University Archives is thrilled to announce its next auction. Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Photographs will take place on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. That’s when over 425 items of incredible historical interest will pass the auction block, from Albert Einstein’s heavily-edited handwritten mathematical notes on the United Field Theory, to Ty Cobb’s game-worn baseball cleats from his Philadelphia Athletics days. Collectors, dealers, and institutions can find whatever they’re looking for, whether it be U.S. Presidents, Science, Space/Aviation, Literature, Art, Music, Entertainment, and Sports.
U.S. Presidents
Lot 65 is an Abraham Lincoln signed military appointment dated just one day after his beloved 11-year-old son Willie Lincoln had died of typhoid fever on February 20, 1862 at the White House. The document underscores how the wartime president continued to attend to pressing affairs even as he was deeply grieving. The February 21, 1862 appointment co-signed by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton promoted one Nicholas J. Sappington, a Union soldier from Maryland invalided out of the army, to become “Commissary of Subsistence” at Elmira Prison, since converted into a military draft rendezvous.
Lot 100 is from Jimmy Carter’s personal collection, being a photograph of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, signed by all five, ca. November 4, 1991, upon the occasion of the dedication of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum. The Five Presidents signed only a limited number of these highly collectible photos, and ours comes from the Estate of Jimmy Carter, one of the signers. Accompanied by an additional COA from John Reznikoff of University Archives and Lucas Pascal of Historical Autographs Gallery.
Lot 47 is a John F. Kennedy autograph manuscript, which the president-elect composed on an airplane traveling from Palm Beach, Florida to New York City, ca. January 4, 1961. JFK’s pencil-written notes appear on the front and back of a Western Union Press telegram sent to him by White House correspondent Merriman Smith. Ideas from this draft – acknowledging the legacy of former U.S. presidents, and outlining what he wanted his administration to symbolize – were integrated into Kennedy’s 9pp presidential inauguration speech draft of just a few weeks later. Accompanied by provenance from JFK’s personal secretary Evelyn Lincoln as presented to JFK collector Robert L. White.
Sports
Lot 420 is a pair of Ty Cobb game-worn black leather baseball cleats, ca. 1927-1928, dating from the last years of the legendary outfielder’s career, when playing for the Philadelphia Athletics. The size 10 cleats – which show evidence of hard use and weathering – were gifted to a local fireman, and are accompanied by a letter of provenance from his grandson. Comes with a Mears COA issuing a final grade of Authentic.
Lot 297 is a Bruce Lee and Van Williams co-signed program from the 1967 International Karate Championships held in Long Beach, California in July 1967. Bruce Lee and his costar from the 1966-1967 “Green Hornet” television series, Van Williams, autographed the “Demonstrations” page and presented it to the original autograph recipient, the nephew of Ed Parker, founder of American Kenpo Karate. At the competition attended by both Lee and Williams, Lee had awed spectators with a blind-folded demonstration of Chi Sau just weeks after “Green Hornet” had been cancelled on ABC.
Science
Lot 400 is an Albert Einstein 1p manuscript in German, ca. 1940s, continuing his formulation of the United Field Theory. Translated in part: “I want to try to show that a truly natural choice for field equations exists…” PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic. There are six additional Einstein lots in the July sale, including autograph manuscripts, autograph letters signed, and typed letters signed, containing Theory of Relativity, Unified Field Theory, and Quantum Mechanics content!
Lot 414 is a Nikola Tesla 1p typed letter signed, March 16, 1901, addressed to fellow electrical engineer Robert Ten Eyck Lozier, who had also worked for Thomas Edison. In this letter, Tesla writes excitedly about his hopes for soon establishing wireless telegraphic communication with Europe, just two weeks after securing a $150,000 investment from J. Pierpont Morgan for Tesla’s future wireless transmission station at Wardenclyffe, Long Island. By year’s end, Tesla had lost the wireless race to Italian competitor Guglielmo Marconi.
Literature
Lot 375 is a 2pp autograph manuscript by Henry David Thoreau, sourced from his personal writings and tipped into a limited manuscript edition of The Works of Henry David Thoreau, Vol. I, published in 1906. Thoreau’s handwritten draft of approximately 360 words dates from the ca. 1850s, when the writer was formulating one of his more well-known essays eventually posthumously published as “Life Without Principle.” In the influential essay, Thoreau advocates for living more mindfully even if that means working an unconventional job and earning less.
Art
Lot 292 is a colorful Walt Disney signed Sante Fe & Disneyland Railroad and monorail pass issued to NYC transit authority director Sidney H. Bingham in ca. 1959, granting him free access to the railway for five years as an “honorary Vice-President.” The Sante Fe & Disneyland Railroad was inaugurated at Disneyland in Anaheim, California in 1955, while the high-tech, German-designed monorail opened in 1959 in conjunction with the rededication of Tomorrowland. PSA/DNA slabbed and graded Mint 9.
Lot 145 is a grouping of 15 Yousuf Karsh signed photographs, large and in full color, professionally mounted and over-matted in Karsh’s Ottawa, Canada studio in the 1990s, and retained in the artist’s personal collection. The majority of the artist-signed photographs were included in Karsh’s “American Legends” series, and feature notables Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, and others. Ex. Estate of Yousuf and Estrellita Karsh.
Entertainment
Lot 299 is a Marilyn Monroe signed presentation photo from the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes era, originally taken by 20th Century Fox head photographer Frank Powolny, one of Monroe’s favorite photographers. The glamorous yet intimate portrait, black and white on semi-glossy paper, is accompanied by LOAs from both PSA/DNA and Beckett.
Notorious
Lot 199 is a rare Al Capone autograph endorsement incorporating his mugshot! While incarcerated at Alcatraz Penitentiary in ca. 1935, Capone carefully wrote out the publication details of a book, The Story of America in Pictures, which had featured a profile of Capone on p. 367 under the title: “The Gangster Era: Capone.” The item comes with remarkable provenance from E.J. Lloyd, a Warden at the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island, and was in the collection of Patterson Smith, rare book dealer and crime historian.
These are just a few of the fascinating pieces offered at our July auction.
We hope you can join us!
