University Archives held its last sale of 2025 this past week: Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books included 497 lots of exceptional historical material from all the major collecting categories. It also showcased items from Part I of A Superb Space Collection (40+ lots) and Part III of A Top-Notch Collection (40+ lots). The auction attracted a terrific turnout, with the most online bidders by country coming from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, and Belgium. Our sale items received over 30,000 lot views on just one of our online platforms on auction day alone!
Some of our November 19, 2025 sale highlights included:
U.S. Presidents
Lot 159 was a vintage Spaulding No. 1 baseball signed by President Woodrow Wilson, Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, House Speaker Champ Clark, and a handful of U.S. Congressmen, originally sold at a World War I fundraising benefit auction hosted by the Red Cross, ca. 1917-1918, from the collection of Steven Forbes and accompanied by a PSA/DNA LOA. The baseball crossed the mound (auction block!) for $34,375 including the buyer’s premium, which was more than 30% higher than the high estimate.
Lot 68 was a Thomas Jefferson signed free frank addressed to American engineer Robert Fulton on March 20, [1810], PSA/DNA slabbed and graded GEM MT 10. The original transmittal letter contained within the cover discussed Fulton’s work on hydraulic rams and torpedoes. The item garnered over 50% above the high estimate, or $9,375 including the tip.
Lot 42 was a James A. Garfield 3pp autograph letter signed dated February 16, 1866. In this communication with a friend, Garfield expressed his opinion that the “Restoration of Rebel States” should be contingent upon strict conditions, demonstrating a transition from holding moderate Republican views to embracing new Radical Republican policies. The letter exchanged hands for double the high estimate, or $1,600 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 73 was a Jackie Kennedy signed and inscribed presentation copy of John F. Kennedy’s The Strategy of Peace (New York: Harper & Row, 1960), gifted to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s daughter, Margaret, and her husband-to-be Barry Carter, on their wedding day in September 1966. The deluxe limited edition book embossed with the bride’s and groom’s initials sold for more than twice its high estimate, or $3,750 including commissions.
Science & Space
Lot 455 was an autograph manuscript penned by Sir Isaac Newton, ca. 1690s-1710s, featuring over 350 words in his hand. In it, Newton posits that immutable divine law is “revealed” while ephemeral human laws are “invented.” Newton’s manuscripts with religious content are scarce in private hands, and this manuscript sold to an overseas collector for 40% over its high estimate, or $87,500 including the tip.
Runaways from Part I of A Superb Space Collection included Lot 194, an official NASA photo of Apollo XI crew members Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, uninscribed and signed by each, with a pre-cert provided by Zarelli Space Authentication. The item sold for well over its high estimate, or for $8,125 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 221 was a postal cover signed by all members of NASA Group 1, or the Mercury 7, including M. Scott Carpenter; L. Gordon Cooper; John H. Glenn, Jr.; Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom; Walter M. Schirra, Jr.; Alan B. Shepard, Jr.; and Donald “Deke” K. Slayton. The cover was postmarked from Houston on July 17, 1962, the day of X-15 Flight 62, a sub-orbital space test flight conducted by fellow astronaut Robert M. White. The Space relic sold for 40% over its high estimate, or for $3,000 including the tip.
Art & Literature
Lot 175 was a Pablo Picasso autograph letter signed in French, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded GEM MT 10. Picasso’s letter in striking blood-red was written to his financial advisor, Max Pellequer, from Cannes, France on August 22, 1959. The letter dates from the period when Picasso began his Manet cycle: about 200 paintings, drawings, linoleum cuts, and maquettes inspired by Le Déjeuner Sur L’Herbe [Luncheon On The Grass]. The item maxed out its high estimate, selling for $10,625 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 418 was an Edgar Allan Poe carte de visite featured in Mathew Brady’s National Portrait Gallery, as published by E. Anthony in New York City in 1861, over a decade after the poet’s mysterious premature death. Exceptionally rare and possibly unique in format, the Poe CDV sold for four times its high estimate, or $20,000 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 418, Edgar Allan Poe Brady CDV
Lot 162 was a dealer’s lot of autographed material and original drawings by comic strip artists and voice actors such as Brad Anderson, Mel Blanc, Dik Browne, Johnny Hart, Hank Ketcham, and Dean Young. The wonderful collection of tributes to Dennis the Menace, Hagar The Horrible, Marmaduke, the Dumstead Family, and Bugs Bunny sold for $3,072 including the buyer’s premium – over 8 times its high estimate!
These are just a few of the incredible items which University Archives offered in its November sale, and routinely offers at its regularly scheduled auctions throughout the year.
We hope you can join us at our next auction, tentatively scheduled for January 7, 2026!
