “Sun Yat Sen,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, September 25, 1908. In full: “Herewith I send you an English translation of a proclamation of the Chinese people and an English and French translation of a notice to foreign powers. I must remind you that these documents are still a secret thing and request you not to print them in the same form in any paper, but you may take out any idea from them as you like. I cannot furnish you a copy of our whole plan in Chinese for I only possess one copy at present.”
Includes the referenced English translation, a ten-page manuscript headed “Proclamation,” beginning: “We, in accordance with the Decree and Principle of the Military Government, hereby proclaim that the Citizen Army rose and established the present Military Government in order to fight for the cause of restoring our father’s country of four thousand years old, by wiping away the…desecration for the past three centuries, and consequently, of promoting the general happiness and blessing of our four hundred millions…Since China was established, China is ‘China for the Chinese’; and when there were occasional invasions and usurpations by some barbarian hordes, our Ancestors were brave enough to drive them out, and to inherit it to the posterity in the…glory of ‘China for the Chinese.’ Every one who has the Han blood in his veins must know this. Now it is to follow the brave examples for our Ancestors, that we the descendants of the Han race rise up in a band of volunteers to expel the barbarian usurpers. This is for Righteousness’s sake. This is for Humanity’s sake.” The proclamation goes on to outline a plan for establishing a military government with the goals of “expelling the Manchu usurpers,” “Restoring the China,” “Establishing a Republic,” and “Equalizing the Land Right.” These ‘principles of the people’ formed the basis of Sun Yat-sen’s political ideology and remain an enduring, influential aspect of his legacy
Also includes the printed notices in English and French, addressed “To All Friendly Nations,” explaining that they are “now waging war against the Manchu Government for the purpose of shaking off the yoke of the Tartar conqueror by overthrowing the present corrupt state of autocracy and establishing a republic in its place.” At the same time, in the interest of “maintaining the peace of the world and of promoting the happiness of mankind,” they pledge to honor existing international agreements made by the Manchu government.
- Rare matte-finish 3.25 x 4.75 portrait of Sun Yat-sen in a headand-shoulders pose, affixed to its original 6 x 8 mount, signed and inscribed across the top of the mount in bold ink, “To Mr. Thos. H. Reid, With compliments of Sun Yat Sen.” Gilt-stamped on the mount by photographer Koon Sun of Singapore, and accompanied by a partial glassine sleeve imprinted with the studio’s logo and address. - Extremely rare first edition of Kidnapped in London by Sun Yat-Sen. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 1897. Softcover, 5 x 7.25, 134 pages. Signed and inscribed on the title page in ink, “Mr. Reid, With Sun’s compliments.” While living in exile in 1896, Sun Yat-sen was detained at the Chinese Legation in London, where the Chinese Imperial secret service planned to smuggle him back to China to execute him for his revolutionary activities. An English physician, James Cantlie, played a major role in obtaining his release, leading a media campaign in The Times and The Globe. Sun went on to write this 1897 book about his detention, Kidnapped in London.
In the years that followed, Sun Yat-sen oversaw and instigated a string of failed revolutionary attempts to overthrow the Qing dynasty, operating largely from abroad. In 1908, Sun Yat-sen was attempting to organize revolutionary activities by focusing on uniting disparate anti-Manchu groups under the Tongmenghui (United League). Operating mainly from Southeast Asia and Japan, he worked to raise funds, spread republican ideals, and plan uprisings in China. Although several attempts that year were unsuccessful, Sun’s persistence helped maintain revolutionary momentum and laid the groundwork for the eventual Xinhai Revolution of 1911. In overall good to fine condition, with losses to the photograph’s glassine sleeve, separations along the spine and wrappers of the book, a large tear to the front cover (passing from the spine to the “A” in “Kidnapped,” some moderate soiling and creasing to wrappers, and some dampstaining to the bottom of the textblock. All housed together in a beautiful gilt-titled red morocco clamshell case.
Starting Bid $10,000
Amidst the Chinese Civil War, Zhou Enlai toes the line while seeking US-backed relief:
“The Communist Liberated Areas did recently make criticisms upon certain erroneous aspects of the United States policy towards China. But I know for sure that there has been no anti-American propaganda in general”
LOT 7042
Zhou Enlai Typed Letter Signed on US Policy Toward China: “I know for sure that there has been no anti-American propaganda”
TLS signed in Chinese by Zhou Enlai, one page, 8.25 x 10.5, Chinese Communist Party, Delegation Office letterhead, August 30, 1946. Letter to J. Franklin Ray, Jr., Acting Director of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) China Office, in full: “Your letter dated 17 August has been received. I am aware that the Communist Liberated Areas did recently make criticisms upon certain erroneous aspects of the United States policy towards China. But I know for sure that there has been no anti-American propaganda in general. It is hereby hoped that you would differentiate between these two points, so as to avoid any possible misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
We welcome and respect U. N. R. R. A. personnel in Communist Liberated Areas all the time. We will never change this attitude or discriminate against U. N. R. R. A. personnel notwithstanding the criticisms upon the erroneous aspects of the American policy in China.
In order to afford more guarantee against any unforeseen incidents, I have asked Yenan authorities to instruct the various Communist local governments to this effect.” In fine condition, with light toning from prior display.
The UNRRA was an international agency founded to organize the administration of relief measures such as food, fuel, clothing, and medical supplies to countries that had been hit especially hard during World War II. However, the end of WWII brought about the resumption of the Chinese Civil War in which the Nationalist and Communist
factions battled for control. Although the UNRRA was supposed to be an apolitical humanitarian organization, it seemed that the vast majority of aid was falling into the hands of the Nationalists. Supply trucks bound for areas held by the Communists were also frequently intercepted by the Nationalists, who either seized the goods being transported or simply prevented them from reaching the Communist areas. According to Zhou Enlai, the Communists controlled all or part of nineteen provinces yet received less than one percent of all UNRRA shipments into China.
George C. Marshall spent most of 1946 in China in a fruitless attempt to broker peace between the Nationalists and Communists and to achieve a democratic resolution. During this time, relations between the United States and the Chinese Communists grew increasingly strained. Here, Zhou addresses these tensions while reassuring the UNRRA of the CCP’s continued support for its humanitarian mission. Zhou distinguishes between targeted criticisms of U.S. foreign policy and broader anti-American sentiment, emphasizing that the CCP would not obstruct or discriminate against UNRRA personnel despite political differences.
Following the failure in negotiations between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalists (Kuomintang), Zhou turned his focus from diplomatic to military affairs, working directly under Mao as his chief aide. Using the techniques of guerrilla warfare, the Communists were ultimately able to overwhelm Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist troops, seizing Beijing and Tianjin in 1949. With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, Chou was appointed as both Premier of the Government Administration Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He would play a leading role in developing China’s foreign policy and economy in the second half of the 20th century
Starting Bid $5,000
“The days are of exceptional beauty; there is here a mixture of ocean, forest, and mountain climate”
LOT 7044
Friedrich Nietzsche
Autograph Letter Signed from the Italian Coast: “The days are of exceptional beauty; there is here a mixture of ocean, forest, and mountain climate”
Monumentally important German philosopher (1844-1900) whose writings influenced legions of major figures across the entire spectrum of philosophy, politics, and culture. ALS in German, one page both sides, 5.25 x 8.25, no date but circa February 1877. Handwritten letter by Nietzsche from Sorrento, Villa Rubinacci, to his friend, the writer and painter Reinhart von Seydlitz in Davos, Switzerland, inviting him to join Nietzsche and Malwida von Meysenbug in Sorrento. In part (translated): “My dear good friend, nothing but a query—apart from my most cordial thanks for your letter. Are you in sufficient health to make plans for the spring? I hope and wish so with all my heart. You would still find me in Sorrento. My two friends and companions [the philosopher Paul Rée and his student Albert Brenner] will be leaving me at the end of March, and I remain with Miss von Meysenbug…My
eyes are worse, my head not significantly better—thus, to employ an ancient Italian phrase (first used by a Papal nepot when the bailiffs came to lead him to his death), ‘Va bene, patienza!’—The days are of exceptional beauty; there is here a mixture of ocean, forest, and mountain climate, and numerous semi-darkened, quiet pathways. Many plans cross our minds (those of Miss v. M. and myself), and you always figure in them.” In fine condition.
During his 1876–77 sojourn on the gulf of Naples, Nietzsche was working on ‘Menschliches, Allzumenschliches [Human, All Too Human],’ his first work in the aphoristic style that would come to dominate his writings. On November 6th, Richard and Cosima Wagner had abruptly quit Sorrento, departing for Rome; it had been the last meeting between the philosopher and the composer whom he had formerly idolized. A rare and well-preserved letter by the profoundly influential philosopher.
Starting Bid $2,500
“It shall not happen again”
LOT 7045
Sigmund Freud
Autograph Letter Signed on His 80th Birthday
ALS in German, signed “Freud,” one page, 5.25 x 3.5, personal letterhead, May 17, 1936. Freud acknowledges, and thanks, a doctor for his efforts to celebrate his 80th birthday: Freud promises “it shall not happen again.” In fine condition. The pioneering psychoanalyst had turned 80 years old on May 6th.
Starting Bid $500
“I know enough of journalism to appreciate the fact that errors are at times inevitable”— Gandhi graciously accepts a journalist’s apology
LOT 7046
Mohandas Gandhi
Autograph Letter Signed: “I know enough of journalism to appreciate the fact that errors are at times inevitable”
ALS in pencil, signed “M. K. Gandhi,” one page, 4.75 x 8.75, August 10, 1929. Thoughtful handwritten letter to A. C. Chatterjee, a journalist with the Associated Press of India, accepting an apology in respect to a mistake that was made in a publication. In full: “Krishadus has shown me your kind letter. I am sure you need not trouble to come here to explain anything. I know enough of journalism to appreciate the fact that errors are at times inevitable. I have dismissed the incident altogether from my mind.” In fine condition, with uniform toning and a tiny stain toward the bottom edge.
Gandhi maintained a close and strategic relationship with journalists and the press, recognizing the media as a powerful tool for shaping public opinion and advancing the cause of Indian independence. He regularly wrote articles, especially in his own publications like Young India and Harijan, using them to communicate his philosophies of nonviolence and civil disobedience. Gandhi was remarkably transparent with reporters, often granting interviews and allowing access even during periods of political unrest or imprisonment.
Starting Bid $1,000
Shortly after Birmingham, MLK recounts the Civil Rights struggle and hopes that
“this sweltering summer of discontent can be transformed into an invigorating autumn of justice and freedom for all people”
Martin Luther King, Jr. Typed Letter Signed on Desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement: “You are telling the world that the right of Negroes cannot be trampled in any community without impairing the rights of every other American”
TLS signed “Martin L. King, Jr.,” two pages, 8.5 x 11, Southern Christian Leadership Conference letterhead, October 29, 1963. Letter to Ref. Thomas T. Chapin of the First Presbyterian Church, Morrison, Illinois, in part: “This letter comes to express my deep appreciation to you and the members of First Presbyterian Church for your generous contribution of $115.64 to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Such moral and financial support are of inestimable value for the continuance of our humble efforts. Without your dollars for freedom, the Conference would be unable to work effectively toward its goal of the full integration of the Negro into all aspects of American life. Your contribution will help our work in Birmingham and all across the South. At present, SCLC has staff members in more than 20 communities seeking through non-violent direct action and voter registration campaigns to break down the barriers of racial segregation and discrimination.
Without your moral support we would be caught in a dungeon of despair without knowing that many people all over the nation are supporting us in our struggle. By aiding us in this significant way, you are telling the world that the right of Negroes cannot be trampled in any community without impairing the rights of every other American.
Thank you again for making our financial problems a little less burdensome. I am confident that if we continue to gain this type of support, this sweltering summer of discontent can be transformed into an invigorating autumn of justice and freedom for all people.” In fine condition.
The SCLC’s most compelling fight against racial injustice came in Birmingham in 1963. Like most cities in the Deep South, Birmingham was completely segregated—a sad fact the SCLC sought to change via a citywide campaign of civil disobedience aimed at desegregation. To that end, Dr. King was grateful for any support-financial and otherwise-that the conference could muster.
King here expresses his belief that working toward ending that struggle would mean “this sweltering summer of discontent can be transformed into an invigorating autumn of justice and freedom for all people.” The most dramatic moments of the Birmingham campaign came in May, when more than 1,000 black children left school to join the demonstrations, with hundreds being arrested. The following day, 2,500 more students joined and were met by police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses. Public outrage led to the involvement of the Kennedy Administration and the desegregation of downtown businesses. A reflective letter referencing one of the most well-known battles in the Civil Rights Movement.
Starting Bid $500
Manuscript DS in German, signed “J. S. Bach,” one page, 4 x 2, circa June–July 1748. Receipt headed “Legatum Lobwasserianum, 1748,” by which Bach confirms receipt of two guilders from the Lobwasser Bequest at St. Thomas’s in Leipzig. Following his signature, Bach writes: “acc[epi] - 2 fl.” Above and below Bach’s signature, his colleagues Conrad Benedict Hülse and Abraham Kriegel sign for their payment of the same. This sum was paid out around every July 2nd to the cantor, deputy headmaster, and third teacher (tertius) at St. Thomas. It represents one of Bach’s several sources of supplementary income which together made up a substantial part of his Leipzig salary, roughly equivalent to an organist’s weekly wages. Handsomely mounted, matted, and framed with a portrait and engraved plaque to an overall size of 17 x 13. In fine condition, with even toning, light staining, and slightly chipped edges; two corners of the frame are chipped.
The “Legatum Lobwasserianum,” a legacy of 1000 guilders, was bequeathed in 1610 by a Leipzig lawyer’s pious widow, Maria Lobwasser; the 50 guilders of annual interest, paid on the Feast of the Visitation, went toward supporting St. Thomas’s church and school
personnel. This is one of only two known receipts from Bach receiving his Lobwasser funds. The other, from 1750, was originally written on the same sheet of paper underneath the entry for 1748, but the two records were later cut apart and separated.
Curiously, the relevant entry for 1749 must have been made in another, now lost document, as a date “1749” and Hülse’s stricken-out signature, apparently made here in error, appear at the bottom of the present slip of paper (formerly between the 1748 and 1750 records). The small octavo leaf, removed from a receipt book, was complete in 1908 when it was offered at C. G. Boerner’s sale of ‘precious autographs from a Viennese private collection’ (lot 3). The buyer was probably the noted Swiss collector Karl Geigy-Hagenbach, in whose ‘album of manuscripts by illustrious personages,’ published in 1925, it was again illustrated intact. The receipt’s location was subsequently unknown until May 1986, when the present upper half of the sheet appeared at Christie’s manuscripts sale (lot 271). It was likely acquired there by the Canadian chemist and physician Frederick Lewis Maitland Pattison (1923-2010) and subsequently sold by the New York dealer Kenneth W. Rendell (his description pasted on the reverse of the frame) to the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits, Paris; acquired from their sale.
Starting Bid $10,000
‘Serenade in D Major,’ composed as as youthful
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Handwritten Musical Manuscript from the ‘Antretter Serenade in D’
Handwritten musical manuscript by celebrated Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one page both sides, 8.5 x 6.25, comprising an interesting fragment of a serenade from Mozart’s youth: the ‘Serenade in D,’ called ‘Antretter’ (K. 185), circa 1773. Working in a system of eight staves, Mozart pens the overlapping parts for eight instruments, all active in this passage: solo violin (or ‘violino principale’), violin I, violin II, viola, oboe I, oboe II, horns, and bass. This fragment comes from the second movement, presenting fourteen bars in 3/4 time, representing the conclusion of the exposition section, and the majority of the connecting passage to the recapitulation. The orchestral texture is particularly exquisite here: a beautiful cantilena for solo violin, on gently pulsating strings. In fine condition. Housed in a handsome custom-made blue cloth slipcased folder.
Catalogued as K. 185, Mozart’s manuscript for the score of this serenade was originally 58 leaves. The complete manuscript was sold
at auction in 1975 by J. A. Stargardt and subsequently split up; the location of many of its leaves are today unknown, although some are preserved at the Mozart Foundation in Salzburg.
It is believed that the 17-year-old Mozart composed this serenade in August 1773 as a congratulatory piece to celebrate the graduation of a family friend, Thadda Simon Antretter, from the University of Salzburg with a degree in logic. He invokes the pompous effects of academic ceremonies infused with jubilation to drive the music, concluding with a marvelous finale ending in a gigue. It is an important symphonic movement in sonata form characteristic of Mozart’s great works, weaving together brilliant modulations and refined phrases which he, as always, brings to a perfect resolution. Mozart, employed as a concert violinist in Salzburg at the time he composed the ‘Antretter Serenade,’ included three flowing violin solos which reflect his mastery of the instrument. From the hand of the prodigious Wolfgang Amadeus, this is an exceedingly desirable piece and represents a cornerstone of any classical music collection.
Starting Bid $10,000
Images larger than actual size.
LOT 7050
Ludwig van Beethoven
Handwritten Musical Quotation
Remarkable unsigned AMQ by Ludwig van Beethoven on both sides of an off-white 5 x 2 leaf fragment, consisting of a previously unrecorded and unpublished work, inscribed below in French and Italian [translated], “Writing of Beethoven given to me by Proff. Fischoff of Vienna, 18/8/847, Catherine Watts.” The front features two measures of music in G minor marked “Adagio” and scored for piano keyboard in the character of a lament, and is highly expressive in the way in which the serious character of the first measure is heightened through the move to the augmented-sixth chord with motivic intensification in the second measure; the reverse is comprised of a double system, both in bass clef and in the key of E flat, showing two and half bars of an arpeggiated figure in E flat major, with a partial third stave of music above. In fine condition, with scattered light staining and foxing, primarily in the margins.
A former composition student under Ignaz von Seyfried, Joseph Fischhof (1804–1857) was a Czech-Austrian pianist and composer, who, in 1833, became professor of piano at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. Fischof amassed a number of literary works on music during his career, with his collection of Beethoven scores and manuscripts serving great purpose to biographers of the revered German composer. Although these figurations remain difficult to fully identify without proper context, the semblance in arpeggios gleaned from other works, namely the ‘Eroica’ Variations and Fugue for Piano, Op. 35, add significantly to the overall appeal and intrigue. This piece might be regarded as a kind of model harmonic/melodic idea, reflecting a slow sorrowful character.
Starting Bid $1,000
Frederic Chopin Autograph Letter Signed on His Travels: “I’m leaving in 15 or 20 days”
Polish composer (1810–1849) considered one of the great masters of Romantic music. Rare ALS in French, signed “Chopin,” one page, 4 x 5.25, April 10, [no year, likely circa 1845]. Handwritten letter regarding his travels, possibly to the composer’s pupil Friederike Müller. In part: (translated): “I’m leaving in 15 or 20 days—I’ll be back in the month of September or October. I thank you for your good memories.” He adds a handwritten postscript: “A thousand compliments to your aunt.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a later bust-length 6 x 7.75 portrait etching of the composer by the German artist Wilhelm Pech, signed in pencil by Pech.
Published in Correspondance de Frédéric Chopin, Volume 3: La gloire, 1840-1849, no. 579. Previously in the collection of John and Johanna Bass, founders of the Bass Museum of Art in Miami, Florida.
In the period of 1844–1845, Frédéric Chopin published two significant works: the Berceuse for piano, Op. 57, and the Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, which received high praise and represented a reconsideration of the sonata form, showcasing Chopin’s unique musical idiom. Chopin writes that he plans to leave Paris within three weeks, most probably for Nohant, George Sand’s summer estate. Despite his creative success, Chopin’s health was poor, and he had suffered from severe illness throughout the winter. George Sand, his romantic partner, noted his struggles in correspondence but mentioned that warmer weather brought some relief. As summer approached, they planned a move to Nohant, although a typhus epidemic delayed their departure until mid-June. The year 1845 also marked the beginning of a significant rift in Chopin’s relationship with Sand, exacerbated by family tensions and his declining health.
Chopin’s correspondent may very well have been one of his most brilliant students, the Austrian pianist Friederike Müller, who lived with three of her father’s sisters in Vienna following the death of her mother. Müller often passed Chopin’s best wishes on to her aunts in her letters, so his postscript supports this idea. Chopin dedicated his Allegro de Concert, op. 46, to Müller.
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7052
Giuseppe Verdi Autograph Musical Quotation
Signed from ‘Aida’ - Presentation Prepared for His Publisher, Ricordi
Fabulous AMQS signed “G. Verdi,” penned on 11.75 x 8 cardstock sheet, with an original oval photograph of the composer set into the paper above. A unique presentation quote penned on strong cardboard and decorated with a portrait, assembled thus by the composer as a gift for his publisher Ricordi. The music, showing significant departures from the printed score, is four-and-a-half bars from the famous duet “O, terra, addio,” the swan song of Radamès and Aida which takes place
at the beginning of the final act of the opera ‘Aida.’ In fine condition.
For the premieres of his operas, it was Verdi’s custom to create unique dedicatory ensembles of this kind which he subsequently would present to his publisher; the present set constitutes his ‘Aida’ offering. The opera, which premiered in 1871 in Cairo, tells the tragic story of a love triangle between the Ethiopian princess Aida, the Egyptian general Radamès, and the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris. Set against the backdrop of war and political intrigue, the opera is renowned for its grand spectacle, emotional depth, and the famous ‘Triumphal March.’
Starting Bid $1,000
“The piece has turned out splendidly, and provided the wind players’ lips and the string players’ fingers aren’t completely exhausted by the end, the effect will, in my view, be colossal”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Autograph Letter Signed on Orchestrating an Overture-Fantasia: “Provided the wind players’ lips and the string players’ fingers aren’t completely exhausted by the end, the effect will, in my view, be colossal”
Esteemed Russian composer (1840-1893) whose colorful, dramatic, and expressive works represent the epitome of the Russian Romantic tradition and take a place among the most beloved staples of the concert repertory. ALS in pencil, in Russian, signed “P. Tchaikovsky,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 6.25, monogrammed personal letterhead, September 10/22, 1888. Handwritten letter announcing his completion of the orchestration of an overture-fantasia by music critic and composer Hermann Laroche. Though intended for the first Russian Musical Society concert in Moscow, conducted by Max Erdmannsdörfer, the work premiered under Tchaikovsky’s direction at the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic on 5/17 November 1888, and met with little success.
In part (translated): “The overture is finished, and Ziloti will deliver it.
Now: 1) Please ensure that it is copied exactly according to Erdmannsdörfer’s instructions; 2) Write to Erdmannsdörfer that you and I both wish and request it to be performed at the first concert, because I will thoroughly prepare for it, the parts will be corrected, and this will greatly simplify performing the overture at my St. Petersburg concert. In my opinion, the piece has turned out splendidly, and provided the wind players’ lips and the string players’ fingers aren’t completely exhausted by the end, the effect will, in my view, be colossal.
Please don’t alter anything now, as this would be most inconvenient for me. If anything proves awkward, we’ll address it at rehearsals. I believe the orchestration is colorful and brilliant, though I only fear that between the return of the second theme and the conclusion, the technical difficulty might be excessive—but I couldn’t come up with anything else! Once again, if something seems unsatisfactory to you, I ask that you make no changes without consulting me! Please review it and pass it quickly to the copyists. A thousand regards to Katerina Ivanovna.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original transmittal envelope, addressed in Tchaikovsky’s hand.
Starting Bid $1,000
reverie
collection of 44 photographs individually signed by a legend of classical music, an ensemble highlighted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo Puccini
Composers (44) Signed Photograph Collection
Highlighted by Romantic-era Masters Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo Puccini
Magnificent collection of 44 original photographs individually signed by a major composer of the 19th and 20th centuries, representing a sweeping chronicle of the art form’s evolution from Romantic grandeur to Modernist innovation. The photographs, which are presented in various finishes across pictorial formats typical of the period, range in size from 3.25 x 5 to 9.5 x 12.75, with all of the composers signing in ink or fountain pen. The majority write warm inscriptions, while a handful add short handwritten musical quotations. Anchoring the collection are four titans of the operatic and symphonic tradition: Russian master Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, German visionary Richard Wagner, and Italian maestros Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. Other highlights include eminent composers such as Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Benjamin Britten, Dmitri Shostakovich, Richard Strauss, and Johann Strauss II, who adds three bars of music from his beloved 1867 waltz ‘The Blue Danube.’
The complete alphabetized list is as follows:
Béla Bartók, Ernest Bloch, Benjamin Britten, Max Bruch, Ferruccio Busoni, Alfredo Casella, Manuel de Falla, Vincent d’Indy, George Enescu, Gabriel Fauré, Alexander Glazunov, Percy Grainger, Hans Werner Henze, Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Jacques Ibert, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Leosˇ Janácˇek, Aram Khachaturian, Zoltán Kodály, Witold Lutos?awski, Frank Martin, Pietro Mascagni, Darius Milhaud, Michael Tippett, Giacomo Puccini, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ottorino Respighi, Guy Ropartz, Anton Rubinstein, Camille Saint-Saëns, Florent Schmitt, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Johann Strauss II, Richard Strauss, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Giuseppe Verdi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, William Walton, Richard Wagner, and Alexander von Zemlinsky.
In overall fine condition.
Starting Bid $5,000
fellow
LOT 7055
Edgar Allan Poe Autograph Letter SignedIn the Year of ‘The Raven,’ Poe Invites a Poet to His East Village Boarding House
ALS signed “Edgar A. Poe,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, August 9, 1845. Handwritten letter to Thomas W. Field, in full: “It is nearly a month since I received a note from you, requesting an interview—but, by some inadvertence, I placed it (your note) among my pile of ‘answered letters.’ This will account to you for my seeming discourtesy in not sooner giving you an answer. I have now to say that I shall be happy to see you at any time, at my residence, 195 East Broadway. You will generally find me at home in the morning before 10.” Addressed on the integral leaf in Poe’s hand to “Mr. Thomas W. Field, New-York.” Professionally inlaid into a slightly larger sheet and in very good to fine condition, with light staining and soiling, and a repaired tear in the upper blank area, affecting none of the handwriting. Accompanied by an engraved portrait of Poe, bearing his facsimile signature.
Poe writes to poet and historian Thomas Warren Field (1820–1881), inviting him to call at a Manhattan boarding house where he briefly lived. A year later, Poe would report that he did not leave the house on good terms with the landlady, who gave little concern to forwarding his mail. Field was a fellow author best known for his ‘Essay Towards an Indian Bibliography,’ a seminal bibliographical reference for books relating to the history, antiquities, languages, customs, religion, wars, literature, and origin of the American Indians. This is the only recorded piece of correspondence between Poe and Field.
Poe first published his most famous poem, ‘The Raven,’ in the New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845. It proved to be a popular sensation, but yielded little in the way of financial remuneration.
Provenance: Lot 132, Sotheby’s, June 3, 2014.
Starting Bid $5,000
Sublime handwritten letter from Louisa May Alcott on her timeless classic “Little Women,” joking that she deems the character of Jo March a failure—“she was meant as a warning, & to my surprise naughty, riotous, peppery Jo turns out to be the favorite”
LOT 7056
Louisa May Alcott Autograph Letter Signed on “My ‘Little Women’” and Her Resemblance to Jo March - “‘Jo’ is not myself any more than the others are my sisters, only suggestions of the four real girls”
Wonderful ALS signed “L. M. Alcott,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.25 x 7, no date (ca. 1868 or later). Handwritten letter from Louisa May Alcott to “Miss or Mrs. Thurston,” discussing the impact of Little Women and its place in children’s literature, in full: “As I don’t [have] your proper address I must be a little forward in the beginning, but I thank you very much for your kind note, for these tokens of interest from strangers are among the pleasantest consequences of story writing. My ‘Little Women’ have much astonished their Momma by making many friends for themselves, & she can only account for it by the grain of truth that lay at the bottom of the little story. The praise I value most you have given me, in saying that my effort to do something toward putting simpler & healthier food before the little people has been made evident at least, though very imperfectly carried out.
I have such a love and reverence for children that it makes me heartsick to see the trash offered them, when there is so much that is true & fresh & helpful in their own innocent hearts & lives, if wiser, older heads would only learn how to shadow it forth in hearty plain words for their pleasure & instruction. The little people have taught me more than I can ever teach them, & my greatest satisfaction is the friendship with which they honor me. ‘Jo’ is not myself any more than the others are my sisters, only suggestions of the four real girls. I consider her a failure, for she was meant as a warning, & to my surprise naughty, riotous, peppery Jo turns out to be the favorite. I’m afraid it’s a proof of natural depravity in the rising generation.” In fine condition.
The recipient of this letter was likely Louise M. Thurston (1848- 1917), then an aspiring young author from Chicago. In 1867, the Sunday-
School Society held a contest offering prizes for manuscript books for young children. Thurston was awarded a prize leading to the publication of her Forrest Mills: A Peep at Child-Life from Within in 1868, the year the first edition of Little Women appeared. She went on to write four books in the Charley Roberts series (1870-72) before abandoning her writing career. Godey’s Lady’s Book hailed them as ‘entertaining and instructive stories.’
In 1867, Thomas Niles, the publisher of Louisa May Alcott’s works, recommended that she write a book about girls that would have widespread appeal. Though both felt the first draft was dull, the little girls who read it deemed it ‘splendid’—Alcott wrote, ‘they are the best critics, so I should definitely be satisfied.’ Such a sentiment echoes another found in our offered letter, with Alcott again lauding her young audience: “The little people have taught me more than I can ever teach them.” The first edition of Little Women was published in 1868 by Roberts Brothers. The book’s immediate success—the initial printing of 2,000 copies sold out very quickly—surprised both her and her publisher, and the novel was declared ‘the great literary hit of the season.’
In keeping with the titular convention of the era, the first edition of the book was entitled ‘Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy’—characters based on herself and her three sisters: Elizabeth, Anna, and Abigail May, the latter of whom provided the illustrations for the book’s first edition. Contrary to what Alcott writes in this letter, it’s widely believed that the character of Jo March was stylized after her creator. Jo is characterized as a dreamer, bold and outspoken, creative, brave, and energetic, traits that her contemporaries attested matched those held by Alcott. In fact, when Alcott gave her mother the first copy of the book, she wrote the inscription, ‘Marmee, from Jo.’ A remarkable letter on one of the great American literary works of the 19th century.
Starting Bid $2,500
Leo Tolstoy assists the Doukhobors in their emigration to Canada:
“They consider military service incompatible with a Christian life... The government could not tolerate this and initiated a persecution”
LOT 7057
Leo Tolstoy Autograph Letter Signed on the Doukhobors, Assisting in Their Emigration to Canada: “They consider military service incompatible with a Christian life... The government could not tolerate this and initiated a persecution”
ALS in Russian, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.25 x 8.5, September 18, 1898. Handwritten letter to Konstantin Mitrofanovich Mazurin, a wealthy factory owner’s son who was active as a scholar of music and literature. Tolstoy makes an appeal for support for the persecuted community of the Doukhobors (‘Spiritual Fighters’). In part (translated): “I am turning to you with a request for help for an entire group of people who have themselves realized the lofty ideals toward which all of humanity strives. I am speaking of the Doukhobors of the
Caucasus. Since they consider military service incompatible with a Christian life, they have refused and continue to refuse conscription. The government could not tolerate this and initiated a persecution, which, due to the brutality of the Caucasian administration and its mistakes, has been extremely harsh. The Doukhobors requested permission to emigrate, but having once been quite prosperous, they are now so impoverished that they lack the means to relocate to Canada. There they would be granted land.” In fine condition.
Accompanied by a partial transcript of the related enclosure in an unknown hand: a letter from his friend Tchertkov containing details regarding the planned emigration of 2,000 Doukhobors to Canada. The religious community of the Doukhobors, influenced by the Quakers, rejected oaths and military service, among other things. Brutally persecuted in Russia, they emigrated in large numbers to Canada with Tolstoy’s help.
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7058
Arthur Conan Doyle Handwritten Manuscript Page from the Sherlock Holmes Story ‘The Crooked Man’
Autograph manuscript leaf from Arthur Conan Doyle’s draft for the Sherlock Holmes story ‘The Crooked Man,’ one page, with a couple of minor revisions (Doyle changing “evening” to “night,” and an editor replacing “fireside” with “hearth”), 8 x 12.75, blindstamped “Reform Club, Pall Mall” stationery, no date but circa 1893.
One of the first ‘Locked Room’ mystery stories ever written, Holmes himself called The Crooked Man ‘one of the strangest cases which ever perplexed a man’s brain.’ The story employs a different, and more interiorized, literary technique than most Sherlock Holmes adventures—the narrative of the adventure is largely taken up with Holmes openly ruminating on the known facts of the case (seeking to deduce the missing key to the crime)—and makes an especial point of highlighting Holmes’ keen observational skills and logical abilities. This fabulous manuscript leaf—the very first page of the story!—boasts the title heading, “The Adventure of the Crooked Man,” and details a scene, written from Watson’s perspective, relating the late-night arrival of Sherlock Holmes amidst pipe smoke and a murder mystery.
In part: “One summer night, a few months after my marriage I was seated by my own hearth smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel for my day’s work had been an exhausting one. My wife had already gone upstairs, and the sound of the locking of the hall door some time before told me that the servants had also retired. I had risen from my seat and was knocking out the ashes of my pipe when I suddenly heard the clang of the bell. I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve. This could not be a visitor at so late an hour. A
patient, evidently and possibly an all-night sitting. With a wry face I went out into the hall and opened the door. To my astonishment it was Sherlock Holmes who stood upon my step. ‘Ah, Watson,’ said he, ‘I hoped that I might not be too late to catch you.’ ‘My dear fellow, pray come in.’
Originally published in the July 1893 issue of The Strand Magazine, ‘The Crooked Man’ was subsequently reprinted as one of twelve adventures in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle himself ranked The Crooked Man among his fifteen favorite Sherlock Holmes stories, and it is famous for being the presumed source of the phrase ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ (a phrase Doyle himself never in fact penned, but which derives from the 1929 movie The Return of Sherlock Holmes). Beyond being a ‘Locked Room’ mystery, the story is distinctive among Doyle’s work for being a moralistic tale of karma, in which the apparent victim is revealed to actually be the villain. This autograph leaf of the story is particularly desirable as its first page, boasting both the title and the iconic name “Sherlock Holmes” in Doyle’s own hand.
Individual autograph leaves from Sherlock Holmes stories are very rare in commerce. Though leaves from The Hound of the Baskerville are occasionally encountered (typically at a six-figure price), leaves from Sherlock Holmes short stories are almost never offered for sale.
Starting Bid $5,000
“Until Mencken spoke for it the reviews were angry and childish. Now of course, it has become a best seller”— Fitzgerald muses over the attitudinal shift towards his breakthrough novel,
The Great Gatsby, now celebrating its 100th year of publication
Exceedingly rare ALS, one page, 8 x 10.5, postmarked September 23, 1925. Addressed from Rue de Tilsitt in Paris, a handwritten letter to Miss Lane Pride, in full: “Thank you for your most kind and cordial letter — I think that my first books must have antagonized a lot of people because I know that so many approached them with suspicion and hostility; for the first months there were hardly any sales at all, and until Mencken spoke for it the reviews were angry and childish. Now of course, it has become a best seller. Let me tell you how much I appreciate your writing to me — and how much I hope that future books won’t send you scurrying back to your original opinion.” The letter has been tastefully dry-mounted to a same-size cardstock sheet, and in fine condition, with light rippling, and a light stain to the upper right. Accompanied by the front mailing panel from the original envelope, which has been addressed in Fitzgerald’s hand.
After enduring a general sense of rejection and disdain from critics for his previous works, Fitzgerald finally found favor with the 1925 release of The Great Gatsby, which, as Fitzgerald alludes, was perhaps aided by H. L. Mencken’s review in the Chicago Sunday Tribune. Interestingly, Mencken, whom Fitzgerald deeply admired as a writer and editor, didn’t offer a glowing review of the new book. While he commended Fitzgerald’s writing skills — ‘The sentences roll along
smoothly, sparklingly, variously. There is evidence in every line of hard and intelligent effort’ — Mencken conversely called the novel a ‘glorified anecdote.’ He wrote: ‘This story is obviously unimportant and, though, as I shall show, it has its place in the Fitzgerald canon, it is certainly not to be put on the same shelf with, say, This Side of Paradise. What ails it, fundamentally, is the plain fact that it is simply a story—that Fitzgerald seems to be far more interested in maintaining its suspense than in getting under the skins of its people.’
Despite Mencken’s lukewarm review, the book sold well, perhaps due to how the novel deviated from his past works, including This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, and Tender is the Night, all of which gravitated around themes of marriage, intimacy, and the evils of a decadent lifestyle. According to his editor, Maxwell Perkins, Fitzgerald saw the novel as a ‘purely creative work — not trashy imaginings as in my stories but the sustained imagination of a sincere and yet radiant world.’ The fresh perspective he poured into his opus slowly turned a previously scorned perception into one of long-awaited literary acclaim: “Let me tell you how much…I hope that future books won’t send you scurrying back to your original opinion.”
A historical, unparalleled handwritten letter from Fitzgerald, dated in the year of the publication of what many consider to be ‘The Great American Novel.’ Fitzgerald letters, typed or handwritten, with content relative to The Great Gatsby, are of the utmost rarity and desirability.
Starting Bid $2,500
“I’ve got an idea of writing a story, a companion book to the ‘Call of the Wild’”— London prepares to publish White Fang:
“Instead of tracing the devolution, the decivilization of a dog, I’m going to trace the evolution, the civilization of a dog”
Jack London ‘White Fang’ Archive, with Autograph Letter Signed and Publishing Agreement: “I’ve got an idea of writing a story, a companion book to the ‘Call of the Wild’”
Comprehensive archive regarding Jack London’s popular novel White Fang, released in 1906 as a companion to his best-known work, The Call of the Wild. This rich literary archive traces the origins, publication, and legacy of Jack London’s classic novel White Fang, conceived as a ‘companion story’ to The Call of the Wild. It includes a remarkable 1904 autograph letter signed by London, in which he outlines his vision for a reverse narrative—a tale of a wild wolf-dog’s gradual civilization. Also featured are a memorandum outlining terms for White Fang’s publication in Great Britain, and later correspondence from London’s estate, managing reprints and the distribution of royalties. Together, these materials offer a vivid portrait of the creative and commercial life of one of London’s most enduring works.
Includes:
ALS signed “Jack London,” six pages, 9.25 x 6, stamp-dated December 6, 1904. Handwritten letter to Richard Watson Gilder, editor of The Century, in which London announces his plan for a companion to The Call of the Wild. In full: “Say, I’ve got an idea of writing a story, a companion book to the ‘Call of the Wild.’ I shall begin it three or four months from now. This is distinctly not to be a sequel. It is to be a companion story—literally, a contrast story. I am going to reverse the idea of the ‘Call of the Wild.’ Instead of tracing the devolution, the decivilization of a dog, I’m going to trace the evolution, the civilization of a dog. I shall take the dog, a half-wolf, at the very beginning, in its puppyhood, in the most savage of environments. Let it grow up in that environment, & there have it step by step begin the journey which ultimately lands it in California. The development of morality, faithfulness, love, etc., etc., gives a good opportunity. Of course, it will be just as concrete & realistic as ‘Call of the Wild.’ I am confident I can make a crackerjack of it. Now, outside of you, I’ve mentioned this only to Mr. Brett. So don’t say anything about it. If it comes, it would be well to leave it come as a surprise. And now, what all this letter is about is this: do you think you’d care to tackle it for the ‘Century’? And if so, what would it be worth to you. In conclusion I’ll say this, & say it flatly, the story positively will be no longer than 40,000 words, and the chances are it will be nearer 35,000 than 40,000.” He adds a postscript: “I’m still monkeying with this play I’m writing, and so am not turning out any more short stories for the time being.”
Manuscript cable sent by London to his British literary agents A. P. Watt & Son, clerically signed on his behalf, one page, 7.5 x 9.5, Direct United States Cable Company Limited letterhead, stamp-dated June 29, 1906. London directs his agents to draw up an agreement with Methuen & Co. for the publication of White Fang with a one-word reply: “Yes.”
Memorandum of agreement between Jack London and Methuen & Co., two pages, 8 x 10, July 9, 1906. Drawn up by agents A. P. Watt & Son, the contract includes many illuminating details about the publication of a “new book at present entitled ‘White Fang’ written by the Author the nominal selling price of which shall be six shillings.” London is to receive a royalty of 20% for the first 5,000 copies sold, increasing to 25% thereafter. London is promised an advance of £350, and retains “the serial rights, all American and Canadian rights, and the rights of translation and dramatisation.”
Four letters to A. P. Watt from London’s estate, dated from 1924 to 1940, concerning reprints of the book and the disposition of royalties, including three ALSs by London’s sister, Eliza London Shepard, and one by his son, Irving Shepard. In one of Eliza’s letters, she writes: “Mrs. London & myself are both very much opposed to the cutting down idea—as ‘White Fang’ is a book that is hard to cut, but if this has to be done, Mrs. London would like to have the book as cut submitted to her before printing.” In other letters, Eliza expresses confidence in Watt’s negotiations for royalties and agrees to a £20 advance for White Fang. In Irving’s letter, he notifies Watt of Eliza’s death and informs them that he will assume responsibilities for London’s literary estate.
In overall fine condition.
White Fang by Jack London, published in 1906, is a novel that explores the wildness and domestication of a wolf-dog hybrid in the Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush. The story follows White Fang’s journey from the brutal wilderness to life under human care, highlighting themes of survival, nature versus nurture, and the transformative power of kindness. A companion to London’s earlier novel The Call of the Wild, White Fang indeed reverses the trajectory—showing an animal’s gradual movement from savagery to civilization.
Starting Bid $1,000
Hospitalized while working on Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell looks forward to his return to writing:
“I’d done about half my novel & shan’t touch it again till I’m well”
George Orwell Autograph Letter Signed on Tuberculosis and Finishing Nineteen Eighty-Four: “I’d done about half my novel & shan’t touch it again till I’m well”
ALS signed “George,” two pages both sides, 4.75 x 7.25, January 25, 1948. Handwritten letter to novelist Anthony Powell, written while recovering from a diagnosis of tuberculosis at Hairmyres Hospital. In part: “Thanks so much for your letter. It doesn’t matter about the saddle. We’re supposed to have one coming…The petrol situation is so calamitous that one has to use horses for certain purposes…No, I don’t think we would use a side saddle. It would be like shooting a fox sitting on something. I must say in the days when I used to ride I sometimes secretly thought I’d like to try a side saddle, because I believe it’s almost impossible to fall off.
I’ve been here for 6 weeks & I think I’m getting better. I don’t feel nearly so deathlike & by day the X rays are beginning to show progress, though very slight. I’d done about half my novel & shan’t touch it again till I’m well, but I’m starting to do a very little light work, i.e. book reviews. I’ve just done one & feel I’ve broken a spell, as I hadn’t even contemplated working for 3 months. My handwriting is so bad because my right arm is badly crippled…it’s probably of a tubercles nature…I’d like to do something for the TLS, but if I do it’ll have to be handwritten, because even if I had a typewriter here I can’t at
present get my hand into that position. Did I tell you I was starting a uniform edition, as everyone seems to be doing…I am starting off with the one called ‘Coming Up for Air’ which was published in 1939.
This is a very nice hospital & everyone is very good to me. I imagine I’ll be in bed for months yet, & even when I get out will have to go on being an out-patient, as the treatment lasts about 6 months. In that case I’ll have to stay in Glasgow & get down to London or up to Jura for a few days when I can. Of course I can’t see Richard till I’m non-infectious…I’m going to have him examined for TB when my sister goes up to London shortly, but I can’t believe there’s anything wrong with him.” In very good to fine condition, with scattered staining.
Suffering from tuberculosis since 1947, Orwell was admitted to Hairmyres Hospital while working on the iconic novel Nineteen EightyFour. There, he became the first patient to receive streptomycin in Scotland; although his health at first showed improvement, he suffered severe side effects and the treatment had to be suspended after fifty days. In July, he returned to his solitary Barnhill farmhouse on the remote Scottish island of Jura, where he completed his manuscript for Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell’s autograph is scarce in any form, and this exemplary letter boasts desirable content on writing—referring to his half-finished Nineteen Eighty-Four manuscript—and his struggles with tuberculosis.
Starting Bid $1,000
This remarkable archive comprises six vibrant and candid letters from Jack Kerouac to his editor Ellis Amburn, written between 1965 and 1967, during the final creative stretch of Kerouac’s career. Spanning both handwritten and typed correspondence, the letters offer rare insight into the editing and publication of Desolation Angels and the development of Vanity of Duluoz, two key semi-autobiographical novels. Kerouac’s tone veers from playful to exacting as he defends his literary legacy, requests royalties to fund a European writing trip, and insists on a specific photograph for a book cover. Rich with Beat-era reflections and raw personality, these letters illuminate the complex relationship between author and editor, and capture Kerouac’s enduring passion for authenticity in both life and art.
“Not ‘all’ of my novels, but ‘most’ of them, covered the beat generation”— Kerouac corrects the record on his literary legacy
Jack Kerouac Archive of (6) Signed Letters to Editor Ellis Amburn: “Not ‘all’ of my novels, but ‘most’ of them, covered the beat generation”
Archive of six letters signed by Jack Kerouac, including three ALSs and three TLSs, totaling six pages, 8.5 x 11, dated from February 1965 to September 1967, all to editor Ellis Amburn. The correspondence revolves around the publication of Desolation Angels, and the writing of Vanity of Duluoz, both semi-autobiographical novels. Includes:
- TLS signed “Yours, Jack (Kerouac),” February 11, 1965, making corrections to Seymour Krim’s introduction to Desolation Angels: “Not ‘all’ of my novels, but ‘most’ of them, covered the beat generation…I didn’t get a ‘football’ scholarship from Columbia, there were none at Columbia or any other Ivy League school, it was a scholastic scholarship…Burroughs was never a department store thief but he did hold up a Turkish bath ‘for a Gidean laugh’ in Cincinnati…Burroughs and Ginsburg and I met around 1943, not ‘before’ the war. And I never was, or wanted to be, a homosexual…I sailed in the North Atlantic U-boat before the Navy called me up…Krim says I’m not an original thinker in any technical sense but has just finished describing my invention of a new prosody…As I told you over the phone, no need to have ‘dirty words’ in an intro to a book that has no dirty words in it. Dirty words are no longer revolutionary innovations, but simple braggart vandalism now.”
TLS signed “Jack Kerouac,” April 20, 1965: “The book looks superb and I want to thank you for the perfect transcription to print. The only stet I’ve found is on page 35, line 16, the word original is ‘originaal’ but that’s my fault. I hope we collaborate on another manuscript printing in ze near future. I’m writing Seymour Krim and congratulating him on how fine his intro looks now that I see it in print and with my little solipsistic corrections out of the way…The intro will sell twice as many copies as it would have sold, I can see now, among college students for instance…Now I want to go to London or someplace this summer and shadow around for new Duluoz keyhole views of world. Notwithstanding what they say about ‘Dulouz Legend,’ as it goes on into future it will not be repetitious and eventually Dulouz will fade away like the narrator in Maugham’s marvelous series of stories. I write nothing I haven’t seen with my own eyes… (advice from Scott Fitz, who really didn’t take his own advice with all that fictionalizing of what he saw.) (Just finisht Last Tycoon). Let me know about reprint sale, movie sale, world premiere and all the rest.”
ALS signed “Jack,” April 26, 1965: “I want to take that trip to Europe at last and write that new book in a quiet room by candlelight—I’ll visit Paris a couple of times but my writing room will be in some German or Dutch city—So I would like that first installment of $3,999.60 right now, since my first royalty statement won’t be till 1966—This is to put back what I took out of savings to pay 1964 taxes, for the trip to Europe, and to leave money in checking at home with my Mum—en route, I’ll see you in N.Y.—Soon as you can send the money, I’m off—Can the money be sent now?—Let me know.”
ALS in pencil, signed “Jack,” May 15, 1965: “Thanks for sending Algren review—He aint read about my real ‘youth’ yet (Vanity of Dulouz next book) and it certainly wasnt ‘defensive’ at all:—football, war, 300 love affairs, 2 marriages, jail and the rest—As to whether I’m ‘Kerouac’ or not, what kind of logic is that? how could Trib print such an inept turn of mind? Advertising plans show you aren’t being taken in by Maloff’s ‘gagging’ puke or anybody else’s slobbering fury—(Say, I must be pretty good!) (To get my work hated like that).”
ALS signed “Jack,” July 29, 1967: “Negatives following—making copies for ourselves—The bill will follow from Parkway Photo, Lowell—Hope these O.K.”
TLS signed “Jack,” September 13, 1967: “Finally I had included a photo of me taken last November 1966, profile, laughing in chair, did you get that? I want that one for the cover. Unless you insist on a completely recent photo, that is, a photo taken next December 1967 when I shall probably in Sheol…Always glad to hear from you, Ellis, and still hope to see you someday [Kerouac adds a funny little sketch of a laughing face in the margin]…Anyway, remember that the smiling photo of me in the chair, that I want for my cover, was my more-orless wedding photo, and I would like that , i havent changed, as you’ll see when I bust in on you with my Boston Costa Nostra gang and raid your office of erasers.” He adds a handwritten postscript, signing with his initial, “J.K.”: “Astronomical charges yourself—do you want perfection in literature or don’t ya?—(No more than 180 changes, this includes the printers’ goofs.)”
In overall fine condition.
Starting Bid $1,000
“Put your rabbitic paw over the head of your illustrious brother, and you will clearly feel an abyss,” writes the budding artist in a fairy-tale letter to his goddaughter: “Instead of the abyss that frightens you there should be his brain”
Important French painter and printmaker (1864–1901) whose lively, colorful portrayals of the people and places of fin-de-siècle Paris take a place among the most iconic images of the era. Early ALS in French, signed “Henry de T. L.,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, September 1879. Handwritten letter to his little cousin and goddaughter Béatrix Tapie de Céleyran, written from Barèges one month after fracturing his leg—a tragic incident which permanently stunted his growth. In part (translated): “My dear little beast who catches the rabbits, you are a very well-balanced young girl, and you never do anything without knowing precisely why. If you had been born in the times of Solon, you would certainly have been called into his inner circle. You would have looked very funny with a pointed hat and carrying large books. As you have behaved well, I will make you a gift, and will give it to you at the Bosc [a family home]. First of all, the most precious element in this whole story will be…my godfatherly blessing, then a collection of kisses, then something yellow wrapped in paper…try and guess!
There is only one thing I disapprove in you. It is your choice of a spelling teacher [her brother Raoul], as he is a being who possesses a very small brain. To be convinced of what I say, put your rabbitic paw over the head of your illustrious brother, and you will clearly feel an abyss. It is so deep that you will be terrified to fall into it. Now you ask me what is the relation between this abyss and the brain of your spelling master. Here is the reason; the brain is a bowel that produces intelligence and is located in the head. Instead of the abyss that frightens you there should be his brain and this is why this dear magister is not
at all intelligent!!! As we do ride asses, if you want to emulate us, do ride your spelling master. Do not fear he will fart, as asses often do. To correct him of this vice, take a menacing countenance and shut your nose. That is the best hint I can give you. There is here a Prussian king. I am pretty sure that if you were here in Barèges with me you would break his neck on the spot, although he is not a rabbit. Good bye dear little dear, be my representative with Grandma, my uncle, your brothers, the abbot, aunt Armandine, mademoiselle Rose and everyone else, including your singing birds. I kiss you on the two cheeks of your little face (not the others).” In fine condition. This extremely early ALS is published in The Letters of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec by Herbert D. Schimmel, Oxford University Press, 1991.
In August of 1879, when fifteen-year-old Toulouse-Lautrec broke his right femur in Barèges-just one year after breaking the left-halting his growth completely, it became clear that he would not live the life of a typical young nobleman. Unable to participate in normal physical activities, he began studying under the painter Rene Princeteau, well known for his depiction of military and equestrian subjects. His influence can be easily spotted in Lautrec’s earliest works, such as Artilleryman Saddling His Horse, Assembly of Hunters, and Horse and Rider with a Little Dog, all done the year of this letter. Painting a fairy-tale picture with words in this letter to his young goddaughter, Béatrix Tapié de Céleyran (later the subject of one of his highly regarded portraits), Lautrec shows the captivating wit that helped him find his place in the bohemian circles of Monmartre, despite his physical deformity. An absolutely charming letter written at a crucial time in the young artist’s life, as his body ceased to grow and his artistic talent took center stage.
Starting Bid $1,000
“If I don’t make it to Tonkin I will try to work outside of painting for some time”
Paul Gauguin Autograph Letter Signed on His Art and Travels: “If I don’t make it to Tonkin I will try to work outside of painting for some time”
Important French post-Impressionist painter (1848–1903) recognized for his experimental use of color and synthetist style. In 1891, he traveled to Tahiti, where the brilliant hues and primitive sculpture closely complemented his own art, which was marked by strong colors, few lines, and flat patterns. ALS in French, signed “Paul Gauguin,” two pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, no date. Handwritten letter to Emile Schuffenecker, thanking him for making travel arrangements. In part (translated): “Thank you very much for your letter and for sending it. I just wrote Bernard about my desire to leave for Paris; thus, your offer to send me on the trip comes just at the right time and I happily accept it. Moreover, I will organize to sell something in Paris, and therefore you will be reimbursed within short time, I believe. On the 4 or the 5 I will take the train. And if I don’t make it to Tonkin I will try to work outside of painting for some time because it’s necessary to hold course. Or I will rather push the minister of finance to give me something in France. But I would have to be in Paris for that.” Completely silked on the reverse and in very good to fine condition, with light foxing, toning, and a few small areas of repaired paper loss to edges.
A painter, art teacher, and collector—most notably one of Van Gogh’s earliest collectors—Schuffenecker was one of Gauguin’s closest friends, and an outspoken supporter of his artistic career. He was also responsible for proposing the important 1889 exhibition at the Volpini Gallery, which became a key moment in Gauguin’s career, expanding his influence on young painters.
Interestingly, the artist desired to go to Tonkin—now Vietnam—before settling on Tahiti, where he would execute his most famous works. Writes Alexandra Schwartz in ‘What was Paul Gauguin Looking For?’ (The New Yorker, July 11, 2025): ‘Gauguin initially wanted to go to Tonkin—at the 1889 World’s Fair, he had been bowled over by an exhibit of Khmer art—but his application for a colonial job there was rejected. Next, he chose Madagascar. The friend supposed to accompany him, Émile Bernard, a disciple from Brittany, had come under the influence of [Pierre] Loti and insisted on Tahiti instead, though after their plans were made they had a falling-out. In the end, Gauguin auctioned off thirty of his paintings, made a brief trip to Copenhagen to bid goodbye to the family he had not seen in years, and left alone.’
Starting Bid $1,000
Pablo Picasso Original Artwork for Lucien Clergue’s 1960 Photobook, Poesie der Photographie
Original artwork by Pablo Picasso that was later printed in the 1960 photography book Poesie der Photographie by Lucien Clergue, accomplished in multi-colored felt tip on an off-white 9.25 x 12.5 sheet, which is signed in the lower right corner, “Picasso, 29. 1. 59.” The sketch features a double portrait of Clergue, an amusing positive-meets-negative, profile-meets-silhoutte drawing of the photographer, whose bespectacled face is shown blending into his shadowed kneeling form, a posture he often took when photographing bullfights behind the barricades of Arles or Nimes. In large bold lettering, Picasso adds the names of the book and the publisher, “Lucien Clergue, Poesie Photographie” and “DuMont Schauberg.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a photo of the artwork that has been signed and certified by Picasso’s son, Claude Ruiz Picasso, dated January 7, 2020, and a German edition of Clergue’s book, which features the offered artwork opposite the title page.
Clergue on his first encounter with Picasso: ‘It was in 1953 – I was 19 years old – when I made my first photographs of Picasso. I was watching a bullfight in the Arles Arena, and I discovered Picasso when a matador dedicated his bull’s death to him. I ran quickly to the exit of the grandstand to photograph him…Thus began our friendship.’
Lucien Clergue’s friendship with Pablo Picasso lasted for nearly 20 years. He was often received at his villa, Villa La Californie, in Cannes, and at Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins, where he made his last portrait of the artist in 1971, two years before his death. Picasso, enthusiastic about Clergue’s images of dead animals and the traveling entertainers, namely the ‘Saltimbanques,’ considered him to be a greater photographer than Henri Cartier Bresson, and complimented him by saying: ‘Clergue’s photographs are the good Lord’s sketch books!’
Picasso’s generosity to Clergue and his admiration for the work of the budding photographer resulted in many collaborations, notably Picasso’s illustration for the cover of the photobook ‘Corps mémorable’ in 1957, where Clergue’s images accompanied Paul Eluard’s poems; the poster for Clergue’s first exhibition in Cologne in 1958; and then for ‘Poesie der Photographie,’ for which Picasso provided this offered sketch, as well as drawings used for the book’s front and back covers.
Starting Bid $5,000
LOT 7067
Rene Magritte’s Mid-1940s Sketchbook, ‘Le Probleme du Fantome’Featuring Nearly 50 Original Drawings
Remarkable sketchbook titled on the cover “Le Probleme du Fantome,” 4 x 5.5, circa 1946, containing 49 original sketches by Magritte in ink and pencil (several back-toback), six of which are signed in pencil with his last name, “Magritte.” The sketchbook features representations of various subjects in the artist’s recognizable style, including studies of classic Magrittian tropes—among these are a hot air balloon, leaves, faces, landscapes in linear perspective, and hands. About half of the drawings are of ghostlike figures depicted in many different manners, from ghosts shrouded in shadowy darkness to chubby stuffed bedsheets. In overall very good to fine condition, with scattered light creasing and the last page folded along a fragile perforation.
This sketchbook provides fantastic insight into Magritte’s creative process, with several of the images closely resembling some of his complete paintings from the 1940s—among the most recognizable are the anthropomorphized leaf as seen in ‘The Tempest’ (1944) and the horse from ‘Pure Reason’ (1948). The ghost forms that populate much of the book resemble some of his much earlier work from the late 1920s, including The Invention of Life (1928) and The Lovers I and II (1928), in which human figures are shrouded by white veils and sheets. This sketchbook also dates to the period when Magritte was experimenting with a ‘Renoir’ style, which he referred to as his ‘Sunlit’ period, in which he incorporated an impressionistic flavor into his art—a characteristic certainly present in some of these sketches. An exceptionally rare sketchbook containing a wonderful variety of the artist’s original work.
Starting Bid $10,000
Six of the sketches are signed in pencil with his last name!
LOT 7068
Nicolaus Copernicus: Second Edition of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium [On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres] - A Landmark of Human Thought, Proposing a Heliocentric Theory of the Universe
Second edition of the most important scientific book of the 16th century: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, libri VI [On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres] by Nicolaus Copernicus. Basel: Henricpetrina [Heinrich Petri], 1566. Hardcover bound in full vellum with hand-lettered spine title, 8 x 11.5, (6), 213, (1) pp., with woodcut printer’s device on title page, different device on verso of final leaf, and numerous diagrams in the text. In very good condition, with soiling and warping to boards, marginal dampstaining to the textblock, and a few contemporary ink notations and stains to title page.
Representing a ‘landmark of human thought,’ Nicolaus Copernicus’s “De revolutionibus” was the first work to propose a comprehensive heliostatic theory of the cosmos, according to which the sun stood still and the Earth revolved around it. It thereby inaugurated one of the greatest paradigm shifts in the history of human thought.
This edition is the first to contain Rheticus’s ‘Narratio prima,’ first published in an exceptionally rare edition at Gdansk in 1540. The ‘Narratio’ summarizes and champions the Copernican heliocentric hypothesis and records Rheticus’s indefatigable efforts to persuade Copernicus to publish. The text follows the 1543 first edition, including Andreas Osiander’s controversial unsigned preface, in which he attempted to placate potential critics of the work by emphasizing its purely theoretical aspect.
Petri added a prefatory recommendation by the noted astronomer Erasmus Reinhold (printed at the end of the index), stating that ‘all posterity will gratefully remember the name of Copernicus, by whose labor and study the doctrine of celestial motions was again restored from near collapse’ (Owen Gingerich’s translation, Eye of Heaven, p. 221). In his census of the 1543 and 1566 editions, Owen Gingerich located 317 copies of the second, making it only slightly less rare than the first. The total edition size has been estimated at 500 copies only.
References: Adams C 2603. Cinti 48 (3). Houzeau/Lancaster 2503. Taylor, Mathematical Practitioners, pp. 184, 199 & 138. VD 16, K 2100. Cf. Printing and the Mind of Man (PMM) 70 for the first edition.
Starting Bid $20,000
in brief his ‘heretical’
“All the worship here given to Christ represents his human nature”
Isaac Newton Handwritten Manuscript on Religion, Outlining His Heretical Views: “All the worship here given to Christ represents his human nature”
Significant handwritten religious manuscript by Isaac Newton, one page, 7.5 x 11.75, no date. Newton records his observations about Christian worship and outlines his views of the Holy Trinity—a heretical view at variance with the Church of England, punishable by death. In part: “And the four Animals said, Amen. And in the last place four & twenty elders fall down & worship him that liveth for ever & ever. And to explain what is meant by the odours wch are the prayers of the saints, an Angel appears in the great Hall with a golden altar to perform the office of the High Priest and in the time of silence offers...with the praying of all saints upon the golden altar wch was before the throne. And the smoke of ye incense with ye prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the Angel’s hand. Which Angel [by the circumstances is the High Priest &] represents Christ the great High Priest the Mediator of our prayers. And there is a further worship afterwards given to God Almighty in this same Temple by the 144000 standing with the Lamb…singing the same song of Moses & the Lamb saying ‘Great & marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty’ &c. All which together is a mystical description of the whole worship of Christians.
8. All the worship here given to Christ represents his human nature. For it is given to him in the form of a Lamb who was slain for us, & who received this prophesy from God & by his death became worthy to receive it. He is here worshipped not as a God but as a King, the man Christ Jesus our Lord, not as God Almighty but as King of Kings & Lord of Lords who has redeemed his elect with his blood & made them kings & priests under him. And therefore this worship is given him without any breach of the first commandment. Because, when he was in power he…emptied himself of his dominion & tok upon the forming of a servant & being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself…God hath highly exalted him & given him a name wch is above every name that at the name of Jesus…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. We are bound to give all Kings such honour & worship as is suitable to their dignity & dominion over us, much more to Christ Jesus the king of kings the Lord of the whole creation. To honour & worship the man Christ Jesus as a Lord & King wth such a worship as is suitable to his dominion is so far from being against the first commandment that it redounds to the glory of God the father who has made him king &
given him this name above every name. This worship is due from the whole creation to the Lamb of God, the Man Christ Jesus who was slain & hath redeemed us with his blood, & to deny this worship to him as a king is to rebell against the King of Kings & deny the Lord that bought us.
9. The worship given to God & Christ in this prophesy is their peculiar proper incommunicable worship. To give glory & honour & thanks to the Lamb because he was slain for us & hath redeemed us with his blood is a worship which cannot be given to God Almighty ye creator of heaven & Earth nor to any other but the lamb. To give glory & honour & thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne because he hath created all things, is a worship wch cannot be given to the Lamb nor to any other but God Almighty the creator of heaven & Earth. And to give it to any other would be a breach of the first commandment…For as Job tells us ‘If I beheld the sun when it shined or the moon walking in brightness, & my heart hath been secretly enticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have denyed the God wch is above.’ So if we give to any other being, that worship or any part thereof wch by the first commandment is appropriated to God Almighty the creator of heaven & Earth, we have another God or other Gods contrary to that commandment, & deny the God above.” In fine condition.
Newton’s theology had correlations with his physics—Newton essentially viewed God the Father as the cause of gravity and Christ the Son as the ruling principle of the natural world. For Newton, Christ was different in substance from God and subject to God’s dominion. The 4th-century Church Council of Nicea, which Newton studied, ruled that Christ and God were one in substance—a ruling that ran counter to Newton’s own ‘heretical’ anti-trinitarian religious beliefs—and Newton repeatedly returned to the topic and re-examined it anew. The present manuscript may pertain to Newton’s long planned, but unpublished, work on The History of the Church.
Scholars now increasingly recognize the importance of Newton’s theological views for an understanding of the whole man and his science. Newton himself kept his heretical religious views secret, and his heirs suppressed his manuscripts on theology for 200 years after his death—and they are only now beginning to see the light of day. A significant religious manuscript from the hand of the genius, offering a critical account of his personal beliefs.
Starting Bid $5,000
Darwin observes a “mainly insectivorous” plant:
“It is a pretty experiment to put a row of flies or cabbage seeds on one margin of a flat leaf & see how the edge of the side curls over”
Charles Darwin Autograph Letter Signed on Experiments with Carnivorous Plants: “The plant is certainly to a certain extent graninivorous also somewhat graminivorous, though mainly insectivorous”
ALS signed “Ch. Darwin,” two pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 7.75, Down, Beckenham, Kent letterhead, September 7, [1874]. Handwritten letter to British architect William Cecil Marshall, regarding his observations on Pinguicula, commonly known as butterwort, a genus of carnivorous flowering plants. In full: “I am very grateful to you. Your observations are excellent, & are put most clearly & will be very useful to me. I have picked off 16 seeds from this lot! The plant is certainly to a certain extent graninivorous also somewhat graminivorous, though mainly insectivorous. The rain, I know washes off the secretion & with it captured insects (& as you say seeds), which are retained by the incurved edges, which then become more incurved. It is a pretty experiment to put a row of flies or cabbage seeds on one margin of a flat leaf & see how the edge of the side curls over in from 12 to 24 hours.” In fine condition.
Recorded by the Darwin Correspondence Project as Letter no. 9627F.
Darwin made extensive studies of carnivorous plants, publishing a book on the subject—simply entitled Insectivorous Plants—in 1875. Exploring the adaptations of carnivorous plants through the lens of natural selection, the book details Darwin’s experiments with various species, examining how they capture and digest prey, often using specialized trap mechanisms or sticky secretions. He tested their responsiveness using substances like meat, glass, and hair, discovering that only the movement of animal prey would trigger a reaction—an energy-conserving evolutionary trait. Illustrated by Darwin and his sons George and Francis, the book was part of his broader effort to demonstrate the power of natural selection. It was initially printed in 3,000 copies, translated into several languages, and later republished in 1888, posthumously edited and annotated by Francis Darwin.
Starting Bid $1,000
Louis Pasteur Handwritten Notes on the Silkworm Epidemic
Unsigned handwritten notes in French by Louis Pasteur, two pages, 7.75 x 10.25, August 10, 1857. Pasteur’s notes written based on his observations in the Swiss Alps, containing comparative information on diseases affecting silkworms compiled with the aid of a breeder, as well as information on epidemics affecting mulberry trees and vineyards. In fine condition. Beginning in 1855, a widespread epidemic among silkworms nearly brought the French silk industry to ruin. As the crisis reached its peak in 1865, Pasteur—then serving as the professor of geology, physics, and chemistry at the École des
Beaux-Arts in Paris—was asked by the Department of Agriculture to head a commission to investigate the devastating disease infecting the worms. Within five years, he had determined that temperature, humidity, ventilation, quality of the food, sanitation and adequate separation of the broods of newly hatched worms all played a role in susceptibility to the disease, and was able to create new methods breeding that would preserve healthy eggs and prevent contamination. An important topic in Pasteur’s career, his research with the silkworms helped shape his future concepts on the influence of environment on contagion, leading to his most significant contributions in the study of causes and prevention of disease.
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7072
Marie Curie
Document Signed -
Radioactivity Results from Curie’s Lab
Polish-born French physicist (1867–1934), she and her husband Pierre discovered two new elements, polonium and radium, in 1898. In 1911 she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She died of leukemia brought about by her work with radioactive material. Partly-printed DS in French, signed “M. Curie,” one page, 8.25 x 12.5, June 15, 1923. Completed certificate (No. 2929) from Curie’s laboratory at the Institut du Radium, documenting the testing of a sample of mesothorium with a suspected admixture of radium. The sample was analyzed for the emission of radium-gamma radiation (“dosage de mesothorium par le rayonnement [gamma]”), and the report contains information on the size and weight, as well as arrival and return dates of the experimental apparatus, namely a no. 42 platinum needle, and on the radium mass (6.17 mg) that would correspond to the emitted radiation of the substance analyzed. Curie explains that the mass was calculated in comparison with the laboratory’s radium standard, with a variance of error of less than 1%; the result is therefore diagnostically conclusive. In fine condition.
Starting Bid $500
“We also took along our magnetic needles and made a rough survey of the mine”
Thomas Edison Autograph Letter Signed on Seeking Automotive Battery Material at a Canadian Nickel Mine
ALS in pencil, signed “Love from your constant lover, TAE,” two pages both sides, 5.5 x 8.5, no date but circa August 1901. Handwritten letter to his second wife Mina Miller, here called “Billy,” about a strenuous field trip to Ontario to explore nickel reserves, involving an honorary reception by the city of Sudbury. Edison had developed an improved nickel–iron battery for automotive use, and traveled to Sudbury—a world leader in nickel mining—in search of raw materials as he began to scale his manufacturing operations. In part: “John writes you today & I assume tells you all about the trip in the woods—as I do not know what he told you I will recite all the events after you left. After the boys came from the Laboratory we took a carriage and 6 of us went out on the upper Wanatapae road to the Credyman mine…The mine is about 10 or 12 miles NE from Sudbury.
It has been cleared & exposed so we had a good chance to see the whole of the surface and the amount of nickel ore exposed. We also took along our magnetic needles and made a rough survey of the mine…This gave us lots of information which will be good for future use…Right near the mine we came onto a typical Canadian Lumber Camp. There was 5 low log cabins and 3 log stables, the latter containing about 30 horses…The strangest thing was that they had a railroad, a narrow gauge with regular steel rail, Locomotives & logging cars…The Municipality of Sudbury gave me an address, which was read by the mayor…after it was over I asked several of the city fathers to come down stairs and have some lemonade, there were seven or eight and all took whisky instead of lemonade…
We left Monday morning for Worthington…at this point we were to leave the Railroad & start south into the country which is very heavily wooded…we could only find swamp water which had the color of tea, this we boiled before drinking. We slept on the ground with a little hay upon which we laid our blankets. Towards morning it got very cold and a heavy fog settled down…we cooked breakfast & started out early for a lake to the south, the swamps, rocks, & fallen timber made progress very slow and very exhausting…I sprained my ankle slightly but the next morning it was ok. The guide preceded us and cut with an axe a bare spot on both sides of trees about 20 ft apart, we followed these spots very readily—it’s called ‘Blasing a trail.’ We came to a pretty fine lake & made camp…The last 2 days I have been in camp, the boys have been out hunting corners & yesterday for the 1st time tried a survey with their needles. Today is Sunday & we keep it holy, tomorrow I am going out with the boys & try a new plan to surveying from Diorite to Huronian instead of surveyors posts which it’s impossible to find.” In fine condition, with a few small edge chips and tears.
At the time, Canada’s Sudbury region was known as one of the richest sources of nickel in the world, and Edison’s field expedition to the area—complete with surveys, backwoods camping, and meetings with local officials—was part of his broader push to secure a steady supply of raw materials for battery production. The trip came at a moment when Edison, having already transformed telegraphy, electric lighting, and recorded sound, was turning his focus toward energy storage and transportation innovation—challenges that continue to be the focus of tech entrepreneurs today.
Starting Bid $1,000
“Thomas
buys the rights to an innovative galvanic battery for use in connection with two of his greatest inventions: the phonograph and the electric light
LOT 7074
Thomas Edison (2) Documents Signed in Electric Battery Development Archive, Acquiring Rights to the ‘Lalande-Chaperon Cell’ to Power His Great Inventions: the Phonograph and Electric Light
Exceptional archive of documents relating to the development of electric batteries by Felix Lalande and Georges Chaperon, and further improved by Thomas Edison, highlighted by two licensing agreements allowing Edison to manufacture the Lalande–Chaperon batteries for use in connection with two of his greatest inventions: the phonograph and the electric light.
The Lalande–Chaperon cell, developed in the 1880s by French scientists Félix de Lalande and Georges Chaperon, was patented in the United States on March 20, 1883 (U.S. Patent No. 274110). This groundbreaking primary battery used zinc and copper oxide electrodes with an alkaline electrolyte, offering high efficiency and long life. Its innovative design attracted the attention of Thomas Edison, who recognized its potential for powering his inventions. In 1889 and 1890, Edison entered into licensing agreements with Lalande and Chaperon, securing exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the batteries in the United States—initially for use with his phonograph and later expanded to include electric lighting in small-scale installations. Edison would make improvements to the Lalande–Chaperon cell by replacing the powdered copper oxide with copper oxide briquettes, marketing it as the ‘Edison-Lalande Battery.’
These agreements, signed by all three inventors, underscore Edison’s strategic interest in battery technology as essential to the commercialization of his electric innovations, and they reflect the global collaboration that helped shape the future of electrical power.
The archive includes:
DS signed “Thomas Alva Edison,” “Felix de Lalande,” and “George Chaperon,” four pages, 8 x 13, August 24, 1889. By this agreement, Edison acquires “the exclusive right and license to manufacture, use and sell galvanic batteries patented by said Letters Patent in the United States…for all purposes except for use as secondary battery or in connection with electric lighting.” Edison also receives the right to export to France “primary batteries, but solely for use in connection
with phonographs.” Affixed are three documents from the US Consulate General at Paris, certifying that Chaperon signed on August 27th; Edison signed on September 9th; and Lalande signed on September 23rd. Notably, Edison had visited Paris to attend the 1889 World’s Fair, which included a pavilion exhibiting his recent inventions—namely, an improved phonograph. Includes a contemporary French translation in an unknown hand.
DS signed “Thomas A. Edison,” “F. de Lalande,” and “G. Chaperon,” seven pages, 8 x 13, April 8, 1890. By this agreement, Edison extends his rights to manufacture and sell galvanic batteries in the United States “for electric lighting purposes, in electric lighting plants of a capacity not exceeding twenty five lamps.” Related rights are further extended to cover other countries in Europe and the Americas. Affixed is a document from the US Consulate General at Paris, certifying that Lalande and Chaperon signed on June 19, 1890; Edison evidently signed in April, before the contract was sent overseas. Includes a typescript translation of the contract into French, a letter to Lalande by Coudert Brothers lawyer Henry Cachard pertaining to the “new contract,” and the mailing envelope in which they were enclosed, addressed to Lalande in Paris.
Original hand-drawn diagram of the Lalande-designed alkaline primary battery, one page, 18.25 x 12.5, featuring eight figures showing the batteries from in two views (sectional and top).
Original hand-drawn diagram showing the electrodes of a battery, one page, 7. x 9.5, featuring two views.
Printed “specification in support of a patent application for an electric battery system” in French, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 9 x 14, describing the use of copper oxide electrodes.
Eleven documents related to Lalande’s applications for patents concerning processes for manufacturing potassium hydroxide—a key ingredient of the Lalande–Chaperon cell—including copies of patent applications, an original drawing, a German manuscript describing the process, and other related papers, dated from 1886–1887.
In overall fine condition.
Starting Bid $1,000
Significant unsigned handwritten manuscript by Albert Einstein, six pages, 8.5 x 11, no date but circa 1947–48. Einstein’s handwritten German-language draft for “The Essence of the Theory of Relativity,” an article published in English within volume XVI of ‘The American Peoples Encyclopedia’ in 1948. After a general introduction, Einstein discusses the “Special Theory of Relativity” and “General Theory of Relativity,” writing several equations and sketching a small graph. The piece begins, in small part (translated): “Essence of the Theory of Relativity. Mathematics deals exclusively with the relation of concepts to each other without regard to the relation to objects of experience. Physics also deals with mathematical concepts; but these concepts acquire physical content only due to the fact that their relation to objects of experience is determined in a clear way. This is the case in particular with the concepts of motion, space, time. The theory of relativity is that physical theory, which is based on a consistent physical interpretation of these three terms. The name ‘theory of relativity’ is due to the fact that motion from the point of view of perceptibility always occurs as relative motion of a thing against others (e.g. a car against the ground, or the earth against the sun and the fixed stars) (however, motion is not perceptible [;] not as ‘motion against space’ or—as it has also been expressed—as ‘absolute motion’). The ‘prin-
ciple of relativity’ in the broadest sense is contained in the statement: The totality of physical phenomena is such that it offers no support for the establishment of the concept of ‘absolute motion’, or more briefly but less precisely: there is no absolute motion.” Einstein also pens several equations in ink and pencil on the reverse of the fourth page. In fine condition, with a minor rust mark to the first page. Housed in a handsome custom-made quarter-leather yellow clamshell case and accompanied by a full English translation.
Einstein’s theory of relativity—the foundation of modern physics—encompassed his pioneering concepts of special relativity and general relativity, respectively proposed and published in 1905 and 1915. With it came his famed equation, “E = mc2”—the mass-energy relationship—undoubtedly the most well-known equation ever set forth. Nuclear physics had come to the forefront of the public’s attention with the advent of the atomic bomb in World War II, and coherent explanations for the layman were few and far between—hence this essay, prepared for a popular encyclopedia. In the present manuscript, Einstein begins by offering a simplified discussion of his theories before launching into an increasingly technical explanation. A significant scientific manuscript by Albert Einstein, discussing the history, meaning, and influence of his theory of relativity.
Starting Bid $10,000
Superlative war-dated signed ‘bust portrait’ photograph of Albert Einstein, cosigned by noted American sculptor Eleanor Platt, and presented to a patient at New York’s
Pilgrim State Hospital in 1942
LOT 7076
Albert Einstein Signed ‘Bust Sculpture’ Photograph (1942)
World War II-dated matte-finish 7.5 x 9.25 photograph of a plaster bust of Albert Einstein by noted American sculptor Eleanor Platt, neatly signed below on the original mount in black ink, “A. Einstein, 1942,” with the photo’s original backing sheet signed in pencil by Platt. Matted and framed to an overall size of 14.5 x 18.75. The consignor notes that this photograph was presented to their mother in 1942, when she was 22 and recovering from a nervous breakdown in Pilgrim State Hospital in Long Island, New York. In support of this claim are ink annotations to the frame backing: “Given to GD by Einstein via Bertchen Reiche, Oma’s best friend, to cheer up GD when she was in Pilgrim State Hospital on Long Island in 1942.” The backing also bears an affixed printed poem by Albert Einstein, with its English translation annotated to the right in the hand of the recipient; the poem reads: ‘Where I go and where I stay / I always see a picture of myself / On the desk, on the wall, around the neck on the black ribbon. / Amazing little men & little women / came to fetch an autograph / everyone must have a scribble / from this highly learned youth / Sometimes I ask myself is all this good fortune / in a clear moment / are you yourself crazy / or are the other idiots?’ In fine condition, with silvering to the perimeter of the image. The California Institute of Technology archives indicate that Platt’s bust of Einstein is on display in Room 114 of the East Bridge lecture hall. Platt also famously made a bronze plaque of Einstein that was minted by the Medallic Art Company of New York in 1969.
Starting Bid $1,000
Important unpublished partial AMS signed “A. Einstein,” one page (enumerated “(2)”), 8.5 x 11, no date. Handwritten leaf of Einstein’s work toward a Unified Field Theory (UFT), offering a grand statement explaining how his new UFT equations are compatible with ‘the complete system of field equations’ for General Relativity and Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism. Einstein pens a remarkable nine equations on the page, numbering them “(2)” through “(4a),” and makes several editorial corrections throughout the page.
In 1929 Einstein published ‘On Unified Field Theory’ (Weil 165), a publication that made headlines around the world and rocketed Einstein to the greatest height of his fame. Seeking to unify gravity and electromagnetism in a mathematical set of field equations, Einstein proposed a new vision of spacetime based in the geometrical concept of teleparallelism (or: distant parallelism): a spacetime that supported the vanishing of the curvature tensor while asymmetrically sustaining a non-vanishing ‘torsion’ (representing the ‘spin’ of spacetime). The work was highly mathematical in its tone and detail: employing a ‘tetrad field’ of vectors, Einstein was able to construct and compare tangent vectors at any point of spacetime; and the nonsymmetric affine connections constructible with this mathematical formalism could both assign a displacement to any arbitrary vector and also conserve parallelism at a distance.
Even the great Einstein, however, was challenged by the mathematical complexities of his work. He had difficulty formulating a uniquely determined set of field equations compatible with the established field
equations of General Relativity and Maxwell’s Electromagnetism—his theory could only work to a first approximation of such compatibility, beyond which it could not provide accurate solutions—and within a year’s time of publishing ‘On Unified Field Theory,’ Einstein saw the necessity to publish a further article on ‘The Compatibility of Field Equations in Unified Field Theory’ (Weil 169).
This present leaf of manuscript is thought to be a preparatory draft for ‘The Compatibility of Field Equations in Unified Field Theory.’ This remarkable document superbly conveys the concept of mathematically reducing the central formulas of Unified Field Theory to the firmly established equations of General Relativity and Electromagnetism. Working at a very high level of generalization—there is an almost ‘archetypal’ quality to this manuscript—this document would appear to reflect an early stage of Einstein’s thinking on the topic of Compatibility, the actual article presenting a more specific and articulated mode of statement.
Einstein was ever the pioneer in theoretical physics—always breaking through to new theoretical heights of idea. Einstein’s 1929 paper ‘On Unified Field Theory’ marked the beginning of his own original efforts to find an adequate mathematical framework for merging gravity and electromagnetism—a quest he would pursue through a series of mathematical variations for the remainder of his life. Realistically viewed, Compatibility is necessarily a central concern of Unified Field Theory; and while ‘The Compatibility of Field Equations in Unified Field Theory’ is Einstein’s first explicit examination of this critical issue, it was hardly his last: Einstein repeatedly returning to the issue of Compatibility, both privately and publicly, right up until his death. In fine condition, with a trivial light stain to the top edge.
Starting Bid $5,000
“The sole issue that overshadowed the visit was Fermi’s grave illness. I was only happy to be able to see him again”—handwritten letter from Werner Heisenberg in November 1954, shortly after his final meetings with Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein
LOT 7078
Werner Heisenberg Autograph Letter
Signed from Aboard the RMS ‘Queen Mary’The Theoretical Physicist Voyages Home After His 1954 American Lecture Tour and His Final Visits with Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi
ALS in German, one page both sides, 5.25 x 6.75, illustrated Cunard Line, R.M.S. ‘Queen Mary’ letterhead, November 7, 1954. Handwritten letter from Werner Heisenberg to “Wentzel,” ostensibly his colleague, German physicist Gregor Wentzel, in full (translated): “Kindly accept many thanks for your letter and pardon me that I am only now answering. I was truly sorry not to have encountered you in Chicago, and I hope you had a wonderful time in Berkeley. In Chicago, we were extremely pampered and I learnt a great amount of new things; the sole issue that overshadowed the visit was Fermi’s grave illness. I was only happy to be able to see him again. Please give our greetings to his brave wife, from us all. To you and to all our common friends in Chicago, I send the most heartfelt regards!” In very fine condition.
Given its letterhead, it stands to reason that Heisenberg penned this letter asea during his voyage back to Europe after his brief lecture tour of America in 1954. Among his stops was at Princeton, New Jersey, where he reunited with Albert Einstein for the last time before the latter’s death the following year. Although Einstein was in poor health, he spoke physics with Heisenberg all afternoon. Regarding his own ‘uncertainty principle,’ Heisenberg found that Einstein’s view had not
changed since the 1927 Solvay Congress. Despite all Heisenberg’s persuasive skills, Einstein just said, ‘No, that’s nothing. That’s not the thing I am after. I don’t like your kind of physics. I think you are all right with the experiments…but I don’t like it.’
Before he left America, Heisenberg made a trip to Chicago to pay a final visit to the revered physicist Enrico Fermi, who would die of stomach cancer at the age of 53, three weeks after this letter was written. Fifteen years earlier, in the summer of 1939, Heisenberg traveled to the United States on a lecture tour, and, while in New York, he convened with Fermi, who had recently emigrated from his home country. According to Malcolm MacPherson, Fermi directly challenged Heisenberg about his intended return to work in Germany, pointing out that atomic physicists would be expected by their respective governments to work on new weapons.
Taken aback, Heisenberg rationalized his position with hopes that the war would not actually happen, or the belief that ‘people must learn to prevent catastrophes, not run away from them.’ In the end, Heisenberg returned to Germany to play a central role in the development of a German nuclear weapon, while Fermi stayed in the United States and worked with Robert Oppenheimer in the Manhattan Project. Although unconfirmed, Heisenberg’s 1954 visit to Chicago may have been the first and last time the physicists saw each other following World War II.
Starting Bid $300
“In his last years, Einstein wanted to make the dangers of atomic weapons clear to the world, but no one listened to him”—Schweitzer reflects on his activism against nuclear proliferation
Albert Schweitzer Archive of (12) Letters and Notes on Philosophy, Aphorisms, and Nuclear Weapons: “Einstein wanted to make the dangers of atomic weapons clear to the world”
Theologian, humanitarian, and physician (1875–1965) remembered for establishing a hospital in Lambarene, Gabon, and for receiving the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of ‘Reverence for Life.’ Archive of twelve letters and notes from Albert Schweitzer to aphorist Hans Margolius, totaling 16 pages, ranging in size from a 3.5 x 5.5 postcard to an 8.5 x 11 sheet, dated from 1926 to 1965. Schweitzer’s letters in German include 7 ALsS, two ANsS, an AL, an AN, and a NS, discussing his aphorisms, remarking that he is working on the philosophy of ‘Reverence for Life,’ complaining that he has insufficient time for letters of friendship, granting permission for him to use his remarks on Margolius’s aphorisms, discussing his work against nuclear weapons and mentioning that it began with his friendship with Albert Einstein, observing that nuclear weapons are a violation of human rights, remarking that there are some 40 Albert-Schweitzer-Schools in Germany, stating that his hospital was intended to have 50 beds but it now has 600, mentioning recent work on Jewish thought, etc. Some of the notes or letters are written on the same sheet as letters
or notes to Margolius penned by one of his secretaries, Mathilde Kottmann or Emma Haussknecht.
Selected excerpts (translated):
25 December 1959, ALS: “I took up this work [campaigning against nuclear weapons] as a friend of Einstein. We knew each other since his time in Berlin. It was a very intense friendship. In his last years, Einstein wanted to make the dangers of atomic weapons clear to the world, but no one listened to him. He suffered terribly as a result. He died in a state of despair.”
7 February 1965, ALS: “Only by being attentive to and involved in creation do we truly become human…I could not bear the fact that European philosophy does not deal with the problem of our relationship to creation…Friendship is something deep and beautiful. In the quiet of Lambaréné, animal friendships flourish. Three hippopotamuses spend some nights on the bank by our hospital because they know that no one will harm them there.”
In overall very good to fine condition, with old tape repairs and paper loss to one letter, and binder dings to several others.
Starting Bid $1,000
“Czechoslovakia, the country which, viewed from the standpoint of average enlightenment,
I have always considered the first in the world”
Nikola Tesla Typed Letter Signed, Lauding Czech Leadership & the Efforts of the United Balkan
TLS, three pages, 8.5 x 11, personal letterhead, March 27, 1937. Letter to Radio Journal of Praha, Czechoslovakia, in full: “I have been overwhelmed with the extraordinary sympathy and marks of appreciation of my work in Czechoslovakia. The rare distinction conferred upon me by His Excellency the President, the City of Praha and His Honor the Mayor, and the academic degree bestowed upon me by the leading technical institution of the city, have found me unprepared. I wish to reiterate my sincere thanks and express the hope that in time I may deserve them more fully. The title of Doctor which I am to receive on April 10th from the technical institution of Brno is equally appreciated and valued by me, and I want to voice my gratitude to his Magnificence, the Rector, and to the distinguished body of professors for the honor.
It affords me particular pleasure and satisfaction to receive such evidences from Czechoslovakia, the country which, viewed from the standpoint of average enlightenment, I have always considered the first in the world. It is most fortunate that in these threatening European conditions, its government is in the hands of a man of genius capable of solving the problems confronting the nation. His Excellency realized long ago the danger of a conflict between Italy and Yugoslavia and pointed out the desirability of an amicable understanding between these countries. This has now been achieved but the agreement made in Belgrade will not affect the unity of the Little Entente and Balkan Federation. On the contrary, it has created the necessity of widening of military pacts between the nations concerned and a more positive and closer cooperation in defense against a common enemy. The Yugoslavs are especially anxious to uphold this idea as it was originated by the late King Alexander whose memory as a soldier and statesman is to them a source of constant inspiration. He did not live to see its materialization, but it is now an accomplished fact largely through the efforts of Prince Regent Paul, the ablest man who could be found to carry the projects of the immortal Alexander to their successful completion. Since the agreement between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, recently completed, the united Balkan States have an aggregate population exceeding that of Germany or of Italy, besides commanding much greater natural resources. The nations in this political union supplement each other ideally. Czechoslovakia leads in the technical arts, Roumania and Bulgaria are great agricultural countries, Yugoslavia and Turkey have almost unequalled practical experience in war, and Greece with its glorious past contributes something unique and distinctive.
Through the agreement between Yugoslavia and Italy the immediate danger of a Balkan war has been averted, but the Mediterranean dif-
ficulty still exists and is aggravated by the war in Spain. I earnestly hope that nothing will interfere with the further progress and development of Czechoslovakia and that it will continue to carry high the banner of civilization.” In very good to fine condition, with light creasing, stains, and rusty paperclip impressions, and faint show-through in the signature area from an office stamp on the reverse.
Nikola Tesla, born in the Balkans, maintained a lifelong connection to the region and its people, even after relocating to the United States in 1884. A believer in the potential of Slavic peoples, especially in terms of intellectual and technological development, Tesla admired nations like Czechoslovakia for their education and innovation— “Czechoslovakia, the country which, viewed from the standpoint of average enlightenment, I have always considered the first in the world.”
While Tesla opens the letter with grace and praise, he closes with notable apprehension, remarking on the ongoing Spanish Civil War and its deleterious effect on the whole of the Mediterranean. He concludes: “I earnestly hope that nothing will interfere with the further progress and development of Czechoslovakia and that it will continue to carry high the banner of civilization.”
Many historians view the Spanish Civil War as the prelude to World War II, with both sides of the conflict, the Republicans and the Nationalists, receiving widespread international support. Czechoslovakia joined the United States, the United Kingdom, and 50 other nations as part of the International Brigades that volunteered to fight alongside the Spanish Republic, while Nazi Germany and Italy backed the Nationalists, the eventual victors.
To Tesla, Spain’s war and its global involvement assuredly emphasized a disturbing trend, a volatile new world order, one exacerbated by the growing might of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party. Whatever concern he felt whilst typing this letter came to fruition a year later with the infamous Munich Agreement on September 30, 1938.
Adhering to a policy of appeasement, representatives of the United Kingdom, France, and Italy acquiesced to the German annexation of the Sudetenland, which granted Hitler invaluable border control of Czechoslovakia. Undaunted, Germany invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia’s territory on March 15, 1939, an act that outwardly violated the Munich Agreement, exposed Hitler’s expansionist ambitions, and set the stage for the Second World War. A noteworthy letter from Nikola Tesla with rare political insight, praising the elevated minds and hearts of Czechoslovakia while expressing deep concern for Europe’s suddenly unsteady future.
Starting Bid $1,000
to a fellow physicist: “It seems to me that there are counter examples to this in finite dimensions—not to speak of the infinite dimensions case”
TLS signed “Stephen,” one page, 8 x 10, University of Cambridge letterhead, November 21, 1967. Letter to physicist Charles W. Misner, a professor at the University of Maryland, with reference to an improved version of a paper that Hawking co-authored with George Ellis (‘The Cosmic Black-Body Radiation and the Existence of Singularities in Our Universe,’ The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 152, April 1968). In part: “I enclose an improved version of the paper of Ellis and myself. The calculations of the convergence condition have been redrawn. I very much enjoyed the visit to Maryland where I had a number of ideas about Misner incompleteness. I intend to write a paper about them when I get time. I heard Stan Deer outline his proof that mass is positive definite. He claims that a function whose only critical value is zero and which has a local minimum there is necessarily positive elsewhere. It seems to me that there are counter examples to this in finite dimensions—not to speak of the infinite dimensions case.” In fine condition, with a faint paperclip impression to the top edge.
Stephen Hawking first met the American physicist Charles W. Misner during the latter’s 1966-67 visit to Cambridge at the invitation of Hawking’s postgraduate supervisor Dennis Sciama; the two became close, and Hawking visited Misner at his own institution, the University of Maryland, at the end of 1967. Hawking’s work on singularity theorems, which he first published in his 1965 doctoral thesis, overlapped with the research Misner was undertaking on geodesic incompleteness, a notion at the centre of the concepts Hawking was developing with Roger Penrose (the ‘Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems’). Here, Hawking seemingly refers to a proof that another of their colleagues in the field, Stanley Deser, would publish the following year in the Physical Review Letters, in a paper entitled ‘Positive-Definiteness of Gravitational Field Energy.’
Diagnosed with early-onset motor neurone disease in 1963, Hawking’s physical capabilities deteriorated over time—his shaky hand evinced in this signature of just four years later—making authentic autographs exceedingly scarce. Confined to a wheelchair by the end of the 1970s, he opted to sign with just a thumbprint later in life. A marvelous letter by the celebrated theoretical physicist, rife with scientific content.
Starting Bid $2,500
Syzygy to Atari—archive of over 30 rare early engineering schematics for eight classic arcade titles released in the early 1970s, highlighted by oversized ‘blue line’ drawings for Space Race, Gotcha, Elimination, and Twin Racer
Atari Early Engineering Archive of (50+) Schematics and Marketing/Developer Materials for Pioneering Arcade Games Like Space Race, Gotcha, Super Pong, Elimination, and More
Outstanding archive of early Atari engineering schematics and marketing materials from the dawn of the video arcade gaming industry, containing 10 oversized ‘blue line’ schematics and 29 in-house printed schematics for eight games designed and released by Syzygy Engineering, Atari, Inc., and Kee Games in the early 1970s. The games include some of Atari’s earliest titles, such as Space Race, Gotcha, Elimination, Twin Racer, Super Pong, Quadrapong, World Cup, and Volleyball.
The first four games listed all include original ‘blue line’ schematics, ranging in size from 22 x 17 to 34 x 22, all of which are dated between May 1973 (Space Race) and May 1974 (Twin Racer). Of the titles, two identify the developer as Kee Games (Elimination and Twin Racer), and two as Syzygy (Space Race and Gotcha), a fascinating detail given how Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney had, by this time period, already changed their company’s name from Syzygy to Atari, a name that was officially incorporated in California by late June 1972.
Both Space Race and Gotcha contain two schematics each, which are similarly marked in the lower right corners, “Syzygy, 2962 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, Ca., 95050…Rev F,” with title and date, “Schematic - Space Race…5/31/73” and “Schematic - Gotcha…7-25-73.” Elimination and Twin Racer are represented with three schematics each, with Elimination sheets marked “Corrected Feb 22, 74, Kee Games, Elimation [sic]” and “Kee Games, 330 Mathew Street, Santa Clara, Ca., 95050, Rev B., Schem. Elimination 731008-13,” and the Twin Racer sheets are dated to May 6, 1974, and June 19, 1974, and identified with PCB codes “RT 2” and “K4DRTA.”
Accompaniments for these four titles include: Space Race (six in-house schematics, two original color Atari flyers, five ‘Parts List Specifications’ sheets, and five service bulletin sheets from Syzygy Co.); Gotcha (an original color Atari flyer, an in-house ‘Circuit Schematic Diagram,’
and six ‘Parts List Specifications’ sheets, four of which bear printed signatures of engineer Allan Alcorn); Elimination (an original color Kee Games flyer, and a 9-page operator packet from Kee Games); and Twin Racer (six in-house schematics, with scarce ring-bound Kee Games ‘Operation and Service Manual,’ and two ‘Customer Service Bulletin’ letters from September 1974).
The archive is complemented by additional in-house schematics and marketing/operator materials for early games like Super Pong (three in-house Syzygy/Atari schematics, with original color Atari flyer, a 3-page ‘Parts List Specifications’ packet, a ‘Customer Service Bulletin’ from February 1974, and four sheets related to game set-up procedures and television adjustments), Quadrapong (five in-house Atari schematics, with original color Atari flyer, nine ‘Parts List Specifications’ sheets, and an Atari troubleshooting packet), World Cup (five in-house Atari schematics, February 1974), and Volleyball (four in-house Atari schematics, November 1973). In overall fine condition, with light scattered wear.
An unprecedented engineering archive from the formative years of Atari, made all the more significant for not only its breadth of titles but by the presence of several early ‘Syzygy’ developer marks, Atari’s original incorporated name, which date to the fledgling company’s earliest engineering efforts. Of further historical interest is the appearance of Kee Games, a covert operation created by Atari in 1973 to evade limiting exclusivity deals from demanding pinball and arcade distributors. Run by Joe Keenan (a close friend and neighbor of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell), Kee functioned as a shell competitor, initially releasing clones of Atari games and later developing original titles like Tank and Pursuit. Kee formally merged into Atari in September 1974, with Keenan named as Atari president, and Kee Games kept as a separate division. When Bushnell left Atari in December 1978, Keenan joined him a few months later to help manage his Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre restaurant/arcade franchise. An impressive curation of early Atari schematics that offers a unique glimpse into the company’s generational growth and its development of several arcade machines that pioneered the coin-op gaming industry.
Starting Bid $2,500
THE SET INCLUDES:
• original Apple-1 board, marked on the reverse with “01-0020”
• original Apple Cassette Interface (ACI) board
• original Byte Shop wooden case with built-in Datanetics keyboard and Triad power supply
• period-correct video monitor and associated cables
• period-correct copies of software on cassette tapes, with contemporary handwritten notes and instructions
• modern copy of the Apple-1 Operation Manual
EExceptional, fully functional ‘Byte Shop’–style Apple-1 computer (also commonly known as the Apple I, or Apple Computer 1), complete with its rare, iconic wooden Byte Shop case, plus all components and accessories required for operation. The computer is logged as #15 on the Apple-1 Registry, known as the ‘Moore’ Apple-1, with provenance recorded: “The unit was bought at the estate sale of a woman who was the first female graduate of Stanford Law School, June Blodgett Moore.” It is one of the few known Apple-1s to survive with its Byte Shop wooden case—just nine such examples are documented in the registry, and it is the first that RR Auction has ever offered.
On the left side, the board is marked: “Apple Computer 1, Palo Alto, Ca. Copyright 1976.” The board retains its white ceramic MOS 6502 processor, all three original Sprague ‘Big Blue’ capacitors, and is wired to support executing Apple BASIC on an 8K memory system. The ‘breadboard’ prototyping area is untouched and the green coat exhibits some minor scuffs but minimal peeling, unlike many Apple-1 boards. Four of the power supply diodes are period-correct replacements, and all power regulators are date-correct and original.
This Apple-1 computer was examined and restored to operational state in June–July 2025 by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen. A comprehensive, technical condition report and proof-of-life video prepared by Cohen is available to qualified bidders; he evaluates the current condition of the unit as 8.0/10. The case exhibits a hairline crack across the bend of the case top, and a section of the rear panel has been removed to allow the case to be opened without removing attached cassette interface cables; a small part of the laminate between the power extender and video connector has also separated.
The Apple-1 was originally conceived by Steve Jobs and Steve ‘Woz’ Wozniak as a bare circuit board to be sold as a kit and completed by electronics hobbyists, their initial market being Palo Alto’s Homebrew Computer Club. Seeking a larger audience, Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Aiming to elevate the computer beyond the realm of the hobbyist tinkerer, Terrell offered to buy 50 of the computers—at a wholesale price of $500 a piece, to retail at $666.66—but only if they came fully assembled. The Byte Shop cases gave the machines a polished, finished appearance, really setting them apart from typical hobbyist kits of the era; the Apple-1 thus became one of the first ‘personal’ computers which did not require assembly by the end user. All together, over a span of
about ten months, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers and sold 175 of them. Steve Wozniak later placed Terrell’s purchase order in perspective: ‘That was the biggest single episode in all of the company’s history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.’
A masterpiece of innovation, the standard Apple-1 included 4K of inexpensive dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which could be expanded to 8K on board or 64K externally. Most computers in the Apple-1’s price range used more expensive static memory (SRAM), which limited them to 1K of memory for a similar cost. We still use DRAM technology today in computers, mobile phones, and electronics.
Another central characteristic of the Apple-1 is its built-in video terminal, which allows output to a television screen or video monitor. This was a dramatic advance from the traditional computer input/output mechanism of the day, the ASR-33 teletype, which printed a computer’s output onto a spool of paper. With this video port, the Apple-1 allowed a user to view commands on a screen in real time—something taken for granted in today’s computing world.
This Apple-1 additionally includes an original Apple-1 Cassette Interface (ACI), also introduced in 1976, which provides the ability to save memory contents onto a standard audio tape, and later load the contents back into the computer’s memory. Revolutionary for the time, Steve Wozniak designed the ACI to use only 6 integrated circuits, compared to other solutions which used 50 to 100 integrated circuits. This allowed Apple to sell their solution for less than their competitors; the Apple ACI also operated at four times the speed of its contemporary competitors.
The early success of the Apple-1 in 1976 paved the way for the introduction of the Apple II in the spring of 1977. In Apple’s 1980 IPO prospectus, the company described its progress: ‘In April 1977 the Company introduced the Apple II computer mainframe which was similar to the Apple I but incorporated additional circuitry and a keyboard, and was packaged in a plastic housing.’ In other words, the Apple II built upon the Apple-1 to become an even more capable, more consumer-ready machine. Between 1977 and 1980, on the sales of the Apple II and its peripherals, accessories, and software, Apple Computer’s yearly revenue grew from $774,000 to $118 million, making it one of the great growth stories of Silicon Valley. The Apple-1 is not only a marvel of early computing ingenuity, but the product that launched what is today one of the most valuable and successful companies in the world.
Starting Bid $10,000
“Cash, ten dollars”—early Apple
Company check boldly signed and filled out by “steven jobs” in late June 1976
Steve Jobs Signed 1976 ‘Apple Computer Company’ Check - Filled Out Entirely by the Company’s Co-Founder
Early Apple Computer Company check, 6 x 3, filled out in black felt tip and signed by Jobs, “steven jobs,” payable to “Cash” for $10, June 25, 1976. Headed “Apple Computer Company,” the check uses Apple’s first official address at “770 Welch Rd., Ste. 154, Palo Alto”—the location of the answering service and mail drop that they used while still operating out of the famous Jobs family garage. In very fine condition. Boldly filled out and signed by Jobs during this foundational era of Apple Computer, this is an ideal example of his autograph. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as “MINT 9.”
During this period in the summer of 1976, just a few months after founding the Apple Computer Company, Jobs and Wozniak were hard at work building their first product. In March 1976, Wozniak had completed work on an innovative microcomputer design—now known as the Apple-1 Computer—and Jobs suggested that they sell it.
Of course, to make and sell the Apple-1, Jobs and Wozniak needed capital, means they both presently lacked. To fund their fledgling company, the two made hard choices: Wozniak sold his HewlettPackard calculator for $500, and Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus for
$1,500, which, coincidentally, was the same amount of money they paid Ron Wayne to fully sever ties with Apple the very month this check was signed.
In early July, Apple received its first order from Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, who offered to buy 50 of the computers at a wholesale price of $500 a piece, to retail at $666.66. Although the deal was for $25,000, when the computers were finally assembled and delivered, the modest profits didn’t go into the pockets of either Jobs or Wozniak. The duo immediately reinvested the money back into Apple to keep it afloat and operational, but not before reimbursing local suppliers Jobs had promised to pay within 30 days.
Two years later, the Apple II would be in computer stores, and a 23-year-old Steve Jobs was a newly minted millionaire. But in 1976, that future was still distant, Mike Markkula was a stranger, and Jobs, as this check indicates, was running on a shoestring budget with no salary, no venture capital, and no personal wealth. Whether he was reimbursing himself or simply withdrawing petty cash, this $10 check captures the company’s early struggle for legitimacy: operating out of a garage with minimal resources, zero investors, and a singular vision of building computers.
Starting Bid $2,500
(4) Documents for Buyout of Brian Epstein’s NEMS, Signed by Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr while Recording Abbey Road in 1969
Remarkable collection of four stock transfer documents, signed individually in black ballpoint, “John Lennon,” “Paul McCartney,” “George Harrison,” and “R. Starkey,” each one page, 8 x 13, all stamp-dated July 30, 1969. The documents are related to the acquisition of the late Brian Epstein’s famous NEMS management company (then renamed Nemperor Holdings) by Triumph Investment, with each member of the Beatles transferring 2,450 of their own shares in Nemperor to the brokerage house Whyte, Brecher & Gasc Limited. Each document is filled out in type with the band member’s home address; all bear Triumph Investment ink stamps in the lower right, as well as embossed tax seals in the margins.
Additionally includes two similar stock transfer documents, one signed by Brian Epstein’s younger brother Clive Epstein, stamp-dated April 1, 1969, and one signed by their mother Queenie Epstein, stamp-dated February 19, 1969. In overall fine condition. Accompanied by three letters of authenticity from noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo, in part: “Beatles signatures on anything from the year 1969 are extremely rare and desirable. These relate directly to complicated business affairs that were happening just as the band was about to break up.”
After Brian Epstein passed away in 1967, his family inherited NEMS and rolled it into a larger company called Nemperor Holdings. As the business manager, Clive Epstein refused a purchase offer from Triumph Investments, believing the Beatles had the true right to the company. Arranging the finances for a such a buyout became a seemingly endless ordeal—the Beatles hoped to get a loan from EMI against their royalties—and Clive finally sold out to Triumph. Related to this complicated acquisition process, the present stock transfer documents were signed while the Beatles were in EMI Studios putting the finishing touches on their final album, Abbey Road. On the very same day, July 30, 1969, John recorded lead guitar overdubs on ‘Come Together’ and the band completed their first full mix-down on the famous Abbey Road medley. A superior, rarely seen full set of significant Beatles documents from this late period.
Starting Bid $2,500
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles”—the Fab Four take home the
‘Best LP (World)’ gold record award from the 1968 Disc and Music Echo Valentine’s
Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ‘Best 1967 LP (World)’ Award from Disc and Music Echo
Original ‘Best LP (World)’ gold record award presented to the Beatles by the British music newspaper Disc and Music Echo at their Valentine’s Day Readers Poll awards ceremony, which was held at the Empire Rooms in Tottenham Court Road, London, England, on February 15, 1968. Presented in a hinged faux leather-bound presentation case, 6˝ x 8˝ x 1˝, the award consists of a gold-tone metal record, 4.75˝ in diameter, engraved “Disc and Music Echo, Valentine Pop Poll Awards, 1968,” and a gold-tone metal plaque, which reads: “Best 1967 LP (World), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles.” In very good to fine condition, with general age wear. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks. As a contemporary award issued directly to the band for one of their most cherished albums, this ‘gold disc’ accolade exists as an attractive and coveted piece of Beatles history.
The Beatles won a total of four awards at the event, including ‘Best LP (World)’ and ‘Best LP (British)’ for their album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, as well as ‘Top Group (World)’ and ‘Top Group (British).’ Despite being the night’s big winners, none of the Beatles were in attendance at the ceremony. John Lennon and George Harrison had left for India to study Transcendental Meditation, with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr joining them just a couple of days later. As the Beatles were not available to collect the awards directly, Apple employee Peter Brown was on hand to receive them on their behalf. The awards would have been given to the Beatles upon their return from India at their Apple offices in Wigmore Street, London, England.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles’ eighth studio album, was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release on May 26, 1967. In 1968, the record won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, which marked the first time a rock LP was awarded with that honor. In 2003, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’
Disc was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975. In 1966, it was incorporated with Music Echo magazine, which had itself previously taken over Mersey Beat, and then became known as Disc and Music Echo. In June 1966, it was the first magazine to feature, in color, the notorious ‘butcher’ cover for the Beatles’ U.S. album Yesterday and Today, under the headline ‘Beatles: What a Carveup!’ When the publication was incorporated into Record Mirror in 1975, musicians like Marc Bolan and Paul McCartney wrote them personal notes lamenting their closure.
Starting Bid $500
LOT 7087
Beatles: John Lennon Signature with (19) Candid Photographs from the 1975 WFIL Helping Hand Marathon
Vintage 1975 ballpoint signature and inscription, “To Jim, John Lennon,” on an off-white 4.75 x 4 sheet, which is lightly affixed to a slightly larger card. Included with the signature is a period spiral-bound photo album, which contains 19 color semi-glossy 5 x 3.5 candid photographs
from the WFIL Helping Hand Marathon, with eight photos picturing Lennon at the event. In very good to fine condition, with light creasing, and old mounting residue on the back. From May 16 to 18, 1975, the Philadelphia rock station WFIL and the advocacy organization PARC cosponsored the Helping Hand Marathon, a weekend fundraiser to raise money for multiple sclerosis. Lennon spent the entire three days answering phones, taking pledges, and signing autographs for fans; he even stayed long enough to do the weather report for WPVI-TV.
Starting Bid $500
Content-rich handwritten letter from George Harrison during the band’s prolonged August 1963 stay in Bournemouth, mentioning the Royal Albert Hall, screaming girls, Jelly Babies, and the Beatles’ hit single ‘She Loves You’
LOT 7088
Beatles: George Harrison Autograph Letter Signed - “I’m glad you like ‘She Loves You,’ now... (we hope you buy it!)”
ALS signed “George Harrison, xxx,” two pages, 5 x 8, Palace Court Hotel, Bournemouth letterhead, no date [August 1963]. Handwritten letter to a fan named “Boote,” in full: “Thanks for your letter. I’m glad you like ‘She Loves You,’ now,…(we hope you buy it!) Actually I, or any of the others for that matter, don’t like Jelly Babies, and the press must have made it up themselves! I think we are in London more than Liverpool these days, because of Radio and Recording etc…We don’t mind girls screaming in the noisy numbers, but I think we would prefer them to be a little quieter in the slow songs. I don’t think you are too old to write fan letters. As far as I know, we are not on the State Kilburn, but we are on the Albert Hall. I am sorry I have got to write this letter like ‘question time,’ but I haven’t enough time to answer properly, so I hope you don’t mind. Cheerio for now.” In fine condition, with general handling wear. Accompanied by full letters of authenticity from Tracks and noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo.
George Harrison and the Beatles stayed at the Palace Court Hotel when the band played a series of shows at the Gaumont Theatre in the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, England, between August 19th and 24th, 1963. It was during their stay at the hotel that Harrison
wrote his first song to appear on a Beatles album, ‘Don’t Bother Me.’ The offered letter is filled with interesting references, with his opening line mentioning the chart-topping ‘She Loves You,’ a song released on August 23rd, one day before they left Bournemouth. An instant hit, the song became the band’s best-selling single ever in the U.K.
Harrison’s dislike of “Jelly Babies” was ultimately never made public, and the candy, both home and abroad, was often hurled about by fans attending Beatles concerts. In America, the situation intensified due to the thrown candies being jelly beans, which, similar in appearance to Jelly Bellies, were both larger and harder. Harrison was later quoted: ‘Imagine waves of rock-hard little bullets raining down on you from the sky.’ He then touches on frenzied female fans and playing at the Royal Albert Hall, a venue they famously played twice that year: on April 18, 1963, for the BBC show Swinging Sound ‘63, and on September 15, 1963, as part of The Great Pop Prom.
It was also during the band’s Bournemouth stay that famed photographer Robert Freeman captured the legendary image that would be featured on the front cover of the band’s second album, With the Beatles, which was released a few months later. The same image would famously adorn the front cover of the band’s U.S. debut album, Meet the Beatles, which was released in January of the following year.
Starting Bid $1,000
Remarkably early signatures of the
Experience, obtained after their show at the Cinéma Rio in Nancy, France, on October 14, 1966—just eight days after the band’s official formation
Jimi Hendrix Experience Signed 45 RPM RecordObtained After Their Second-Ever Show as a Band (Nancy, France, October 14, 1966)
Extremely early ballpoint signatures of the Jimi Hendrix Experience— “Jimi Hendrix, Love,” who adds a heart, “Noel Redding, Bass,” and “Mitch [Mitchell]” — on the reverse of a 45 RPM record for the Johnny Hallyday EP ‘Je L’aime,’ which also features signatures from Experience manager Chas Chandler, Johnny Hallyday, and two of his band members, Long Chris and Micky Jones. The original recipient, Jocelynn, has added her name to the upper section. The consignor notes that the Hallyday signature was obtained decades later, on March 29, 2011. In very good condition, with soiling and staining, old tape to a tear and to the spine, and some edge and surface loss, none of which affects Hendrix’s signature. Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from JSA. The record is included.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their first concert on October 13, 1966, in Evreux, France, supporting Johnny Hallyday. This marked the beginning of their live performances as a band, though they had formed just a week prior. Their debut set was short, featuring songs like ‘In the Midnight Hour,’ ‘Have Mercy,’ ‘Land of a Thousand Dances,’ and ‘Hey Joe.’ They performed the next night, on October 14th, in Nancy,
France, where these autographs were obtained, and the following night, October 15th, in Villerupt, France. Their final show supporting Hallyday was on October 18, 1966, at the Olympia Theatre in Paris. Incredibly early signatures of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which may represent the earliest known signatures of the officially formed rock trio.
The story of this signed record was published in the February 2011 issue of the French music publication Juke Box Magazine. The article, originally written in French, reads, in part (translated): ‘It’s a classic story: two young girls, Jocelynn D. and her sister, go to see the Johnny Hallyday concert at the Rio Cinema in Nancy on October 14, 1966. Under her arm, Jocelynn has an E.P. by her idol: ‘Je L’Aime’ (I Love Her). The idea was to get the record autographed by Johnny.
After the concert, the girls head for the place Stanislas because they have been told that the musicians are in a café there. When they arrive, they do find Long Chris and Micky Jones. However, to their surprise, also present are one of the support acts for the tour: The Jimi Hendrix Experience and their manager, Chas Chandler. This had been the band’s second-ever concert, after Evreux the night before. Unfortunately, Johnny was not around, but a determined Jocelynn obtained the autographs of all the musicians present!’
Starting Bid $1,000
“Let our songs and laughter ring in this beginning of a new era of hope, peace, and freedom for the citizens of our land”—
Frank Sinatra fetes Ronald Reagan and George Bush at the celeb-packed 1981 Presidential Inaugural Gala
TLS from Frank Sinatra that was printed in the official program for the 1981 Presidential Inaugural Gala of Ronald Reagan. The letter, one page, 7.25 x 10.5, personal letterhead, January 19, 1981, addressed to “Mr. President-elect and Mr. Vice-President elect,” Ronald Reagan and George Bush, in full: “On the eve of your inauguration we’re honored to have the privilege to entertain you and your families, our Capital Centre audience, and the American public via national television in the spirit of ‘The Beginning of a Great New Beginning.’ Let our songs and laughter ring in this beginning of a new era of hope, peace, and freedom for the citizens of our land. An era that with your leadership sees our nation regain its respect in the world and sees our nation lead rather than follow. We salute you tonight. On behalf of the Inaugural Gala cast.” In very fine condition.
Accompanied by a carbon copy of a memo containing Sinatra’s ‘Inaugural Commemoratives ‘Goodie’ Order,’ which amounted to $3,895.50, a vintage ‘Francis Albert Sinatra’ matchbook, a photo of Sinatra with Ray Caldiero, a member of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, and an official program for the “1981 Presidential Inaugural Gala,” which features the offered letter and lists Sinatra as “Producer/Director and Director of Enterianment.”
Frank Sinatra was no stranger to big presidential galas. Two decades earlier, on January 19, 1961, the Rat Pack boss organized entertainment for John F. Kennedy’s starstudded inaugural gala at the National Guard Armory—he even escorted First Lady Jackie to her seat. With the Reagan event, he aimed to outdo himself by amassing a notably Hollywood-centric supporting cast of entertainers. Held at the jam-packed Capital Centre sports arena, the ceremony was hosted by Johnny Carson and included performances from Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Ben Vereen, Ethel Merman, Charlton Heston, Rich Little, and Sinatra, who sang ‘Nancy (with the Reagan Face),’ a modified version of ‘Nancy (With the Laughing Face),’ to the soon-to-be first lady, and then closed the event with a rousing rendition of ‘New York, New York.’
Starting Bid $500
“May
generating, Marilyn”—
LOT 7091
Marilyn Monroe Signed Oversized Photograph for The Asphalt Jungle
Vintage matte-finish 11 x 14 half-length portrait of Monroe taken in 1950 by Frank Powolny for the release of the film noir The Asphalt Jungle, signed and inscribed in blue ballpoint, “To Hank, May you keep generating, Marilyn.” The photo has been professionally restored, mainly along a horizontal fold to the lower portion of the image. In very good to fine condition, with a small tear to the top edge, light creasing, and aforementioned restoration. Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA. After appearing in several small roles in 1950, Monroe was cast as Angela Phinlay, the young mistress of an aging criminal, in the now classic John Huston film. Her performance was wellreceived by critics, and after a small role in All About Eve, Monroe signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. A stunning portrait from early in Monroe’s career. The Marc and Mary Perkins Collection.
Starting Bid $1,000
“I haven’t written because I have fallen in love”—starting a new life in Hollywood, East of Eden star
James Dean sends home a candid of his beloved thoroughbred Palomino
James Dean Autograph Letter Signed from Hollywood to His NYC Girlfriend, Sending a Candid of His New Horse: “He shakes hands and everything. May use him in the movie”
ALS signed twice, “Jim,” one page both sides, 6.25 x 10.25, no date but postmarked May 19, 1954. Handwritten letter to his girlfriend, Barbara Glenn, in New York, sent a month after the young actor left NYC for Hollywood. In full: “I haven’t written because I have fallen in love. It had to happen sooner or later. It’s not a very good picture of him but that’s ‘Cisco the Kid,’ the new member of the family. He gives me confidence. He makes my hands and my heart strong. He’s a very spirited horse but well trained. That’s my trainer in the picture. Throughbred Palomino (black main and tail)…He shakes hands and everything. May use him in the movie. I’m very lonely. Your card smelled so good, please don’t do that (dirty tricks, I’m still a Calif-virgen. I hate this place. Kazan and everybody but Cisco can go fuck themselves. Don’t call because I haven’t got a place of my own yet. Just keep writing. Honey those are the nicest, sweetest letters in the world. Oh the terrible doubts an artist is given to!…Maybe you can come see me sometime.” He adds a handwritten postscript, also signed “Jim,” in full: “P.S. send the picture back. By that time I will have had some good ones taken.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, addressed in Dean’s own hand, as well as the referred-to candid snapshot photograph of his new horse.
Written just a month after James Dean arrived in Hollywood to begin filming East of Eden, this intimate and emotionally raw letter to Barbara Glenn offers a window into the young actor’s vulnerable state during a pivotal moment in his life and career. Cast by Elia Kazan in his film debut as Cal Trask, Dean was on the brink of stardom, yet here reveals a deep loneliness and artistic self-doubt. His affectionate reference to a newly acquired horse named Cisco—”the new member of the family”—and his profane dismissal of Kazan and others suggest his yearning for authenticity within an impersonal Hollywood system. The letter captures a candid and conflicted figure: James Dean at the threshold of fame, still emotionally tethered to the East Coast and to the woman he left behind.
Starting Bid $2,500
“It’s not a very good picture of him but that’s ‘Cisco the Kid,’ the new member of the family. He gives me confidence. He makes my hands and my heart strong.”
“Thomas C. Mapother IV,” aka Tom Cruise, endorses his UK ‘Certificate of Registration’ employment booklet during preproduction of Ridley Scott’s 1985 fantasy film Legend
Tom Cruise’s UK Certificate of Registration Booklet, Signed with His Given Name, “Thomas C. Mapother IV” - Issued for the Production of Ridley Scott’s Legend
Tom Cruise’s personal United Kingdom Certificate of Registration booklet, issued on March 6, 1984, when the actor was in England to star in Ridley Scott’s 1985 fantasy film Legend. The booklet, numbered ‘J 054769,’ 16 pages, 3.5 x 4.75, is signed in black ballpoint by Cruise on the inside front cover with his rare given name, “Thomas C. Mapother IV.” Stapled immediately above the signature is Cruise’s color semi-glossy 1.5 x 2 registration photo, which shows the young actor in a handsome front-facing pose, with a Thames Valley Police stamp dated to March 8, 1984. The balance of the booklet is filled out in a secretarial hand, which lists Cruise’s name, “Mapother Thomas Cruise,” nationality, “USC,” birth date and place, “3. 7. 62 in New York,” and marital status, “Single.” A subsequent page features a stamp authorizing “Seven Months” of legal employment for Cruise while residing in the United Kingdom, with annotations below indicating work location: “R/A Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Bucks, OCC Actor – Legend Production.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from JSA. The consignor notes that this booklet was presented by Cruise to a crew member following the production of Top Gun in 1985.
Famed actor Tom Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962. His childhood was marked by instability, with Cruise attending fifteen schools in fourteen years, and his father, Thomas Cruise Mapother III, was, as Cruise later described, ‘a merchant of chaos’ who bullied and belittled both him and his three sisters. After starring in his high school’s production of Guys and Dolls, Cruise moved to New York City to pursue acting at the age of 18, a decision supported by his mother, Mary Lee, and his new stepfather. At the behest of his agent, Thomas Cruise Mapother became ‘Tom Cruise,’ a shorter, more marketable name that dropped the baggage attached to his family’s surname.
After small roles in the movies Endless Love and Taps, Cruise landed a part in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, starring in an ensemble cast with promising young actors like Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Patrick Swayze. His big break came later that year with the release of Risky Business, a hugely successful teen comedy that earned Cruise the first Golden Globe Award nomination of his career. By early 1984, Cruise was one of the biggest young actors in Hollywood, and Ridley Scott’s top choice to star as the lead in his upcoming dark fantasy film, Legend.
Starting Bid $500
LOT 7094
Academy Award for Best Cinematography (1930)Oscar Statuette Presented to Clyde De Vinna for for White Shadows in the South Seas
Iconic original Oscar awarded to cinematographer Clyde De Vinna for the 1928 film White Shadows in the South Seas, directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres. The award trophy measures 12.5˝ tall with a base diameter of 5.5˝, and is engraved on a plaque on the base: “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences First Award 1929.” Embedded on the underside is a golden disc, further engraved: “AMPAS, 1929 Academy First Award to Clyde De Vinna for Distinguished Achievement in Cinematography of White Shadows of the South Seas.” In very good to fine condition, with some rubbing and tarnishing to the Oscar statuette.
This award was presented as part of the second annual Academy Awards, held at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on April 3, 1930, honoring films released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. It was the first ceremony to be broadcast on radio as a public event, and set the standard for future Academy Awards ceremonies—today an integral part of American arts and culture.
The MGM film White Shadows of the South Seas, released on November 10, 1928, was one of the first films to use a pre-recorded soundtrack: notably, it marked the first time that theatergoers heard the roar of Leo the Lion over the MGM banner at the beginning of the film. Based on Frederick O’Brien’s 1919 travel book of the same name, the movie was shot on location in Tahiti, some 4000 miles from Hollywood, a rarity for the time. The Tahitian landscape was sumptuously captured by cameramen Clyde De Vinna, Bob Roberts, and George Nogle—bringing to screen dramatic views of an exotic locale for which De Vinna earned this Oscar.
Oscars are arguably the most coveted of all Hollywood collectibles, and as the Academy lays claim to any awarded after 1950 they are very rarely available to the general public. As the most well-known and recognizable award in all of entertainment, an Oscar is the pinnacle of any pop culture collection.
Starting Bid $5,000
of the defining tracks of the 1980s
LOT 7095
Golden Globe for Best Original Song: ‘Flashdance... What a Feeling’ by Irene Cara (1983)
Original Golden Globe award for Best Original Song for “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” composed for the 1983 film Flashdance with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Keith Forsey and the song’s performer, Irene Cara. The award trophy measures 8.5˝ tall, with a 3˝ x 3˝ white marble base, with an engraved plaque on the front: “’Flashdance… What a Feeling,’ Best Original Song, Motion Picture, Music: Giorgio Moroder, Lyrics: Keith Forsey and Irene Cara, 1983, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, #8446.” The marble base is topped with the classic gilt metal globe wrapped in a film strip, with “HFPA” on the base. In very good condition, with wear to the gilt trophy. Consignor notes that this Golden Globe was awarded to Irene Cara, who co-wrote and performed the song.
“Flashdance… What a Feeling” is the iconic title song from the 1983 film Flashdance, performed by Irene Cara. The upbeat, synth-driven anthem captures the film’s themes of passion, determination, and self-expression, as it follows a young dancer pursuing her dreams. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100, won the Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and became one of the defining tracks of 1980s pop culture.
Starting Bid $1,000
LOT 7096
Tony Award for Best MusicalLa Cage aux Folles (1984)
Original American Theater Wing Antoinette Perry Award, commonly known as the ‘Tony,’ the medal measuring 3˝ in diameter and held in its original 8.25? tall stand, engraved on the reverse: “The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc., presents to Marvin A. Krauss, Best Musical—Producer, La Cage aux Folles, 1984.” The front of the medal features the traditional symbolic dramatic masks raised in relief, encircled with the text, “Antoinette Perry Award.” The black base measures 3.75˝ x 3.75˝ and bears an affixed plaque engraved, “American Theatre Wing Tony Award.” In fine condition.
The beloved musical, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics and music by Jerry Herman, follows a gay couple who—with one of them in drag—attempt to appear straight when meeting their son’s fiancee’s ultra-conservative parents. It was a smash hit after premiering on Broadway in August 1983, running for 1,761 performances before closing four years later. The production was nominated for nine Tony Awards and took home six, including the highest prize, Best Musical, as represented here. La Cage aux Folles has since been revived on Broadway twice, each time winning multiple Tonys (including Best Revival of a Musical). An ideal example of one of entertainment’s most prestigious awards.
Starting Bid $1,000
Remarkable photographic archive of over 7,500
an exhaustive four-decade journey spanning generations of screen stars, music icons, sports heroes, and other famous figures
LOT 7097
Celebrity Polaroid Collection of Over 7,500 Signed Candid Photographs
Incredible collection of over 7,500 celebrity-signed Polaroid photographs assembled by in-person autograph collector Marlayne Elise Ances, who collected these autographs at various political events, music concerts, Broadway plays, sporting events, and other social engagements during a run of 45 years—from the early 1970s through to 2015. The diverse collection consists exclusively of glossy color snapshots, the majority 3.5 x 4.25 and signed in the lower border in felt tip, with only a small population bearing inscriptions. Astonishing in its size and scope, the collection boasts an unparalleled array of candid celebrity autograph signings, each serving as a visual testament to their authenticity and the diligent, tireless efforts of their collector. Ances, in her exhaustive pursuit, obtained an enormous amount of signatures, from future superstars to established legends, crossing several generations of screen idols, music icons, sports heroes, and other famous figures.
In overall fine condition. Due to the nature of the Polaroid process, some of the images are irregularly developed. A larger list, albeit incomplete, can be found online at RRAuction.com. Interested parties are encouraged to view the collection in person at our offices or call us with specific inquiries, as this collection is sold as is and no returns will be accepted. The collector, Marlayne Ances, was a founding life-time member of the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle as well as a delegate from Haddonfield, New Jersey. Welcomed by both parties at the Capital Building and the White House, Ances attended briefings and meetings in the Oval Office with Presidents Reagan, Ford, and both Bushes. Both she and her husband, Dr. George Ances, a prominent obstetrician for over 60 years at Cooper Hospital in the Philadelphia area, were members of the United Nations, MOMA, the Kennedy Center, and many other foundations. As collectors, the Ances attended the Academy Awards and the Tony Awards yearly, in addition to countless sporting events, plays, concerts, book signings, guest lectures, movie sets, award ceremonies, etc. If there was a crowd, Marlayne Ances was likely in the middle, pen in hand, Polaroid camera around her neck, and a big smile on her face.
Starting Bid $1,000
A sampling of highlights
Hollywood: Audrey Hepburn, Martin Scorsese, Robin Williams, Christopher Reeve, David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Patrick Swayze, Warren Beatty, Morgan Freeman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks, Liam Neeson, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon, Samuel L. Jackson, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Roy E. Disney, Michael Douglas, Robert Downey, Jr., Helen Mirren, Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Quentin Tarantino, Natasha Richardson, Alan Rickman, John Waters, Peter O’Toole, John Turturro, Milton Berle, Julie Andrews, Tim Curry, Willem Dafoe, Ted Danson, Larry David, Mia Farrow, Jamie Foxx, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Giamatti, Mark Hamill, Carl Weathers, Sigourney Weaver, Selma Hayek, Ian McKellen, Russ Meyers, Jon-Erik Hexum, Eric Idle, Hugh Jackman, J. K. Simmons, Shirley MacLaine, John Malkovich, Will Ferrell, Demi Moore, Chuck Norris, Gregory Peck, Dave Prowse, Bob Saget, Tom Selleck, Martin Sheen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Shue, Robert Stack, Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Steenburgen, Rod Steiger, Donald Sutherland, and Kiefer Sutherland.
Music: Eddie Van Halen, Robert Plant, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Chris Cornell, John Denver, John Entwistle, Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Grace Slick, Peter Frampton, Aretha Franklin, George Jones, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Thom Yorke, Dave Matthews, Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Dizzy Gillespie, Green Day, Dave Grohl, Tony Iommi, Dolores O’Riordan, Pete Best, Trent Reznor, Tiny Tim, Jay-Z, Joan Baez, Tony Bennett, Bjork, Jon Bon Jovi, June Carter Cash, Buddy Guy, Anthony Keidis, B. B. King, Christina McVie, John McVie, Blind Melon, Graham Nash, Willie Nelson, Krist Novoselic, Les Paul, Luciano Pavarotti, Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten, Carlos Santana, Carly Simon, Steven Stills, Styx, James Taylor, Robin Trower, Steven Tyler, Alex Van Halen, Charlie Watts, Bobby Weir, John Williams, Angus Young, Frank Zappa, and Warren Zevon.
Sports: Kobe Bryant, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Roger Bannister, Jim Brown, Dale Earnhardt, Wayne Gretzky, Tony Hawk, Larry Holmes, Ernie Banks, Evander Holyfield, Gordie Howe, Derek Jeter, Mario Lemieux, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Unitas, Lefty Gomez, Bobby Hull, Brett Hull, John Madden, Troy Aikman, John McEnroe, Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Pete Sampras, Sam Snead.
Others: Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, John DeLorean, George Carlin, Anthony Bourdain, Paul Tibbets, Peter Benchley, Steve Wozniak, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ray Bradbury, Maurice Sendak, Rodney Dangerfield, Dave Chapelle, Gene Cernan, Jesse Ventura, Sinbad, and Chuck Yeager.
Gambling set and five-shot revolver from the collection of Poker Alice, an American West folk legend who dealt faro at the infamous Ford’s
gun, Hopkins & Allens XL #4… was given to Alice Duffield (Poker Alice) by Bob Ford, the man who shot Jesse James”
LOT 7098
Poker Alice’s Traveling Gambling Set and Hopkins & Allen No. 4 Revolver, a Present from Jesse James Assassin Robert Ford
Historical Wild West artifacts from the personal collection of Alice Ivers, more famously known as Poker Alice, a legendary cigar-smoking, gun-toting gambler and brothel owner in the American West, which includes her Hopkins & Allen No. 4 Spur Trigger revolver, a present from her then-employer, Jesse James assassin Robert Ford, and her original traveling gambling set, a gift from her second husband, Warren G. Tubbs, both of which were won from Alice in a game of faro by John Logan, a postal inspector from Sturgis, South Dakota, who frequented Alice’s gambling parlor as a youth.The pistol, a Hopkins & Allen No. 4 Spur Trigger .38 five-shot revolver, Serial No. A676, is of standard configuration with a partly clipped front sight and simple floral engraving throughout. The mother-of-pearl grips are engraved “To Alice Duffeild” [sic] on the left scale, and the right is inscribed, “From Bob Ford.” The top strap is stamped, “Hopkins & Allen Mfg. Co., XL No. 4, Pat. Mar. 23, 1873.” The gun, which is accompanied by its small period leather holster, was given to Alice by Robert Ford circa 1892 when the former was working as a faro dealer in Ford’s famed gambling and dance hall, Ford’s Exchange in Creede, Colorado. Ford gifted Alice the revolver as a show of his appreciation for her fair dealing and honesty. Not much longer after presenting this set to Ivers, Ford, at the age of 30, was shot and killed at his saloon by Edward Capehart O’Kelley on June 8, 1892.After Ford was shot by Edward O’Kelley, Alice left for Bachelor City and then Deadwood. In Deadwood, she adopted her trademark cigar and met Warren Tubbs, another dealer and local player whom she eventually married around 1890. It was during this time that Tubbs presented Alice with the offered traveling gambling set. The set, which features a beautiful rosewood case measuring 15.75˝ x 5.5˝ x 13.25˝, features a small engraved plaque to the underside of the lid, which simply reads, “Alice Tubbs.” The set is well-equipped for a variety of games, and includes a small mirror with a woman’s portrait on the rear, a leather dice cup, an autogiro, a set of dominos, numerous decks of cards, chips, a faro box, a celluloid game marker, a Brigaid cardholder, a small leather case filled with dice, an Elgin stopwatch, and various tops. The set was made by Will & Finck, a San Francisco-based company established in 1864, which earned the moniker ‘Tiffany of the West’ due to its reputation for crafting high-quality and exquisite goods.
Towards the end of her life, needing money for medical expenses, Alice turned to selling her old revolver and gambling set to John Logan, a postal inspector who played faro with her. Logan, hard up with a pregnant wife, couldn’t afford such trophies. Instead, he offered to play her for it. Alice accepted, lost, handed over the gun and gambling set, and, not much later, died at the age of 79 on February 27, 1930.
Accompanied by a notarized letter from Cathy Logan-Small, John Logan’s daughter, which reads, in part: “My father visited Poker Alice’s gambling parlor and whorehouse, when he was very young. Often my father played Faro with Poker Alice, during which he won Poker Alice’s gambling set. The gun, Hopkins & Allens XL #4, (serial # A676), was given to Alice Duffield (Poker Alice) by Bob Ford; the man who shot Jesse James. She was a dealer for Ford and knew him well. She told my father many stories about her dealings.” Also included with the lot is a tintype of one of the prostitutes employed by Alice, various ephemera and publications about Alice, which includes an issue of Gun Journal from October 1995, which contains a six-page article on Alice and the story of the gun and gambling set.
The gun is in overall very good condition, and retains the vast majority of the nickel finish with some spotted oxidation and softened engraving from age. Normal Hopkins & Allen markings, engraving on grips is legible but needs to be rolled in light to see completely. Numbers are matching on the interior of the frame and inside of grips. Mechanically fine, bore has strong rifling and some frosting throughout. Holster is good, with stitching broken across the back down to the toe, some crazing, and stains; leather is pliable. The gambling set is also very good, with a bent front clasp, one crack running across the top joint, and contents appropriately showing age-related distress and some evidence of use.
Starting Bid $1,000
“To my dear friend Dr. K. Phillips from Al & Mae & Sonny & Ruth, Al Capone”— a pictorial present for Capone’s primary physician, depicting the Capone family in front of their Palm Island mansion
LOT 7099
Al Capone Signed Photograph of the Capone Family in Palm Island, Presented to Capone’s Primary Physician (1941)
Superb original glossy 4.5 x 2.75 photo of the Capone family, picturing Al Capone posing with his wife, Mae, their son, Albert Francis ‘Sonny’ Capone, and Sonny’s wife, Ruth, in front of Capone’s Palm Island mansion in Miami Beach, signed and inscribed on the reverse in bold fountain pen, “To my dear friend Dr. K. Phillips from Al & Mae & Sonny & Ruth, Al Capone.” The reverse is stamped “17” and dated in pencil to “1941.” In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
The recipient, Kenneth Phillips, was the primary physician for both Al and Mae Capone when they lived in Miami, Florida. Phillips, who had been with the family since 1927, first treated Mae for her syphilis before also tending to her husband, whose neurosyphilis, a consequence of the disease going untreated, significantly impacted Capone’s mental capacity. In 1942, after mass production of penicillin was started in the United States, Capone was one of the first American patients treated by the new drug. Though it was too late for him to reverse the damage to his brain, it did slow down the progression of the disease. The Marc and Mary Perkins Collection.
Starting Bid $1,000
Impressive photographic archive belonging to Nellie May Barrow, the beloved older sister of Clyde Barrow, containing nearly 600 photographs of the Barrow family, including over 40 period photos of
Bonnie and Clyde Period Photograph Archive (500+) from the Personal Collection of Nellie May Barrow, the Older Sister of Clyde Barrow
Extensive ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ photograph archive from the personal collection of Nell May Barrow, the older sister of Clyde Barrow, an American outlaw from Texas who, with his girlfriend and accomplice, Bonnie Parker, committed several bank robberies and murders during the ‘public enemy era’ of the Great Depression. The archive comprises five photo and scrapbook albums containing approximately 600 photographs of the Barrow family, their friends, and neighbors, with between 50 and 60 examples depicting Bonnie and Clyde, several of which undoubtedly once belonged to Clyde Barrow. Some of the offered photos were used as illustrations in the 1934 biography Fugitives: The Story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, which was co-authored by Nellie Barrow and Emma Parker, Bonnie’s mother.
The photograph albums are as follows:
Publisher’s ‘dummy’ of the book Fugitives: The Story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, 5.25 x 7.75, which has been repurposed as a photo album and contains over 125 period photographs, approximately 40 of which picture Bonnie and/or Clyde, with several others showing brother Marvin ‘Buck’ Barrow (and wife Blanche) and numerous gang members, such as Raymond Hamilton, W. D. Jones, and Henry Methvyn, the likely betrayer of Bonnie & Clyde. The photos, most approximately 3 x 4 or 4 x 3, are either glued or taped into the album.
Red cord-bound photograph album, 13.25 x 10.25, containing over 260 photographs dating from the 1930s and 1940s. The album features four photos of Clyde Barrow, one of his brother Buck, and numerous gang members. Also of note is a portrait of Nell, which she has signed
and inscribed to her brother, “To Clyde, with love, your sis, Nell.” The inclusion of the latter photo is a strong indication that some of the photos were the personal property of Clyde Barrow himself. The photos, several of which picture Nell, are taped onto the album pages.
Suede-covered photo album with bull and matador illustration, 7.75 x 5.25, holding over 80 snapshots dating from the 1925-1931 period. The album features two photos of Clyde Barrow (one of him in front of a bullet-riddled traffic sign, and another posing in front of a Buick ‘Tulsa’ automobile), as well as photos of Nell and Clyde’s parents. The album was a souvenir from a trip to Villa Acuna, Mexico.
Brown string-bound photo album that was formerly the property of Millie Hale, 8 x 6, featuring over 110 photos, many colorized, which also includes several tintypes. The photographs, which appear to date from World War I to the early 1940s, include one 2 x 3 photo of a young Clyde Barrow dressed as a clown with two friends, as well as four photos of Clyde’s father, Henry Basil Barrow. Some of the images may depict Hollis Hale, a member of the Bonnie and Clyde gang.
Also included is a vintage string-bound scrapbook, 10.25 x 12.75, containing over 40 pages of period newspaper clippings related to 1930s criminals like Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger, apparently assembled in 1934; 30+ pages feature articles on Bonnie and Clyde, and eight pages harbor clippings on Dillinger. Other items in the scrapbook include a photo of the exterior of the Capitol Theater in Dallas showing a film on the ‘Barrow-Parker Killing,’ Clyde Barrow’s fingerprint card, a photo of Bonnie and Clyde kissing, an image of the six “Officers Who Brought Down Bonnie and Clyde,” two photos of the bullet-riddled getaway car, and more. In overall very good to fine condition.
Starting Bid $1,000
“I was investigated on the charge of alleged membership in the Communist party”—
Julius Rosenberg, the Cold War’s most notorious spy, pledges allegiance, citing “loyalty, patriotism and devotion to my country”
Julius Rosenberg Document
Signed on His Signal Corps SuspensionAmerica’s Most Notorious Spy Claims “Loyalty, Patriotism and Devotion to My Country”
American electrical engineer and one of the most notorious spies in U.S. history (1918–1953). After earning an electrical engineering degree in 1939, he married Ethel Greenglass and took a civilian position with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1940. By 1942, Rosenberg was spying for the Soviet Union, passing classified materials—including proximity fuze designs—and recruiting others, including his brotherin-law David Greenglass, who relayed information from the Manhattan Project. Rosenberg was dismissed from his job in 1945 and arrested in 1950 after Greenglass implicated him during an atomic espionage investigation. Convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953. DS, signed “Julius Rosenberg,” two pages, 8 x 11, February 13, 1945. Confidential document submitted to Signal Corps commanding officer Lt. Col. Frank Prina, on the subject of his “Indefinite Suspension” stemming from the discovery of his past ties to the Communist Party; Rosenberg was ultimately dismissed as a result.
In part: “Reference is made to letter dated 10 February 1945 suspending me indefinitely pending action by the Secretary of War on a recommendation by you for my removal from civil service employment… The charge as listed in paragraph #3 of letter is: ‘Investigation has disclosed evidence of membership by you in the Communist party’… Since September 2, 1945, I have been in the employ of the Signal Corps. During this period I received three promotions and my periodic efficiency ratings were either ‘good’ or ‘very good.’ In the course of my work I have been Resident Inspector in Charge at Peter A. Petroff and Jefferson Travis Radio Manufacturing Corporation, and Assistant Resident Inspector in Charge at Emerson Radio and Phonograph Corporation. At times I have supervised the work of as many as fifty inspectors and engineers on receivers, transmitters, electronic and complicated radar equipment at many different contractors’ plants… There never has been any question as to my efficiency, technical ability or character. I refer you to all the contractors and their representatives at whose plants I’ve been stationed, to all my former Resident Inspectors in Charge and my former Officers in Charge, as to my technical ability, efficiency and character; they can testify also as to my loyalty, patriotism and devotion to my country…
In the early part of 1941, I was investigated on the charge of alleged membership in the Communist party by the Civil Service Commission but after thorough investigation the extent of the charge was found to be that I held membership in the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians to which I readily admitted. Mr. Polk, the civil service investigator terminated my questioning on March 8, 1941 as follows: ‘I personally don’t think you are a Communist and I believe all the answers you gave during the interviews were truthful.’ These charges were finally dropped…
I don’t see why after four and a half years of conscientious work this old and discredited charge should be revitalized. It only serves to persecute me, prevents me from making my contribution to the war effort as an electronic engineer and earning my livelihood in the established American way, and thereby denies me my inalienable right to maintain myself, my wife and child…
My suspension places me in a position whereby I am not only prevented from earning any money on this job, but cannot seek my livelihood elsewhere without a statement of availability. It is extremely urgent therefore that you act immediately to reinstate me on the job and clear my record. This action is all the more exigent in view of the financial hardship my family and I must suffer until the matter is satisfactorily settled. Furthermore, as long as my position is not clear, I may be momentarily drafted into the armed services, thereby losing the chance to refute the charges and bring the issue to a successful conclusion… Therefore I request a prompt decision on my behalf to rectify the situation in the interest of justice and fair play.” In very good condition, with tape stains, tears, and small areas of loss to the edges. At the height of World War II, Rosenberg had been working as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, entrusted with overseeing sensitive electronics projects. However, in an era increasingly marked by fear of Communist infiltration—particularly in positions tied to national defense—his past membership in the Communist Party and related labor organizations drew official scrutiny. This letter, addressed to his commanding officer, is a detailed plea for reinstatement following his indefinite suspension, which was based on revived allegations about his political past. Rosenberg frames his dismissal as unjust persecution, citing his technical competence, loyalty, and prior clearance by investigators. Historically, this document foreshadows the deepening of Cold War tensions and anti-Communist sentiment that would later culminate in Rosenberg’s arrest, conviction, and execution for espionage in 1953.
Starting Bid $500
Omega Speedmaster Professional 18K Gold Apollo 11 Commemorative Watch - From the Personal Collection of Dave Scott
Dave Scott’s personally-owned and -worn 18K solid yellow gold Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph wristwatch (Ref. BA 145.022), presented to him at a special gala dinner on November 25, 1969, at the Hotel Warwick in Houston. Omega initially created 26 of these gold commemorative watches—known as the ‘Tribute to Astronauts’ watch—to present to NASA astronauts alive and deceased, with the caseback of each watch specially engraved with a quote, the name and missions of the astronaut, and a unique number relative to when the astronaut flew into space. Issued as “No. 16,” this watch’s caseback is engraved, “Astronaut David R. Scott, Gemini 8 - Apollo 9,” with his later role on “Apollo 15” added above by Omega. The special central quote reads: “To mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time.”
The first gold Speedmaster that Omega created, the watch features an 18K gold case with the same design cues and dimensions as the regular steel Speedmaster Professional. The gold bezel has a burgundy red aluminum inlay, with the famous ‘dot over ninety,’ and a special solid gold dial, indicated by the “OM” next to “Swiss Made,” which means ‘Or Massif’ or ‘solid gold.’ The hour markers are made of onyx, have two facets each, and are set in gold frames. The hands are black with gold centers and give wonderful contrast to the solid gold dial. The gold bracelet (1116/575) features hollow links and a small 14mm gold clasp with striping decoration. Inside the 18K gold 42mm case ticks the Lemania-based copper-colored chronograph caliber 861 with a steel brake; this caliber 861 has a ticking speed of 21,600vph and uses 17 jewels. In fine cosmetic condition, with a few minor scuffs from frequent wear; Scott notes that the watch was once professionally cleaned but has never been restored.
Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance signed by Dave Scott, in part: “I hereby certify that the Omega Gold Presentation Watch...Case Serial No. 16, included with this letter was presented to me by the Omega Watch Company at a gat dinner at the Hotel Warwick in Houston, TX, on November 25, 1969. This 18k solid yellow gold Omega Speedmaster Professional BA 145.022 has been in my personal possession since then…
Continued from previous page.
“to
with time, through time, on time”
This watch was presented to me by the Omega watch company at the special gala dinner on November 25, 1969, at the Hotel Warwick in Houston Texas—known as the ‘Tribute to Astronauts’. This was an elegant black-tie event attended by 19 Apollo astronauts as well as senior NASA managers, leading government officials and prominent local and Texas individuals. During the dinner, a formal presentation of the 18K gold Omega Speedmaster watches was made to each of the 19 astronauts in attendance, whereby each astronaut was recognized individually for his contribution to the success of the Apollo program, and especially Apollo 11.
Omega presented 26 of these gold commemorative watches to NASA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts alive and deceased. The group included all astronauts who had flown on flights prior to and including the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Subsequently the remaining 7 gold watches were presented to those astronauts unable to attend the dinner due to official duties, e.g., as an example, the Apollo 12 crew were still in quarantine after having returned to Earth on November 24, 1969 (a mission on which I was backup Commander)…It should be noted that at the request of Omega, because Apollo 15 was flown after the November 1969 presentation (July-August 1971), Omega requested my watch to be returned for the engraving of ‘Apollo 15.’ The watch has been professionally cleaned one time but not restored. All other parts are original to the timepiece…
As an example of the many post -flight celebration events during which I wore this watch, on Aug. 24, New York City welcomed Scott, Worden, and Irwin with an hour-long motorcade down Fifth Avenue with thousands of well-wishers lining the route. Mayor John V. Lindsay welcomed them on the steps of City Hall, saying, ‘You have shown us again that Americans working together can turn great dreams into reality.’…
I also wore this watch during the many other celebration events after Apollo 15 that continued for many months to highlight the scientific aspects of the Apollo 15 mission for government officials, scientists, students, the media, and the general public. These events included each of the major Apollo contractors in the US, six European countries, and a special State Department Goodwill visit to Poland and Yugoslavia, the second official US visit to East European countries after WWII.”
After the moon-flown Omega Speedmaster Pros—property of the United States government—these Apollo XI commemorative 18K gold chronographs stand at the forefront of space watch lore. Issued in an extremely limited number to commemorate the Apollo 11 landing, the first twenty-eight watches produced were reserved for President Richard Nixon (#1) and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (#2), followed by the 26 astronauts who paved the way for the moon landings in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. These early watches all feature the special central engraving, “To mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time.” The publicly available version of the watch (numbers 33–1000) was issued with a caseback commemorating Apollo 11 and the Speedmaster’s status as ‘the first watch worn on the moon.’ Omega returned to the special engraving for the astronaut watches later issued to the crews of Apollo 14–17.
The elusive gold astronaut chronograph also takes a place as the most expensive Speedmaster Pro ever sold: in October 2022, RR Auction sold Wally Schirra’s example of the Apollo 11 commemorative 18K gold Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph watch (Ref. BA 145.022) for nearly $2 million. Unlike Schirra’s, this example was owned by a moonwalker who followed in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin—whose lunar footprints served as the impetus for the gold watch’s creation. A remarkable example of this historic and iconic timepiece, direct from the collection of its astronaut owner.
Starting Bid $25,000
Signed Sketch of the Statue of Liberty
Eminent French sculptor (1834–1904) best known for designing the Statue of Liberty. Amazing original ink sketch of the Statue of Liberty accomplished by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi on an off-white 5.5 x 8 sheet, signed and inscribed above in French (translated): “The Hotel des Bergues was for me an old childhood memory and I felt great pleasure in finding in its excellent location all the charm of the past. Geneva, September 12, 1892, Bartholdi.” He also signs the remarkable landscape drawing of the Statue of Liberty—towering over in New York Harbor, torch held high, symbolizing liberty to all observers—with a shortened monogram version of his signature. In fine condition.
The Statue of Liberty was conceived by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi as a symbol of freedom and democracy, gifted to the United States to commemorate their shared values and friendship. Constructed with an iron framework by Gustave Eiffel and clad in copper, the colossal statue was completed in France and then shipped to New York Harbor. Dedicated on October 28, 1886, the statue stands as an enduring beacon of hope and liberty, welcoming immigrants and visitors from around the world.
Starting Bid $1,000
“Through no fault of mine (I hope) I have become in the minds of some people a legendary figure, something like Santa Claus, who has accomplished more or less impossible things and is able to perform more of them. The sober truth is quite different”
Albert Einstein Typed Letter Signed: “I have become in the minds of some people a legendary figure, something like Santa Claus”
TLS signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.5 x 11, blindstamped personal Princeton letterhead, January 5, 1954. Letter to Margaret Sanders Adams, the daughter of KFC founder Col. Harland Sanders, replying to a five-page letter in which she prompts him with a litany of philosophical questions and ideas about science, religion, peace, and universal brotherhood; she makes mention of her work in sculpture and notes that Otto Nathan saw her “reading [Einstein’s] books at the Library of Congress and made himself known to me. He has been so kind as to offer to bring my letter in person.”
The essential question she poses to Einstein is thus: “You said that your Unified Field Theory would enable mankind to explain the multiferous phenomena of nature in terms of a single edifice of cosmic law. Is not this a mathematical structure that the religieux calls by the name ‘GOD’? The scientist builds it through mathematics to prove the absolute. The religieux accepts it on faith and starts from there.”
Einstein replies, in full: “I feel somewhat unhappy reading your kind letter of December 17th. Through no fault of mine (I hope) I have become in the minds of some people a legendary figure, something like Santa Claus, who has accomplished more or less impossible things and is able to perform more of them. The sober truth is quite different.
Concerning my last theory which took me many years to bring into conviction: I have to say the following: it is a system of equations, simple from the logical point of view, established in the hope that it may be the general field law. But due to mathematical difficulties which seem, for the time being, insurmountable, I have not the slightest guilt to assert that this system will fulfill this expectation. Nor will this probably be known in a possible future, I regret, therefore, very strongly the fact that the press, always hungry for news made a big noise about it. Most of the physicists of today do not believe that my way is hopeful or even reasonable.
All this being so, as I have truly said it, any attempt of mine to teach the people what they should believe or do, would be out of place, even ridiculous. The truth is that I feel not so absolutely sure that I know the right answers to those all-important questions. The only thing I feel sure of is that the actions and even the judgements of men are more determined by their wishes and instincts than by rational thought—a fact to which we have to bow in resignation.” In fine condition.
Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, a copy of Adams’s original letter to Einstein, a copy of her proposed reply, and two ALSs by Otto Nathan concerning their correspondence. In the first, dated January 11, 1954, he writes: “I thought Professor E’s letter to you was very interesting and very characteristic of him and his way of thinking. And while it is not exactly what you desired, it is an answer to the question which you had asked.” In the second, dated April 25, 1954, he mentions visiting Einstein and recommends that she not send a new letter: “I talked with him at length about his works and the present stage of his deliberations. I have become quite convinced in my own mind to suggest to you not to mail your new letter for the time being. I am sure he would add nothing to his previous letter to you (of January 5, 54).”
Also includes a copy of Margaret Sanders Adams’s memoir, The Colonel’s Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter, in which she relates the conception, creation, and delivery (by Otto Nathan) of her letter to Einstein. She notes: “From the very beginning I had only dared to hope to someday have what I wrote published as an ‘open letter’ to Dr. Einstein, but far beyond all imaginable expectations, here before me stood Einstein’s personal friend, willing to act as my courier, to take him a personal letter from me! I spent that night putting my hypothesis into a personal letter. Dr. Nathan delivered it and in a short time, I had an answer in the mail from Einstein himself. I have kept the two letters in my lock box since 1953 for safe keeping, and they shall remain there until I am shown the propitious time to publish them.”
Starting Bid $1,000
ANYONE EITHER REGISTERING TO BID OR PLACING A BID (“BIDDER”) ACCEPTS THESE CONDITIONS OF SALE AND ENTERS INTO A LEGALLY, BINDING, ENFORCEABLE AGREEMENT WITH R&R AUCTION COMPANY OF MASSACHUSETTS, LLC (“RR AUCTION”) TOGETHER WITH BIDDER, THE “PARTIES”).
This Agreement contains important provisions that control rights and liabilities, and specifically has provisions governing how disputes are handled as well as LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY that can be imposed upon RR Auction, WAIVER OF JURY and ARBITRATION PROVISIONS. This acknowledgement is a material term of these Conditions of Sale and of the consideration under which RR Auction agrees to these terms. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.
The following terms and conditions (“Conditions of Sale”) constitute the sole terms and conditions under which RR Auction will offer for sale and sell the property on its website, and/or described in the catalog of items for auction (the “Catalog”). These Conditions of Sale constitute a binding agreement between the Parties with respect to the auction in which Bidder participates (the “Auction”). By bidding at the Auction, whether in person, through an agent or representative, by telephone, facsimile, online, absentee bid, or by any other form of bid or by any other means, Bidder acknowledges the thorough reading and understanding of all of these Conditions of Sale, all descriptions of items in the Catalog, and all matters incorporated herein by reference, and agrees to be fully bound thereby.
Section 1
The Parties1.1 RR Auction and Auction
This Auction is presented by RR Auction, a d/b/a/ of R&R Auction Company of Massachusetts, LLC, as identified with the applicable licensing information on the title page of the Catalog or on the www.RRauction. com Internet site. The Auction is conducted under these Conditions of Sale. Announcements and corrections from the podium at live auctions and those made through the Conditions of Sale appearing on the Internet at RRauction.com supersede those in the printed Catalog.
1.2 Bidder
Bidder shall mean the original Bidder on the property offered for sale by RR Auction and not any subsequent owner or other person who may acquire or have acquired an interest therein. If Bidder is an agent, the agency must be disclosed in writing to RR Auction prior to the time of sale, otherwise the benefits of the warranty shall be limited to the agent and not transferable to the undisclosed principal.
The rights granted to Bidder under these Conditions of Sale are personal and may not be assigned or transferred to any other person or entity, whether by operation of law or otherwise without the express written assent of RR Auction. Bidder may not transfer, assign, or otherwise convey these Conditions of Sale or any of the rights herein, and such purported transfer, assignment, or conveyance shall be null and void. No third party may rely on any benefit or right conferred on any Bidder by these Conditions of Sale, and no third party is intended as a beneficiary of these Conditions of Sale.
Bids will not be accepted from minor persons under eighteen (18) years of age without a parent or legal guardian’s written consent containing an acknowledgment of the Conditions of Sale herein and indicating their agreement to be bound thereby on behalf of the Bidder.
All Bidders must meet RR Auction’s qualifications to bid. Any Bidder who is not a client in good standing of RR Auction may be disqualified at RR Auction’s sole option and will not be awarded lots. Such determination may be made by RR Auction in its sole and unlimited discretion, at any time prior to, during, or even after the close of the Auction. RR Auction reserves the right to exclude any person from the Auction.
If an entity places a bid, then the person executing the bid on behalf of the entity agrees to personally guarantee payment for any successful bid and
agrees to be bound by these Conditions of Sale in addition to company for whom the Bidder is acting
By accepting the Conditions of Sale, Bidder personally and unconditionally guarantees payment.
2.1 In order to place bids, Bidders who have not established an account with RR Auction must either furnish satisfactory credit information (including two collectibles-related business references) or supply additional information if requested, well in advance of the Auction. Bidders who are not members of RRAuction.com should pre-register before the close of the Auction to allow adequate time to contact references. Privileges will be granted at the sole discretion of RR Auction. Additionally, Bidders who have not previously established credit or who wish to bid in excess of their established credit history may be required to provide a cash deposit prior to RR Auction’s acceptance of a bid. Check writing privileges and immediate delivery of merchandise may also be determined by pre-approval of credit based on a combination of criteria: RRAuction.com history, related industry references, bank verification, a credit bureau report and/or a personal guarantee for a corporate or partnership entity in advance of the Auction venue.
2.2 Bidder providing any false or misleading information provided in connection with the registration shall be a material breach of the Conditions of Sale and in addition to any other remedies at law shall excuse RR Auction from performance under these Conditions of Sale, including the right to any refund.
2.2 Bidding privileges may be revoked without notice, for any reason, at the sole discretion of RR Auction .
Section 3
3.1 The Bidder acknowledges and agrees that a 25% buyer’s premium will be added to the hammer price on all individual lots sold in timed and live Auctions. . For payment other than by cash, delivery will not be made unless and until full payment has been received by RR Auction, i.e., check or wired funds have fully cleared. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, signed by RR Auction, payment in full is due within thirteen (13) calendar days of the Auction or within twelve (12) calendar days of the invoice date, whichever is earlier. Bidder’s failure to pay any payment in full when due required shall constitute a material breach, and in addition to other damages available under contract or law, at RR Auction’s election, RR Auction may cancel the sale and require full premium still be due along with interest at 1.5% per month from the date of breach, or at the maximum legally allowable rate.
Section 4
Bidding
4.1 Each Bidder’s determination of its bid should be based upon its own examination of the item(s) and independent investigation, rather than the any reliance as to what is represented in the Catalog, online or elsewhere. Bidder affirms that it regards any statements made by RR Auction concerning the item as solely opinion and that Bidder is making its own inspection and independent evaluation of the goods, and is not relying upon any description or statements by RR Auction (including as to quality, authenticity, provenance, ownership, liens existing, on goods legality, or value) in making its determination to bid on or purchase an item. In any purchase or sale, the value of the item(s) is determined by the price. THE BIDDER HEREBY ASSUMES ALL RISKS CONCERNING ANY AND ALL PURCHASES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
4.2 RR AUCTION IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ERRORS IN BIDDING. A Bidder should make certain to bid on the correct lot and that the bid is the maximum (plus the Buyer’s Premium) that the Bidder is willing and able to pay. Since other Bidders (by mail, facsimile, online, and in person) will be present, and since a re-offering could damage the momentum of the sale, once the hammer has fallen and RR Auction has announced the winning Bidder, such Bidder is unconditionally bound to pay for the lot,
even if the Bidder has made a mistake.
4.3 All prospective Bidders who examine lots in person prior to the sale shall personally assume all responsibility for any damage they cause in so doing. RR Auction shall have sole discretion in determining the value of the damage caused, which shall be promptly paid by the prospective Bidder.
4.4 Title to any lot remains with Consignor, any secured party of the Consignor, or assignee of Consignor, as the case may be, until the lot is paid for in full by Bidder and Bidder has fully satisfied any outstanding financial obligations to RR Auction (including as it concerns aby other lots). RR Auction reserves the right to require payment in full before delivering any lot to the successful Bidder.
4.5 It is the Bidder’s responsibility and obligation to have the lots fully insured while in their possession. Bidder assumes any and all risk of loss upon the earlier of shipment to Bidder or in Bidder’s possession.
4.6 Bidder grants to RR Auction or its assigns the right to offset any sums due, or found to be due by RR Auction, and to make such offset from any past, subsequent or future consignment, or items acquired by Bidder in possession or control of RR Auction or from any sums due to Bidder by RR Auction. Bidder further grants RR Auction a lien consisting of a senior security interest (or purchase money security interest to the extent applicable) in such sums or items to the fullest extent applicable, authorizes RR Auction to file documents concerning the interest, and Bidder agrees to execute any further documents as may be reasonably necessary to grant RR Auction such security interest. Bidder agrees that RR Auction and its assigns shall be a secured party with respect to items bought by Bidder and in the possession of RR Auction, to the extent of the maximum indebtedness, plus all accrued fees and expenses, until the indebtedness is paid.
4.7 By bidding in this sale, Bidder personally and unconditionally guarantees payment. The authorized representative of any corporate Bidder who is present at the sale shall provide RR Auction or its agent, prior to the commencement of the bidding (or at the time of registration), with a statement signed by a principal, director or officer that they he or she personally and unconditionally guarantees any payment due RR Auction.
4.8 RR Auction may at its sole and absolute discretion, make loans or advances to Consignors and/or prospective Bidders.
Section 5
Bidding Options
5.1 Non-Internet bids (including but not limited to in-person, facsimile, phone and mail bids) are treated similarly to floor bids in that they must be on-increment. Any in-person, facsimile, phone, or mail bids that do not conform to a full increment will be rounded up or down to the nearest full increment and this revised amount will be considered Bidder’s high bid.
5.2 When identical bids are submitted, preference is given to the first received. To ensure the greatest accuracy, written bids should be entered on the standard printed bid sheet and be received at RR Auction’s place of business at least twenty-four (24) hours before the Auction start. RR Auction is not responsible for executing mail bids or facsimile bids received on or after the day the first lot is sold, nor Internet bids submitted after the published closing time; nor is RR Auction responsible for proper execution of bids submitted by telephone, mail, facsimile, e-mail, Internet, or in person once the Auction begins.
5.3 In all Auctions, bids on an item must raise the current high bid by at least 10%, or as specified on a per-Auction basis. Bids will be accepted in whole dollar amounts only. No “buy” or “unlimited” bids will be accepted. In a live sale, bids on an item can change at the discretion of RR Auction.
5.4 RR Auction reserves the right to accept or decline any bid. Bids must be for an entire lot and each lot constitutes a separate sale. All bids are per lot unless otherwise announced. Live auction lots will be sold in their numbered sequence unless RR Auction directs otherwise. It is unlawful and illegal for Bidders to collude, pool, or agree with another Bidder to pay less than the fair value for lot(s). For live auctions, RR Auction will have final discretion in the event that any dispute should arise between Bidders. RR Auction will determine the successful Bidder, cancel the sale,
or re-offer and resell the lot or lots in dispute. RR Auction will have final discretion to resolve any disputes arising after the sale and in online auctions. If any dispute arises, RR Auction’s sale record is conclusive.
6.1 Subject to fulfillment of all of the Conditions of Sale set forth herein, upon the sooner of (1) the passing of title to the offered lot pursuant to these Conditions of Sale, or (2) possession of the offered lot by the Bidder, Bidder thereupon (a) assumes full risk and responsibility (including without limitation, liability for or damage to frames or glass covering prints, paintings, photos, or other works), and (b) will immediately pay the full purchase price or such part as RR Auction may require. In addition to other remedies available to RR Auction by law, RR Auction reserves the right to impose from the date of sale a late charge of 1.5% per month of the total purchase price if payment is not made in accordance with the conditions set forth herein. All property must be removed from RR Auction’s premises by the Bidder at his/her expense not later than sixty (60) business days following its sale and, if it is not so removed, RR Auction may send the purchased property to a public warehouse for the account, at the risk and expense of the Bidder.
6.2 Payment is due upon closing of the Auction session, or upon presentment of an invoice. RR Auction reserves the right to void an invoice if payment in full is not received within thirteen (13) calendar days of the Auction or within twelve (12) calendar days of the invoice date. In cases of nonpayment, RR Auction’s election to void a sale does not relieve the Bidder from their obligation to pay RR Auction its fees (seller’s and Buyer’s Premium) on the lot and any other damages pertaining to the lot.
6.3 All sales for total invoices greater than $1,000 are strictly for cash in United States dollars (including U.S. currency, bank wire, cashier checks, eChecks, and bank money orders), and are subject to all reporting requirements.
6.4 All deliveries are subject to good funds; funds being received in RR Auction’s account before delivery of the Purchases; and all payments are subject to a clearing period. RR Auction reserves the right to determine if a check constitutes “good funds”: checks drawn on a U.S. bank are subject to a ten (10) calendar day hold, and ten (10) business days when drawn on an international bank. Clients with pre-arranged credit status may receive immediate credit for payments via e-Check, personal or corporate checks.
6.5 In the event that a Bidder’s payment is dishonored upon presentment(s), Bidder shall pay the maximum statutory processing fee set by applicable state law. If Bidder attempts to pay via check and the financial institution denies the transfer from Bidder’s bank account, or the payment cannot be completed using the selected funding source, Bidder agrees to complete payment.
6.7 If RR Auction refers any unpaid invoice to an attorney for collection, the Bidder agrees to pay and shall be liable for RR Auction’s attorney’s fees, court costs, and other collection costs incurred by RR Auction in addition to the invoice amount and interest the greater of 1.5% per month or at the maximum legally allowable rate from date of invoice to collection. If RR Auction assigns collection to its house counsel, such attorney’s time expended on the matter shall be compensated at a rate comparable to the hourly rate of independent attorneys.
6.8 RR Auction shall have a lien against the merchandise purchased by the Bidder (as well as to the extent it is a consignor any other monies owed or due to Bidder) to secure payment of the Auction invoice. RR Auction is further granted a lien and the right to retain possession of any other property of the Bidder then held by RR Auction or its affiliates to secure payment of any Auction invoice or any other amounts due RR Auction or affiliates from the Bidder. With respect to these lien rights, RR Auction shall have all the rights of a secured creditor, including but not limited to the right of sale. In addition, with respect to payment of the Auction invoice(s), the Bidder waives any and all rights of offset he might otherwise have against RR Auction and the consignor of the merchandise included on the invoice (the Consignor”). If a Bidder owes RR Auction or its affiliates on any account, RR Auction and its affiliates shall have the right to offset such unpaid account by any credit balance due Bidder, and it may secure by possessory lien any unpaid amount by any of the Bid-
der’s property in their possession.
6.9 All checks, cashiers checks, bank checks, or money orders are payable to R&R Auction Company of Massachusetts, LLC. RR Auction clients with an invoice totaling $1,000 or under will have the option to pay by VISA, Mastercard, Discover or Paypal. All Paypal payments must be sent to FinanceDepartment@rrauction.com. Authorize.net, a third-party service provider contracted by RR Auction for processing on-line payments, charges a nonrefundable service fee of 3%, which will be added to your final invoice should you pay by credit/debit card.
Section 7 Sales Tax
RR Auction is a remote seller and we are now required to collect Sales/ Use Tax from our bidders. The states that we have nexus in we will be required to collect and remit sales tax on your behalf. Each state has different requirements to meet nexus. When RR Auction has achieved a certain monetary and/or invoice threshold in each state we will apply sales tax to your total invoice. The states that are affected are: ARIZONA, ARKANSAS, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, NEBRASKA, NEVADA, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, PENNSYLVANIA,RHODE ISLAND, TENNESSEE, TEXAS, UTAH, VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN
If we have not achieved nexus in a particular state it is still your responsibility to pay sales tax on your purchases.
The sales tax rate is determined by the State, Country, and City where purchases are shipped to. If you decide to pick up your purchases at our New Hampshire location you will not be required to pay sales tax. The State of New Hampshire does not have a general sales and use tax. All purchases picked up at our Massachusetts location will be taxed at the current rate of 6.25%.
If you have a resale number please email Sue@RRAuction.com or fax to (603) 732-4288 a copy of your state resale certificate and you will be exempt from paying sales tax.
Section 8
Bidder is liable for shipping and handling and providing accurate information as to shipping or delivery locations and arranging for such. RR Auction is unable to combine purchases from other auctions or affiliates into one package for shipping purposes. Lots won will be shipped in a commercially reasonable time after payment in good funds for the merchandise and the shipping fees is received or credit extended, except when third-party shipment occurs. Bidder agrees that service and handling charges related to shipping items which are not pre-paid may be charged to a credit card on file with RR Auction.
Successful international Bidders shall provide written shipping instructions, including specified Customs declarations, to RR Auction for any lots to be delivered outside of the United States. NOTE: Declaration value shall be the item’(s) hammer price and RR Auction shall use the correct harmonized code for the lot. Domestic Bidders on lots designated for third-party shipment must designate the common carrier, accept risk of loss, and prepay shipping costs.
All duties, customs, and any other import charges are the responsibility of the bidder.
Section 9
Title
Title shall not pass to the successful Bidder until all invoices of Bidder (including those pertaining to the item(s) at issue) and amounts owed to RR Auction are paid in full. It is the responsibility of the Bidder to provide adequate insurance coverage for the items once they have been delivered to a common carrier or third-party shipper.
Section 10
Rights Reserved
RR Auction reserves the right, at any time before, during or after an auction has ended to: withdraw any lot before or at the time of the Auction, cancel any bid, and/or to postpone the Auction of all or any lots or parts thereof, for any reason. RR Auction shall not be liable to any Bidder in the event of such withdrawal, cancellation, or postponement under any circumstances. RR Auction reserves the right to refuse to accept bids from anyone at any time.
Section 11
Conducting the Auction
11.1 RR Auction reserves the right to postpone the Auction or any session thereof for a reasonable period of time for any reason whatsoever, and no Bidder or prospective Bidder shall have any claim as a result thereof, including consequential damages.
11.2 RR Auction’s Discretion: RR Auction shall determine opening bids and bidding increments. RR Auction has the right in its absolute discretion to reject any bid in the event of dispute between Bidders or if RR Auction has doubt as to the validity of any bid, to advance the bidding at its absolute discretion and to determine the successful Bidder in the event of a dispute between Bidders, to continue the bidding or to reoffer and resell the lot in question. In the event of a dispute after the sale, RR Auctions record of final sale shall be conclusive. RR Auction also may reject any bid if RR Auction decides either that any bid is below the reserve of the lot or article or that an advance is insufficient. Unless otherwise announced by RR Auction at the time of sale, no lots may be divided for the purpose of sale.
Lots may be subject to a reserve which is the confidential minimum price below which the lot will not be sold. Consignors may not bid on their own lots or property. RR Auction may, from time to time, bid on items that it does not own. RR Auction may execute bids consecutively or otherwise up to one bid increment below the reserve.
Bidding by telephone, facsimile, online, or absentee bidding (advance written bids submitted by mail) are offered solely as a convenience and permitted subject to advance arrangements, availability, and RR Auction’s approval which shall be exercised at RR Auction’s sole discretion. Neither RR Auction nor its agents or employees shall be held liable for the failure to execute bids or for errors relating to any transmission or execution thereof. In order to be considered for off-site bidding in any manner, Bidders must comply with all of these Conditions of Sale and the terms contained on the Registration Form.
11.5 Estimate Prices:
In addition to descriptive information, each item in the Catalog sometimes includes a price range which reflects opinion as to the price expected at auction (the “Estimate Prices”). In other instances, Estimate Prices can be obtained by calling RR Auction at (603) 732-4280. The Estimate Prices are based upon various factors including prices recently paid at auction for comparable property, condition, rarity, quality, history and provenance. Estimate Prices are prepared well in advance of the sale and subject to revision. Estimates do not include the Buyer’s Premium or sales tax (see under separate heading).
11.6 Owned or Guaranteed Property:
RR Auction generally offers property consigned by others for sale at public auction; in very limited occasion, lots are offered that are the property of RR Auction.
11.7 Before the Auction:
Bidder may attend pre-sale viewing for all of RR Auction’s auctions at no charge. All property to be auctioned is usually on view for several days prior to the sale. Bidder is encouraged to examine lots thoroughly. Bidder may also request condition reports (see below). RR Auction’s staff are available at viewings and by appointment.
11.8 Maximum Bids In All Auctions:
To maximize Bidder’s chance of winning, RR Auction strongly encourages
the use of maximum bids. RR Auction will then bid for Bidder until the lot reaches Bidder’s specified maximum. Maximum bids are strictly confidential. Placing arbitrary, non-incremental bids on lots with prior maximum bids may result in these lots being sold for less than 10% above the under Bidder’s bid.
The fall of RR Auction’s hammer indicates the final bid. RR Auction will record the paddle number of the Bidder. If Bidder’s salesroom or absentee bid is successful, Bidder will be notified after the sale by mailed or emailed invoice.
11.10
If a lot does not reach the reserve, it is bought-in. In other words, it remains unsold and is returned to the Consignor. RR Auction has the right to sell certain unsold items after the close of the Auction. Such lots shall be considered sold during the Auction and all these Terms and Conditions shall apply to such sales including but not limited to the Buyer’s Premium, return rights, and disclaimers.
Bidder may open, monitor, and/or raise bids at any time before the close of a lot through www.rrauction.com. RR Auction offers a callback service the day of the Auction, but Bidder is responsible for supplying a correct telephone number(s) where Bidder can be reached until the Auction closes. Bidder must request this service in writing. RR Auction will make reasonable efforts to ensure that Bidders who request a callback are contacted if outbid; however, RR Auction does not guarantee this service and it is merely a courtesy and not an enforceable right. The auctioneer may also execute a bid on behalf of the consignor to protect the reserve, either by entering a bid in response to salesroom, telephone or absentee bids. Under no circumstances will the auctioneer place any bid on behalf of the consignor above the reserve. The auctioneer will not specifically identify bids placed on behalf of the consignor to protect the reserve.
To ensure proper registration, those Bidders intending to bid via the Internet must visit www.RRauction.com and register accordingly at least one full day prior to the actual auction. Winning bidders will be notified by RR Auction. RR Auction is not responsible or liable for any problems, delays, or any other issues or problems resulting out of use of the Internet generally or specifically, including but not limited to transmission, execution or processing of bids.
Any Bidder may bid on any lot prior to 6 pm EST/EDT. At that time, an extended bidding period goes into effect. If Bidder has not bid on a lot before 6 pm EST/EDT, Bidder may not bid on that lot after 6 pm EST/EDT. Only those Bidders who have placed bids on a lot before 6 pm EST/EDT will be allowed to bid on that lot after 6 pm EST/EDT. If Bidder is the only Bidder on a lot at 6 pm EST/EDT, that lot is awarded to Bidder. During the extended bidding period, a lot will remain open only to those who bid on that lot prior to 6 pm EST/EDT. All lots WITHOUT an opening bid at 6 pm EST/EDT will remain OPEN to ALL Bidders until 7 pm EST/EDT or until they receive their first bid. These lots will close immediately upon receipt of a bid or at 7 pm EST/EDT, whichever comes first. For all lots that are active after 7 pm EST/EDT, bidding will remain open until 30 minutes pass without a bid being placed on THAT lot (the “30 Minute Rule”). The 30 Minute Rule is applied on a PER LOT BASIS; each lot in the Auction closes individually based on bidding activity after 7 pm EST/EDT. On a PER LOT BASIS, the 30 minute timer will reset each time a bid is placed after 7 pm EST/EDT. If Bidder is the high Bidder, raising Bidder’s maximum bid will NOT reset the timer. RR Auction reserves the right to close the Auction at any time at its sole discretion.
11.12 Bidding - Internet Live
Bidder may open, monitor, and/or raise bids at any time before the close of a lot through www.rrauction.com. RR Auction offers a callback service the day of the Auction, but Bidder is responsible for supplying a correct telephone number(s) where Bidder can be reached until the Auction closes. Bidder must request this service in writing. RR Auction will make reasonable efforts to ensure that Bidders who request a callback are contacted if outbid; however, RR Auction does not guarantee this service and it is merely a courtesy and not an enforceable right.
To ensure proper registration, those Bidders intending to bid via the Internet must visit www.RRauction.com and register accordingly at least one full day prior to the actual auction. Winning bidders will be notified by RR Auction. RR Auction is not responsible or liable for any problems, delays,
or any other issues or problems resulting out of use of the Internet generally or specifically, including but not limited to transmission, execution or processing of bids.
During live internet or live auction, property is auctioned in consecutive numerical order, as it appears in the catalog. The auctioneer will accept bids from those present in the salesroom or absentee bidders participating by telephone, internet or by written bid left with RR Auction in advance of the auction. The auctioneer may also execute a bid or bids (successively or otherwise) on behalf of the consignor to protect the reserve, either by entering a bid in response to salesroom, telephone or absentee bids. Under no circumstances will the auctioneer place any bid on behalf of the consignor above the reserve. The auctioneer will not specifically identify bids placed on behalf of the consignor to protect the reserve. All auctions for lots are with reserve unless specifically stated otherwise.
During live Auctions, internet bids can be placed in real time through one or more of the following Third Party services: www.liveauctioneers.com, www.invaluable.com and www.icollector.com. RR Auction is not responsible or liable for any problems, delays, or any other issues or problems resulting out of use of the Internet generally or specifically, including but not limited to transmission, execution or processing of bids. RR Auction treats any third-party site bids as floor or telephone bids. Floor bids and telephone bids are always considered first over third party sites bids, and floor bids are considered earlier than telephone bids. All RR Auction lots purchased through the third-party sites carry an additional Buyer’s Premium.
11.13 Miscellaneous:
Agreements between Bidders and Consignors to effectuate a non-sale of an item at Auction, inhibit bidding on a consigned item to enter into a private sale agreement for said item, or to utilize RR Auction’s Auction to obtain sales for non-selling consigned items subsequent to the Auction, are strictly prohibited. If a subsequent sale of a previously consigned item occurs in violation of this provision, RR Auction reserves the right to charge Bidder the applicable Buyer’s Premium and Consignor a Seller’s Commission as determined for each auction venue and by the terms of the seller’s agreement.
Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions qualifies Bidder as a client who has consented to be contacted by RR Auction in the future. In conformity with ”do-not-call” regulations promulgated by the Federal or State regulatory agencies, participation by the Bidder is affirmative consent to being contacted at the phone number shown in his application and this consent shall remain in effect until it is revoked in writing. RR Auction may from time to time contact Bidder concerning sale, purchase, and auction opportunities available.
11.14 Rules of Construction: RR Auction presents properties in a number of collectible fields, and as such, specific venues have promulgated supplemental Terms and Conditions. Nothing herein shall be construed to waive the general Conditions of Sale by these additional rules and shall be construed to give force and effect to the rules in their entirety.
Section 12
RR Auction’s Remedies
Failure of the Bidder to comply with any of these Conditions of Sale or the terms of the Registration Form is an event of material breach or default. In such event, RR Auction may, in addition to any other available remedies specifically including the right to hold the defaulting Bidder liable for the Purchase Price or to charge and collect from the defaulting Bidder’s credit or debit accounts as provided for elsewhere herein: (a) cancel the sale, retaining any payment made by the Bidder as damages (the Bidder understands and acknowledges that RR Auction will be substantially damaged should such default occur, and that damages under sub-part (a) are necessary to compensate RR Auction for such damages); (b) resell the property without reserve at public auction or privately; (c) charge the Bidder interest on the Purchase Price at the rate of one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month or the highest allowable interest rate; (d) take any other action that RR Auction, in its sole discretion, deems necessary or appropriate to preserve and protect RR Auction’s rights and remedies. Should RR Auction resell the property, the original defaulting Bidder shall be liable for the payment of any deficiency in the purchase price and all costs and expenses associated there with, including but not limited
to warehousing, sales-related expenses, reasonable attorney fees and court costs, commissions, incidental damages and any other charges due hereunder which were not collected or collectable. In the event that such Bidder is the successful Bidder on more than one lot and pays less than the purchase price for the total lots purchased, RR Auction shall apply the payment received to such lot or lots that RR Auction, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. If RR Auction does not exercise such discretion, the lots to which the payment shall be applied will be in descending order from the highest purchase price to the lowest. Any Bidder failing to comply with these Conditions of Sale shall be deemed to have granted RR Auction a security interest in, and RR Auction may retain as collateral such security for such Bidder’s obligations to RR Auction, any Bidder’s property in RR Auction’s possession or to which title has not yet passed to Bidder. RR Auction shall have the benefit of all rights of a secured party under the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.) as adopted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Section 13 Warranties
13.1 RR Auction does not provide any warranties to Bidders, whether expressed or implied, beyond those expressly provided in these Conditions of Sale. All property and lots are sold ”as is” and “where is”. By way of illustration rather than limitation, neither RR Auction nor the Consignor makes any representation or warranty, expressed or implied, as to merchantability or fitness for intended use, condition of the property (including any condition report), correctness of description, origin, measurement, quality, rarity, importance, exhibition, relevance, attribution, source, provenance, date, authorship, condition, culture, genuineness, value, or period of the property. Additionally, neither RR Auction nor the Consignor makes any representation or warranty, expressed or implied, as to whether the Bidder acquires rights in copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property (including exhibition or reproduction rights) related to the item, or whether the property is subject to any limitations or other rights. RR Auction does not make any representation or warranty as to title.
13.2 All descriptions, photographs, illustrations, and terminology including but not limited to words describing condition (including any condition reports requested by Bidder, see also Terminology), authorship, period, culture, source, origin, measurement, quality, rarity, provenance, importance, exhibition, and relevance, used in the Catalog, bill of sale, invoice, or anywhere else, represent a good faith effort made by RR Auction to fairly represent the lots and property offered for sale as to origin, date, condition, and other information contained therein; they are statements of opinion only. They are not representations or warranties and Bidder agrees and acknowledges that he or she shall not rely on them in determining whether or not to bid or for what price. Price estimates (which are determined well in advance of the Auction and are therefore subject to revision) and condition reports are provided solely as a convenience to Bidders and are not intended nor shall they be relied on by Bidders as statements, representations or warranties of actual value or predictions of final bid prices.
13.3 Bidders are accorded the opportunity to inspect the lots and to otherwise satisfy themselves as to the nature and sufficiency of each lot prior to bidding, and RR Auction urges Bidders to avail themselves accordingly.
13.4 All lots sold by RR Auction are accompanied by an Auction Certificate (“AC”). On any lot presented with an AC issued by RR Auction, the certification is only as to its attribution to the person or entity described or to the lot’s usage and only as explicitly stated therein (the “AC”), to the exclusion of any other warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to those pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code. The AC inures only to the original Bidder (as shown in RR Auction’s records). Bidder may not transfer, assign, or otherwise convey the AC and such purported transfer, assignment, or conveyance shall be null and void.
RR Auction complies with all Federal and State rules and regulations relating to the purchasing, registration and shipping of firearms. A Bidder is required to provide appropriate documents and the payment of associated fees, if any. Bidder is responsible for providing a shipping address that is suitable for the receipt of a firearm.
Under no circumstances is any employee, agent or representative of RR Auction authorized by RR Auction to modify, amend, waive or contradict any of these Conditions of Sale, any term or condition set forth on a registration form, any warranty or limitation or exclusion of warranty, any term or condition in either the Registration Form or these Terms and Conditions regarding payment requirements, including but not limited to due date, manner of payment, and what constitutes payment in full, or any other term or condition contained in any documents issued by RR Auction unless such modification, amendment, waiver or contradiction is contained in a writing signed by all parties. Any statements, oral or written, made by employees, agents or representatives of RR Auction to Bidder, including statements regarding specific lots, even if such employee, agent or representative represents that such statement is authorized, unless reduced to a writing signed Bidder and by an authorized officer of RR Auction by all parties, are statements of personal opinion only and are not binding on RR Auction, and under no circumstances shall be relied upon by Bidder as a statement, representation or warranty of RR Auction.
Section 16
Bidder’s Remedies
16.1 Except as stated expressly herein, Bidder’s sole and exclusive remedy related to or pertaining to items it bids upon, views, or purchases from RR Auction, and any claims by Bidder related to authenticity, ownership, condition, title or value, shall be against Consignor only.
16.2 This section sets forth the sole and exclusive remedies of Bidder as against RR Auction (inclusive of its affiliates, officers, managers, employees or agents), or in any way arising out of, related to, or in connection with these Conditions of Sale, , and is expressly in lieu of any other rights or remedies which might be available to Bidder by law. Time is of the essence with respect to these procedures.
The Bidder hereby accepts the benefit of the Consignor’s warranty of title and any other representations and warranties made by the Consignor for the Bidder’s benefit. In the event that Bidder demonstrates in writing, satisfactory to the sole discretion of RR Auction, that there was a breach of the Consignor’s warranty of title concerning a lot purchased by Bidder, RR Auction may make demand upon the Consignor to pay to Bidder the Purchase Price (including any premiums, taxes, or other amounts paid or due to RR Auction). Should the Consignor not pay the Purchase Price to Bidder within thirty days after such demand (if any made), RR Auction may disclose the identity of the Consignor to Bidder and may assign to Bidder all or some of RR Auction’s rights against the Consignor with respect to such lot or property. Upon such disclosure and/or assignment, all responsibility and liability of RR Auction, if any, with respect to said lot or item shall automatically terminate related to or arising from these Conditions of Sale or such transaction operating as a complete waiver and general release by Bidder as to RR Auction and its agents, contractors, and affiliates, as to any and all claims concerning or related to the item, if any . RR Auction shall be entitled to retain the premiums and other amounts paid to RR Auction by Consignor only. The rights and remedies provided herein are for the original Bidder only and they may not be assigned or relied upon by any transferee or assignee under any circumstances.
(1) If Bidder wishes to dispute or challenge the Authenticity of the lot or item (including asserting that it is incorrect), Bidder must adhere to the following procedure: Within 30 days of the Auction Date, Bidder must present written evidence to RR Auction, that the lot is not authentic as determined by a known expert in the field (and one recognized by RR Auction within its discretion) and send the physical item or lot at issue to RR Auction along with all evidence relied upon by Bidder for contesting the Authenticity. (“Authenticity Challenge Process”) “Authenticity” shall mean a gross discrepancy in the between the description, genuiness, or attribution of the item as represented by RR Auction in the Catalog or at the auction, and the item. If RR Auction concurs that the lot is not Authentic as was represented (it is sole discretion), Bidder’s sole and exclusive remedy
as against RR Auction (inclusive of its affiliates, agents, employees, and contractors) shall be a refund of the purchase price of the subject item paid by Bidder, with no other costs, liabilities or amounts recoverable by Bidder. If RR Auction does not agree with the assertion by Bidder, then the Parties shall follow the dispute resolution procedures of these Conditions of Sale. Strict adherence to the Authenticity Challenge Process is a condition of standing for Bidder to initiate suit or claim.
(2) So long as Bidder has complied with the Authenticity Challenge Process, any claim, suit or action, by Bidder concerning an AC or Certification of Authenticity, or related to the authenticity of the item must, without any exception, be brought within one (1) year of Auction Date and is subject to the other limitations and conditions stated in the Conditions of Sale.
16.5 Other Issues. Any dispute or claim by Bidder against RR Auction (or its affiliates, directors, employees, officers, agents, or contractors)) other than Authenticity, concerning any item or lot bid upon, or purchased, including value, title, condition, bidding process, or description must be asserted (if at all) in the following manner:
(1) If the description of any lot in the Catalog is materially or grossly incorrect (e.g., gross cataloging error), or there is any other gross material issue pertaining to the item or lot, the item or lot may be returned if returned within five (5) calendar days of receipt, and received by RR Auction no later than twenty-one (21) calendar days after the Auction Date with explanation in writing.. If there is any discrepancy between the description in the Catalog and a certificate of auction, then the description in the certificate of auction (“Lot Challenge Process”). This paragraph shall constitute Bidder’s sole right with respect to the return of items, and no refunds shall be given for any items not returned to and received by RR Auction within the period of time stated herein or not materially or grossly in deviation from the description. Such a refund is subject to RR Auction’s sole discretionary review, and any request for refund must be made concurrently with returning the physical item or lot to RR Auction. Any item not returned within said frame will constitute acceptance of the item and a waiver and release of any and all claims by Bidder pertaining to the item other than with respect to authenticity; and
(2) Provided that the Bidder has engaged in the Lot Challenge Process, any claim concerning such must be brought no later than one (1) year of the Auction Date for the item or lot at issue and is subject to the other limitations and conditions stated in the Conditions of Sale.
NO RETURN OR REFUND OF ANY AUCTION LOT WILL BE CONSIDERED OR PROVIDED EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THESE CONDITIONS OF SALE AND BIDDERS OR AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY LAW. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH SUCH SHALL BE A COMPLETE DEFENSE TO ANY CLAIMS BY BIDDER RELATED TO THE CONDITIONS OF SALE, ANY AUCTION OR BID.
16.6 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. For any and all claims by Bidder arising out of or related to this Agreement, Bidder’s viewing, bid, or purchase of items, or any agreement between the Parties, or otherwise, Bidder agrees that to the fullest extent such can be limited under the law, Bidder shall have no right to recover and hereby waives any and all rights to recover from against RR Auction or its affiliates, directors, employees, officers, agents, or contractors, consequential or indirect damages, lost profits damages, punitive, exemplary, statutory (or multiplier damages), physical or emotional distress damages, general or special damages of any kind (beyond amounts actually paid by Bidder for item(s) at issue), and in the event of recovery of any damages whatsoever, such shall be limited by the amounts actually paid by Bidder to RR Auction for the item(s) at issue in such claim, or if no money was paid to RR Auction by Bidder for items at issue, or there items are at issue, the amount of $150.00.
Section 17
RR Auction’s Additional Services
For Bidders who do not remove purchased property from RR Auction’s premises, RR Auction, in its sole discretion and solely as a service and accommodation to Bidders, may arrange to have purchased lots packed, insured and forwarded at the sole request, expense, and risk of Bidder.
RR Auction assumes no and disclaims all responsibility and liability for acts or omissions in such packing or shipping by RR Auction or other packers and carriers, whether or not recommended by RR Auction. RR Auction assumes no and disclaims all responsibility and liability for damage to frames, glass or other breakable items. Where RR Auction arranges and bills for such services via invoice, RR Auction will include an administration charge.
Headings are for convenience only and shall not be used to interpret the substantive sections to which they refer.
Except to the extent Bidder is also a consignor (in which case the terms of the consignment agreement shall also govern), these Conditions of Sale constitute the entire agreement between the Parties together with the terms and conditions contained in the auction Registration Form. They may not be amended, modified or superseded except in a signed writing executed by all parties. No oral or written statement by anyone employed by RR Auction or acting as agent or representative of RR Auction may amend, modify, waive or supersede the terms herein unless such amendment, waiver or modification is contained in a writing signed by all parties.
If any section of these Conditions of Sale or any term or provision of any section is held to be invalid, void, or unenforceable by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction, the remaining parts of the agreement and remainder of the sections or terms and provisions of the section and all sections shall continue in full force and effect without being impaired or invalidated in any way.
20.1 The Parties agree that all agreements between the Parties including but not limited to these Conditions of Sale are entered into in Boston, Massachusetts, no matter where Bidder is situated and no matter by what means or where Bidder was informed of the Auction and regardless of whether catalogs, materials, or other communications were received by Bidder in another location.
20.2 The Parties agree that these Conditions of Sale, any other related agreement(s), along with all claims between the Parties, including those arising out of or related to such are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard for its conflict of laws principles. The Parties agree that any dispute between the Parties, including but not limited to those related to or arising out of these Conditions of Sale, or related to or arising out of any other related agreement(s) shall be submitted to confidential binding arbitration (the ”Arbitration”) before a single Arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) The Parties agree that the Arbitration shall be conducted pursuant to the commercial rules of the AAA in Boston, Massachusetts, unless the Consumer Arbitration Rules apply, in which case, such rules and venue will govern. In the event that the Parties cannot agree on the selection of the Arbitrator, then the Arbitrator shall be selected by the AAA. The prevailing Party in the Arbitration shall also recover all of its related fees and costs, whether before or after the formal institution of the Arbitration, including but not limited to its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, if RR Auction prevails, such recovery, in addition to all remedies available at agreement or law, shall include the Buyer’s Premium as defined in these Conditions of Sale. Federal arbitration law, including the Federal Arbitration Act apply to this agreement to arbitrate and its related provisions. The arbitration and all related proceedings shall be held strictly confidential and all documents and discovery shall be held confidential and not used, published or disclosed publically or to anyone outside the Parties or expert consultants or counsel who shall agree to hold such confidential.
20.3 The Parties consent to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as exclusive jurisdiction and venue for all claims between the Parties except as provided specifically herein and may seek confirmation of the decision in the Arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act in any Court
of competent jurisdiction, including the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. To the extent such is necessary under the law, RR Auction may enforce the Arbitration award against Bidder and any related Party in any court of competent jurisdiction. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as RR Auction consenting to jurisdiction or venue in any location outside of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
THE PARTIES MAY NOT BRING CLAIMS AGAINST EACH OTHER AS A CLASS OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLAIMED CLASS, OR IN A REPRESENTATIVE ACTION UNLESS OTHERWISE AGREED. UNLESS OTHERWISE AGREED, THE CLAIMS AGAINST EACH OF THE OTHER CANNOT BE CONSOLIDATED OR JOINED WITH MORE THAN ONE ADDITIONAL PERSON OR ENTITIES’ CLAIMS. NO INJUNCTIVE OR DECLATORY RELIEF SOUGHT BY BIDDER IF ANY, CAN AFFECT OR BE ORDERED TO AFFECT ANY OTHER BIDDERS OR PERSONS.
20.4 Except as provided specifically in these Conditions of Sale in Bidder’s Remedies against RR Auction (along with its affiliates, directors, agents, officers, employees, and contractors) for any dispute, claim, cause of action related to or arising out of these Conditions of Sale or any other related agreement(s), brought by Bidder must be brought within the earlier of the Auction Date as it pertains to the item(s) at issue or no later than one (1) year of the acts, omissions or circumstances occurred giving rise to the alleged claim, without exception. This provision is intended as a full, complete and absolute bar to and release of any claims by Bidder initiated after one (1) year of such acts, omissions or circumstances. The Parties agree further that these waiver provisions are intended to be binding in the event of any dispute, specifically including but not limited to third party claims and cross-actions brought by Bidder. These provisions are consideration for the execution of these Conditions of Sale.
20.5 To the fullest extent under applicable law and except as specifically stated herein Bidder hereby holds harmless, releases and discharges RR Auction and its agents, officer’s directors, affiliates, successors, and assigns from any and all claims, liabilities, obligations, promises, agreements, damages, causes of action, suits, demands, losses, debts, and expenses of any nature whatsoever, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected existing prior to these Conditions of Sale. Bidder agrees to the Conditions of Sale and upon each instance that Bidder participates in any auction, bids, or otherwise agrees to such terms and reaffirms this release as of the date of so participating or agreeing unless Bidder otherwise provides clear written notice to RR Auction prior to so bidding.
20.6 The Bidder hereby agrees that RR Auction shall be entitled to present these Conditions of Sale to a court in any jurisdiction other than set forth in this paragraph as conclusive evidence of the Parties agreement, and the Parties further agree that the court shall immediately dismiss any action filed in such jurisdiction.
20.7
In the event that Bidder provides false information in connection with registering for bidding, fails to correct or update information or breaches the Conditions of Sale by failing to pay the purchase price when due after becoming the winning bidder, as liquidated damages associated with such breaches, R&R may obtain from Bidder the greater of (1) 150% the reserve of the item (if any); (2) the amount bidder bid; or (3), the full amount that bidder would have otherwise paid. Bidder will also be liable for an additional 20% of such amount to account for additional administrative costs, shipping, additional advertising, and other damages and liabilities fees that are difficult to calculate on an item-by-item basis.
20.8 Indemnity. Bidder agrees to defend, indemnify, hold harmless RR Auction (along with its officers, directors, agents, contractors, and affiliates) from and against any and all claims, costs, fees, damages, and liabilities arising out of or related to these Conditions of Sale, view of items, or lots, bidding, or participation in any auction by RR Auction, and/or or in any way connected to any item you viewed, bid upon or purchased through RR Auction.
This Auction is being conducted in and the sale shall take place in the State of Massachusetts. Notwithstanding, the foregoing, should these
terms and conditions violate the law of any State should that state’s law be found to govern, or any provision herein determined to be invalid, the clause itself and the remainder of the Agreement shall be valid to the fullest extent allowed. Also, to the extent other states law apply to any transaction arising out of the Agreement (without admitting such), RR Auction states:
For Residents of California:
SALE OF AUTOGRAPHED COLLECTIBLES: AS REQUIRED BY LAW, A DEALER WHO SELLS TO A CONSUMER ANY COLLECTIBLE DESCRIBED AS BEING AUTOGRAPHED MUST PROVIDE A WRITTEN EXPRESS WARRANTY AT THE TIME OF SALE. THIS DEALER MAY BE SURETY BONDED OR OTHERWISE INSURED TO ENSURE THE AUTHENTICITY OF ANY AUTOGRAPHED COLLECTIBLE SOLD BY THIS DEALER.
A written express warranty is provided with each autographed collectible, as required by law. This dealer may be surety bonded or otherwise insured to ensure the authenticity of any autographed collectible sold by this dealer.
Section 22
Glossary of Condition terms
Information provided to prospective Bidders with respect of any lot, including any pre-sale estimate, whether written or oral, and information in any catalogue, condition or other report, commentary or valuation, is not a representation of fact but rather a statement of opinion held by RR Auction.
Use of the following terms constitutes an opinion as follows:
VERY FINE describes an item believed to be in virtually flawless condition, and is used sparingly for items of exceptionally attractive appearance.
FINE is the most common statement of condition, and applies to most items that we offer. It describes items that we believe to show expected handling wear, generally acceptable random flaws (such as light creases, small bends, etc.), and an overall appearance that is pleasing to the majority of collectors.
VERY GOOD describes an item that we believe exhibits more moderate flaws (such as toning, light staining, professional reinforcements or repairs, etc.). Most collectors would be comfortable with items in very good condition, and this would be the expected condition for many formats (early presidential documents, for example).
GOOD describes an item which we believe to have obvious visible flaws, including heavy wear, missing portions, or repairs that affect appearance; generally items in this condition are offered only if an item is otherwise believed to be exceedingly rare or important.
Bidder may call and request further details and information about RR Auction’s opinions concerning any item via phone or email which shall provided in RR Auction’s discretion.
Bidder warrants that Bidder (and its agents, assigns, successors, and affiliates) shall not purposely deface, destroy, dismember, cut-up into parts the item or Lot purchased at auction from RR Auction and in the event such shall occur whether purposefully or accidently, Bidder (and its agents, assigns, successors, and affiliates) shall refrain from advertising, promoting, or marketing the item as having been purchased from RR Auction and shall in no event display, expressly claim, or imply that the item was certified or auctioned in such state by RR Auction. As liquidated damages for such breach, Bidder agrees to be liable to RR Auction for the greater of the amount of three (3) times the hammer price of the item along with all other fees and costs as otherwise provided in this Terms of Sale.
For over 40 years, relationships have been the backbone of RR Auction. We have made it a priority to keep our consignors informed and involved, encouraging them to share their voices, to instill their knowledge, and to forge a partnership based on our shared passion for history. With a mutual desire to achieve greatness, these relationships are at the heart of our success.