News & History

University Archives rang in the New Year with a new sale this past Wednesday. Rare Autographs, Books Including Lincoln & Space Exploration showcased over 520 lots of exceptional historical items. Those who stayed with us throughout the marathonic 8-hour-long auction saw UA add another million-dollar sale to the record books. We also tied our all-time highest company record, a 98% sell-through rate, first achieved in January 2022, and then in August 2024.

U.S. Presidents and Early America performed extremely strongly in the January auction, and you can bet that these will be the collecting categories to watch during 2026, America’s bicentennial year. Literature, Business, and Military also garnered a lot of interest. Please see below for some auction highlights arranged by category:

U.S. Presidents

Lot 53 was a Thomas Jefferson signed and personally owned book, Vol. IV of Plutarch’s Morals (London: Printed for W. Taylor, 1718), from Jefferson’s library, and with provenance from U.S. Senate clerk Lewis Henry Machen. Not seen at public auction since 1829, the Jefferson owned volume was signed with a “T” on the “I” leaf on pg. 193, and also featured a 12-word holographic inscription on the first extant page. The presidential volume sold for almost three times its high estimate, exchanging hands for $112,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 53, Thomas Jefferson SB

Early America

Lot 296 was a 3 vol. set of Winthrop Sargent, The Life and Career of Major John André (New York: William Abbatt, 1902), a large paper edition expanded to include about 250 items, ranging from a secretarial letter written on behalf of George Washington and a partial autograph letter signed by Arthur St. Clair, to a document signed by George III as well as engravings, original artwork, broadsides, and other collectibles. The set sold for 30% over its high estimate, or $8,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Military

Lot 377 was a George E. Pickett signed carte de visite showing the Confederate General in uniform, and boldly signed with his rank as “G.E. Pickett / Maj. Gen C.S.A.” PSA/DNA slabbed and graded GEM MT 10, and further certified by a JSA LOA, the very scarce Pickett signed CDV sold for 25% above its high estimate. It exchanged hands for $12,500 including the tip.

Civil Rights

Lot 294 was an exceptionally rare slavery receipt dated December 6, 1859 from Macon, Georgia, confirming the purchase of a 17-year-old enslaved man named Daniel for $1,300. The receipt, which featured a romanticized vignette of an allegorical figure harvesting rice, sold for 10 times its high estimate, or $12,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Business

Lot 275 was a fascinating J.P. Morgan & Company 100pp checkbook from ca. 1908-1918, with many blank checks. With a beginning balance of $1.9 million – or roughly 70 million in 2025 money – the checkbook recorded financial transactions with banks and railroads during a dramatic decade of bank runs, economic panics, imperialistic construction projects, and World War I. It sold for more than 8 times its high estimate, or $10,880 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 275, J.P. Morgan & Company checkbook

Sports

Lot 514 was a Babe Ruth signed PSA/DNA Type II vintage press photograph by baseball photographer Charles M. Conlon, capturing one of the most famous pictures of the “Sultan of Swat” at home plate during his Yankees era. The Ruth signed photo and accompanying miniature Ruth Louisville Slugger baseball bat met its high estimate, selling for $8,750 including the tip.

Literature

Lot 429 was a F. Scott Fitzgerald handwritten postcard written at ca. 1924 at Saint-Raphaël, France, during the exact time and place that the author was writing The Great Gatsby. The friendly letter addressed to a young fellow writer named Horace A. Wade sold for $8,125 including the buyer’s premium, easily topping its high estimate.

Science

Lot 487 was an Albert Einstein typed letter signed in German dated February 10, 1936, and addressed to a Harper & Brothers publicity director regarding Max Born, his fellow physicist and lifelong friend. Harpers would publish Max Born’s The Restless Universe the same year, and perhaps Einstein was asked to provide a character reference for his friend. The letter sold for $5,312 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 487, Albert Einstein TLS

Art

Lot 158 was an archive of autographed material exchanged between American art critic James Thrall Soby and some of the most important modern artists of the 20th C. including Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Ben Shahn, Marino Marini, and others, with bonus material from artist spouses Gala Dalí and Marina Marini. The assortment of 30 pieces in English, French, and Italian dating from ca. 1938-1961 sold for well over double its high estimate, or $5,312 including the tip.

These were just some of the few outstanding items offered at our January auction.

We hope you can participate in our upcoming auction planned for February 18, 2026!

University Archives is ringing in the New Year with a new sale!

Rare Autographs & Books Including Lincoln & Space Exploration will showcase over 520 lots of exceptional historical items. The auction gives prominence to two largely unreserved collections: Part II of A Superb Space Collection, a particularly fine assortment of Space autographs and memorabilia assembled by a Texas gentleman (30+ lots); as well as Part IV of A Top-Notch Collection, curated by a sophisticated California connoisseur, who purchased rare and desirable autographed items from Charles Hamilton, Joe Rubinfine, Kenneth Rendell, and other legendary dealers (30+ lots).

U.S. Presidents

Lot 53 is a Thomas Jefferson signed and personally owned book, Vol. IV of Plutarch’s Morals (London: Printed for W. Taylor, 1718), from Jefferson’s library, and with provenance from U.S. Senate clerk Lewis Henry Machen. Not seen at public auction since 1829, the Jefferson owned volume is signed with a “T” on the “I” leaf on pg. 193, and also features a 12-word holographic inscription on the first extant page. Jefferson took inspiration from the famous Greek moral philosopher when drafting the Declaration of Independence.

Abraham Lincoln

Over 20 lots in the sale are dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, including Lincoln autographed material, photographs, medals, currency, and ephemera, and with two autographed letters signed by Mary Todd Lincoln.

Lot 82 is a Mary Todd Lincoln autograph letter signed, dated May 20, 1870 in Eger, Bohemia, in which the widowed First Lady laments her financial insecurity. Lincoln had just heard about the recent U.S. Senate decision to reject her pension request, an action she characterized as “injur[ing] & defraud[ing] the widow & orphans of the great & good man, who loved & served his country so well.” Lincoln was granted a $3,000 pension two months later, in July 1870.

Lot 87 is an Abraham Lincoln autograph note signed, dated January 11, 1863 in Washington, D.C., granting permission to a Virginia woman named Mrs. Rebecca Rust to visit her husband, a Confederate prisoner of war, in Rock Island, Illinois. Rebecca Rust later recounted in her memoirs that Lincoln’s generosity in extending her the visitor’s pass changed her perspective.

Lot 87, Abraham Lincoln ANS

Lot 88 is a phenomenal 8pp autograph letter signed dated April 15, 1865 in Washington, D.C., written by a barkeeper and possible Ford’s Theatre musician named G.W. Watson. In it, Watson recounted an eyewitness account of Lincoln’s assassination as told to him by Benjamin Butler’s private secretary Wesley R. Batchelder. The remarkable letter describes the event in vivid detail, complete with two pen illustrations, one depicting the President’s theatre box, and one showing Booth’s escape route. Watson dramatically ends the letter: “God speed the hang-man.”

Lot 91 is an Abraham Lincoln oversized sepia-colored photograph after Alexander Hesler, measuring 13” x 16.” The original portrait photograph was taken on June 3, 1860 in Springfield, Illinois just a few weeks after Lincoln was nominated as Republican Party presidential candidate. The amazing detail in the large photograph makes it seem like the future president is in the room!

Space

The Space & Aviation category includes over 60 lots in the sale, ranging from autographed material, photographs, and ephemera, to artwork, space-flown relics, and deaccessioned NASA equipment.

Lot 202 is an official NASA color portrait photograph signed by all three Apollo XI crew members, ca. 1974, and pre-certified by space expert Steve Zarelli.

Lot 239 is an Endeavour STS-111-flown Hasselblad 203S space camera, with a 70mm body and NASA Class I flight hardware, complete with a view finder, power winder, IR remote, and manual winder. The Space-flown photographic equipment comes with a data module as well as a 70mm film magazine flown on Atlantis, Columbia, Discover, and Endeavour missions. Extremely scarce in private hands!

Lot 239, Endeavour STS-111-flown Hasselblad 203S space camera

Science

Lot 490 is an Isaac Newton autograph manuscript fragment comprised of nine lines (85+ words) in both Latin and English. In it, the scientist delves into a religious discussion of the relationship between God and Jesus.

Literature

Lot 434 is an Ernest Hemingway boldly signed limited first edition copy of A Farewell To Arms (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1929), signed by the author on the limitation page. The book comes from the personal collection of fellow writer Owen Wister, Jr. of The Virginian fame.

Lot 456 is an 11pp autograph manuscript signed by Ayn Rand, being a heavily edited draft of what would become her July 22, 1962 “Ayn Rand Column” published in the Los Angeles Times. The draft entitled “The Cold Civil War” includes 900+ words with additional copious emendations, and comments on the intersection of Kennedy-era politics and the economy. In part: “Such is the nature of that ‘cold civil war’ … While every social group is destroying every other, the government waits on the sidelines, merely playing favorites and growing. No matter who loses any particular battle, only totalitarian statism can win that war.”

Entertainment

Three lots in the sale relate to Marilyn Monroe, including Lot 331, a spectacular and gorgeous vintage press photograph signed by the starlet, PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic, as well as a 1950 check issued to her hair stylist, and a personally owned cordial glass, ex-Christie’s. The presentation portrait photograph was taken by Frank Powolny, ca. 1953, around the time that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was released.

Lot 331, Marilyn Monroe PSA SP

Sports

Lot 514 is a Babe Ruth signed PSA/DNA Type II vintage press photograph by baseball photographer Charles M. Conlon, capturing one of the most famous pictures of the “Sultan of Swat” at home plate during his Yankees era. The Ruth signed photo comes with a miniature Ruth Louisville Slugger baseball bat, 16.25” long.

These are just some of the memorable lots in our January 7, 2026 sale.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives is excited to announce its next sale. The 490+ lot auction will feature two notable and largely unreserved collections:

• Part I of A Superb Space Collection, a particularly fine assortment of Space autographs and memorabilia assembled by a Texas gentleman (40+ lots)
• Part III of A Top-Notch Collection, curated by a sophisticated California connoisseur, who purchased rare and desirable autographed items from Charles Hamilton, Joe Rubinfine, Kenneth Rendell, and other legendary dealers (40+ lots)

Plus our usual assortment of exceptional items from U.S. Presidents, Science, Space, Music, Civil Rights, World Leaders, Literature, and many other popular collecting categories!

U.S. Presidents

Lot 159 is 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, later sold at a World War I fundraising benefit auction hosted by the Red Cross, ca. 1917-1918. Woodrow Wilson was a former collegiate baseball player and started the beloved presidential tradition of throwing ceremonial pitches. From the collection of Steven Forbes and accompanied by a PSA/DNA LOA.

Lot 159, Woodrow Wilson signed baseball

Lot 152 is a Revolutionary War discharge certificate signed by George Washington, dated June 9, 1783. The certificate released a private named George Denicott in the 5th Massachusetts Regiment from all future military obligations. Denicott’s regiment was raised before the Lexington Alarm, and saw action at the Battles of Concord, Bunker Hill, Trenton, and Princeton, as well as during the New York and Saratoga Campaigns. 5th MA Regiment veterans were furloughed in mid-June 1783 and the battle unit was disbanded in November 1783.

Lot 88 is an Abraham Lincoln signed military appointment, dated March 4, 1862, promoting one Edward Ball to the rank of Second Lieutenant of the 2nd Regiment of Cavalry. Ball was a Mexican War veteran who was active on the West Coast before the Civil War brought him back East.

Lot 79 is a John and Jackie Kennedy co-signed 1963 Christmas gift – an engraving of an Andrew Jackson statue near the White House – signed and presented to family and close friends in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The print was gifted to Joan Braden, a close Kennedy Family friend who had worked on JFK’s campaigns and accompanied Jackie to the Indian subcontinent in 1962.

Lot 84 is a 3pp autograph letter signed by Lee Harvey Oswald, sent from Minsk, Soviet Union on November 20, 1961 – almost two years to the day before Kennedy’s assassination. In the letter to older brother Robert Oswald, living in Texas, Lee reported that he was trying to obtain exit visas and seeking financial aid from the U.S. Embassy to secure plane tickets. He also discussed Russian-language children’s books for Robert’s children, and a genuine pair of Russian winter boots he could get for Robert. Lee, his Russian wife, and young daughter flew back to the U.S. in Summer 1962.

Science

Lots 447 and 448 are both autograph manuscripts by Albert Einstein, representing original working drafts of what would become parts of “A Generalization of the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation” (1945). The two pages – offered separately in back-to-back lots – related to Einstein’s Unified Field Theory. Together, the pages represent a combined 440+ words and 29 equations in Einstein’s hand, and show extensive edits; parts of Einstein’s first version were not included in the published version.

Lot 448, Albert Einstein AM

Lot 455 is an autograph manuscript penned by Sir Isaac Newton, ca. 1690s-1710s, featuring over 350 words in his hand. Newton’s non-scientific writings concentrated on theological studies, and this heavily edited draft is no exception. The manuscript fragment examines the continuity between Judaism and Christianity. Interestingly, 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.

Space

Lot 188 is a monumental Apollo XI display, including two complete sets of Apollo XI astronaut signatures, and one complete set of Apollo XI wives’ signatures in a signed photo, signed cover, and invitation. The showstopping lead item, the crew photo, has been signed by Armstrong and wife Janet; Collins and wife Patricia; and Aldrin and wife Joan Aldrin. The items date from the 1969 Giantstep Apollo XI Presidential Goodwill Tour undertaken by the crew between late September and early November 1963, specifically their visit to Mexico City.

Lot 219 is a massive meteorite (lunar feldspathic breccia) retrieved from Laâyoune, in the Western Sahara Desert, in January 2022. The meteorite measures 371 grams, and features a scattering of desirable white and red clasts.

Music

Lot 308 is Bob Dylan’s signed and handwritten lyrics to “Just Like a Woman,” a song featured on his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde. Accompanied by a COA from Jeff Rosen, Dylan’s tour manager, as well as a PSA COA.

Lot 324 is a John Lennon signed check, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded GEM MT 10. The check is dated June 16, 1971 and was drawn from the account of Apple Records, Inc. We are unaware that any other Lennon 10s have ever been on the market. The item would pair nicely with Lot 314, a George Harrison signed check, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded GEM MT 10, drawn from the account of Apple Corps Limited.

 Civil Rights

Lot 265 is a Martin Luther King, Jr. signed typed letter, dated March 6, 1961, and addressed to his literary agent, Marie Rodell. The letter discussed the attempts of Educational Communications Corporation, a California-based non-profit media company, to obtain film rights to King’s first published book: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958).

Lot 265, Martin Luther King, Jr. TLS

These are just some of the many fascinating lots in our upcoming sale.

We hope you can join us on November 19, 2025!

University Archives will hold its next auction, Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books, on October 8, 2025. The sale will feature Part II of A Top-Notch Collection: more than 75 lots – largely unreserved – from a sophisticated California connoisseur, who collected rare and desirable autographed items from Charles Hamilton, Joe Rubinfine, Kenneth Rendell, and other legendary dealers. The auction will also include our usual assortment of exceptional items from U.S. Presidents, Early America, World Leaders, Science, Space, Literature, and Military.

U.S. Presidents

Lot 42 is a handsomely framed document signed three times by then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. The document certified three Acts approved by Congress on March 2, 1793. The first related to the maintenance and ownership of “Light-houses, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers.” The remaining two concerned Revolutionary War veterans and their families: authorizing the half-pay pension of Major Simeon Thayer, former Rogers’ Ranger, prisoner of war, and wounded Battle of Monmouth veteran; and establishing an educational fund for the teenaged son of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, who had been killed in action at the Battle of Princeton.

Lot 128 is a 2pp letter signed by George Washington, then in his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. The letter was addressed to Major Arthur St. Clair on January 15, 1781, in the immediate aftermath of the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny (January 1-10, 1781), a revolt among 2,500 troops near Morristown, New Jersey. In the letter, Washington assured St. Clair that a 1,000-man detachment would be kept in readiness in case of any further uprisings. Washington wanted a swift resolution to “the unhappy affair” since the British had already tried (and failed) to exploit military instability.

Lot 128, George Washington LS

Lot 54 is a Civil War-dated military commission dated March 5, 1864 boldly signed by President Abraham Lincoln and co-signed by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The appointment promoted William H. Pankhurst to Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers with the rank of Captain.

Lot 135 is a printed copy of Public Resolution No. 1 of the 65th Congress dated April 6, 1917, signed by President Woodrow Wilson, Vice President Thomas Marshall, and House Speaker Champ Clarke, declaring war on Imperial Germany. Wilson had urged Congress to declare war because of unrestricted submarine German warfare against American shipping and other provocations. 75% of congressional members approved the measure.

Early America

Lot 249 is a land grant signed by Benjamin Franklin, then in his capacity as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, granting property in Westmoreland County to one Lieutenant John Harper. The document was dated September 30, 1787, just a little over one week after the 1787 Constitutional Convention had concluded in Philadelphia.

Lot 357 is an archive of early printed material relating to America’s first diplomatic and commercial alliances with France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, ca. 1778-1783. A highlight is an official French printing of the first Franco-American treaty entitled [translated]: “Treaty of Friendship and Commerce Concluded Between the King and the United States of North America” (Paris, 1778). The timely recognition of America by European powers legitimized its claims to independence.

World Leaders

Lot 357 is a 1p document signed by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and co-signed by her second husband, the English nobleman Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, on October 9, 1565, directing the Laird of Kilvarock to cease managing Inverness Castle. Just a few years earlier, the Catholic Mary had returned from France to assume rulership of a predominately Protestant nation. The co-signer, Darnley, would die about one year later under mysterious circumstances which many believe was murder.

Lot 358 is a 2pp autograph letter in Gujarati signed by Mohandas Gandhi as “Bapu’s Blessings.” The July 24, 1934 letter addressed to a friend includes remarkable content about Hindu-Muslim cooperation, as well as a reference to fasting, Gandhi’s preferred non-violent form of political protest.

Science & Space

Lot 421 is a 1920 issue of a German scientific journal, signed by Albert Einstein on the front cover. The issue published by the Viewig Collection contained Einstein’s article, “Über die spezielle und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie (Gemeinverständlich)” [“On the Special and General Theory of Relativity (A Popular Account).”] The issue came out just two years before Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, retroactive to 1921.

Lot 421, Albert Einstein Signed Booklet

Lot 170 is a “Type Three” Apollo 11 insurance cover boldly signed by all three mission astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, at the Kennedy Space Center, ca. July 16, 1969.

Literature

Lot 392 is a 1p autograph letter signed by American writer Herman Melville, dated December 4, 1867, towards the end of what one biographer called the author’s “annus horribilis.” Several months before, Melville’s eldest son died suddenly, likely from suicide, and Melville’s wife of 20 years contemplated leaving him because of the author’s alcoholism and abuse.

Military

Lot 383 is a 2pp autograph letter signed by Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson addressed to a correspondent named Truheart, who, in addition to Jackson, may have attended the 1859 execution of John Brown, failed leader of the Harpers Ferry insurrection. The letter dated October 12, 1852 concerned a lecture on hypnotism. During this era, Jackson was teaching natural philosophy and artillery tactics at the Virginia Military Institute.

These are just a few of the superb offerings in our October sale.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives will hold its last auction of the summer on August 27, 2025. Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books will provide collectors with the opportunity to show off their latest acquisitions around Labor Day barbecue pits and swimming pools.

Introducing A Top-Notch Collection: several hundred largely unreserved lots from the collection of a sophisticated California connoisseur, many unseen for decades. This collector purchased rare and desirable autographed items from Charles Hamilton, Joe Rubinfine, Kenneth Rendell, and other legendary dealers. Nothing was purchased less than 40 years ago, and most were purchased 50-60 years ago, meaning the material has been off-market for an average of 50 years. Our usual assortment of amazing auction items will accompany this stunning collection; on offer will be the best of U.S. Presidents, Early America, World Leaders, Science & Technology, Aviation & Space, Music, Art, Literature and Sports.

U.S. Presidents

Lot 127 is a George Washington signed letter dated February 20, 1790, addressed to a state governor, possibly North Carolina state governor Alexander Martin. In it, President Washington transmitted an Act of Congress regarding import laws, shipping procedures, and tax collection districts in North Carolina. This is one of only two such letters known to exist in which Washington notified a state governor of a Congressional Act during the first year after ratifying the U.S. Constitution. North Carolina had only ratified the U.S. Constitution three months earlier, in November 1789, after initially rejecting it.

Lot 127, George Washington LS

Lot 54 is an autograph letter twice signed by Thomas Jefferson, dated March 24, 1805 and sent to Monticello joiner and lumber supplier James Oldham. Jefferson expressed dismay that a fire the previous week had destroyed Oldham’s supply of wood planks earmarked for Monticello doors and window sashes. The letter illustrates the extent to which Jefferson continuously remodeled his private home even while in the White House. PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic.

Lot 70 is an Abraham Lincoln signed letter on Executive Mansion stationery dated July 29, 1864 and addressed to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. In the letter, Lincoln lobbied for the admission of Connecticut Congressman Augustus Brandegee’s nephew, Theodore T. Wood, into the U.S. Naval Academy, which had relocated from Annapolis to Newport after the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861. Less than a week after Lincoln endorsed the naval cadet, Union forces under David Farragut finally stanched blockade-running at Mobile Bay.

Early America

Lot 233 is a Benjamin Franklin signed autograph document dated April 23, [1755]. This ledger recorded expenses in paper money, silver coins, and Spanish and Brazilian-minted gold coins which Franklin had accrued while undertaking General Edward Braddock’s commission to collect forage, horses, and wagons during the French & Indian War. Braddock’s expedition to Fort Duquesne, a French-controlled fort near present day Pittsburgh, was disastrous. At the Battle of Monongahela, Braddock’s aide-de-camp, a young George Washington, discovered numerous bullet holes in his coat and had several horses shot out from under him, and General Braddock later died of battlefield injuries.

Lot 285 is an extraordinary illustrated journal kept by an unidentified author/artist, ca. 1862-1864, who commented on Civil War-era politicians, military commanders, literary figures, activists, and entertainers. It features 50+ original vividly hand-colored drawings, some signed with a comical nom de plume. Inspired by newspaper articles and current events, the 98pp journal comments on the Emancipation Proclamation, Republican politics, fiscal policy, and other social issues, with both pro-slavery and anti-slavery messaging, suggesting that the author/artist was an equal opportunity satirist.

Lot 285, Civil War-Era Illustrated Journal

Lot 242 is a Biblical work personally owned, signed, and annotated by Salem Witch Trial judge Samuel Sewall, and consigned by the Canton Historical Society of Canton, Massachusetts. The book is a concordance, or index, of keywords cross-referenced with the biblical passages in which they appeared, and was published by Reverend Samuel Newton in London in 1650. The index contains words like Justice, Proof, Guilt, Mercy, Witch, Evil Spirit, and Devil. Sewall could have used this reference book when writing a discourse, like a court decision.

Lot 224 is a Samuel Adams signed partly printed and partly manuscript document dated October 15, 1794, conveying Adams’s gubernatorial support for poor laws in Charlestown. Personally, Adams was anti-slavery, but politically he couched his views much more conservatively.

World Leaders

Lot 315 is a manuscript document in French featuring a 22-word autograph note signed by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The document, written in Bayonne near the Spanish-French border on May 19, 1808, asked for Napoleon’s direction regarding the formation of a new battalion to accommodate Westphalian recruits during the ongoing Peninsular War. Just a few weeks later, Napoleon forced the legitimate Spanish leaders from the throne, installing his brother Joseph Bonaparte as a puppet ruler. This is just one of three notes and documents signed by Napoleon in the sale.

Lot 315, Napoleon Bonaparte ANS

Science & Technology

Lot 415 is a presentation photograph of inventor Thomas A. Edison, signed by him and dedicated to Etienne de Fodor, a Hungarian engineer at the Budapest General Electric Company, as “a pioneer of the Incandescent Electric Light.” While Edison photographs are not all that scarce, we consider that an inscription mentioning Edison’s most famous invention and modestly giving credit for it to another contributor makes it a monumental item.

Aviation & Space

Lot 170 is a massive meteorite (lunar feldspathic breccia) retrieved near Laâyoune, Morocco in the Western Sahara Desert, in January 2022. The meteorite tips the scales at an impressive 371 grams, and features a scattering of desirable white and red clasts.

Music

Lot 255 is Bob Dylan’s handwritten and signed lyrics to “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” a song featured in his 1963 second studio album. Dylan has inscribed all five stanzas of the song, inspired by the question-and-answer flow of traditional English folk songs, on a sheet of Holmenkollen Park Hotel Rica stationery from Oslo, Norway, ca. 2013. Accompanied by a COA from Jeff Rosen, Dylan’s manager.

Art

Lot 252 is a Walt Disney signed 1st edition copy of Fantasia (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1940), published in tandem with the release of the animated film of the same name set to classical music. The illustrated volume features 16 mounted color plates and also has its original dust jacket.

These are just a few of the spectacular lots in our August sale.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives is excited to announce its July 16, 2025 sale! Rare Autographs, Books, Lincoln & Space Items will include over 450 lots from collecting categories such as U.S. Presidents, Military (especially Revolutionary War and Civil War), Aviation/Space, Art, Science, and Sports. The savvy collector can take advantage of many chances to bid on never-before-seen and extremely scarce pieces.

U.S. Presidents

Over 30 lots in the auction relate to Abraham Lincoln: his family; his legal career; his presidency; his assassination and its aftermath; and his political and historical legacy. Lincolniana collectors will find autographed material, ephemera, and pictorial representations of Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln, Willie Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, Boston Corbett, and David Hunter, head of the Lincoln conspirator military tribunal.

Lot 62 is a vintage sepia-colored carte de visite of Abraham Lincoln, boldly signed by him as “A. Lincoln” along the bottom edge, and PSA/DNA slabbed and graded MINT 9. The portrait of Lincoln was originally taken by Alexander Gardner on August 9, 1863, just one month after the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg. This piece was one of six autographed cartes de visite which President Lincoln sent to Mrs. Mary L. Westerman of Pekin, Illinois for a Union Army fundraising event hosted there on October 18, 1864. A pencil inscription on the back of the Lincoln signed CDV suggests that it was later sold for $200, with proceeds presumably benefiting the war effort.

Lot 62, Abraham Lincoln PSA MINT 9 Signed CDV

Everyone recalls Abigail Adams’s injunction to “Remember the ladies.” Lot 1 is a 2pp autograph letter signed by John Adams dated November 11, 1788 and introducing his wife, Abigail Adams, to John Jay’s wife, Sarah Livingstone Jay. Rather remarkably, the two important diplomats’ wives had not met in Europe while Adams and Jay were negotiating the Revolutionary War-ending 1783 Treaty of Paris. Adams wrote wistfully about John Jay, in part: “My most respectful and affectionate Regards to Mr Jay. When and Where I shall ever have the Pleasure to see him again I know not. But I shall never cease to desire it, if we live upon this Earth these hundred years.”

Lot 127 is a partly printed and partly manuscript document dated September 1, 1783, boldly signed by George Washington in his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. This Revolutionary War discharge certificate was issued to one John Slocum of Rhode Island, who belonged to the Corps of Invalids, which operated between 1777-1783. This unit was comprised of wounded, sickly, or aged veterans who performed limited duties, like guard watches. One of Slocum’s fellow invalided corpsmen was Prince Jenckes, a Black veteran amputee; the historical record suggests that, like Jenckes, Slocum was physically disabled while in service.

Lot 127, George Washington Signed Revolutionary War Discharge

Lot 42 is a 1p autograph letter signed three times by President Thomas Jefferson, once as “Th: Jefferson” and twice initialed as “Th: J.” Jefferson wrote this October 18, 1805 letter to General John Mason, commander of the District of Columbia militia, and owner of a plantation on Analostan Island in the Potomac River (now Theodore Roosevelt Island) regarding the planning and construction of a connective causeway, likely built by enslaved labor.

Military

Lot 325 is an autograph letter signed, docketed, or endorsed by five Confederate officers – including Robert E. Lee – which originally served as the transmittal cover for a relic from the Battle of Gettysburg. The letter originally accompanied the regimental flag of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, which on July 1, 1863 had been captured by Lieutenant Frank M. Harney of the 14th North Carolina Infantry. The fatally wounded Harney’s dying wish was that the captured battle flag be sent on to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The flag – along with this very letter – made its way to President Davis between mid-July and mid-August 1863, changing hands no fewer than five times. Davis treasured the flag and it was in his suitcase when he fled Richmond.

Lot 344 is a telegram form engrossed and signed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, dated July 8, 1864, and addressed to General Robert E. Lee at Petersburg, Virginia. The city of Petersburg – a vital railroad hub just 20 miles south of the Confederate capital at Richmond – was just 3 weeks into the city’s eventual 10-month-long siege. In the urgent message, Davis conveys his concerns about the “nonarrival of arms” and worries that Confederate war plans are no longer confidential. In closing, Davis gives Lee unlimited military authority in conducting the Petersburg campaign.

Lot 344, Jefferson Davis Telegram to Robert E. Lee at Petersburg

Lot 237 is a partly printed and partly manuscript document signed by Union General David Hunter in Port Royal, South Carolina on August 22, 1862, his last day serving as Commander of the Department of the South. The document proclaims that the former enslaved person named Jupiter Jamison is proclaimed “forever free” – along with his wife, children, and mother. Hunter’s dismissal from his post was in part due to his premature emancipation of enslaved people from areas that the Union Army had liberated, months prior to President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and well in advance of the effective date of January 1, 1863. Believed to be the only such copy in private hands!

Entertainment

Lot 308 is a mortgage deed dated December 20, 1957 co-signed by Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe and her then husband, the playwright Arthur Miller, for the farmhouse they owned at 232 Tophet Road, Roxbury, Connecticut. The unlikely couple lived in Roxbury, as well as on Long Island and in New York City, during their 5-year-long marriage.

International

Lot 404 is a French-language postcard signed twice by Mahatma Gandhi, once in English and once in Hindi, dated June 24, 1947, just seven months before Gandhi’s assassination. The signed postcard is PSA/DNA slabbed and graded MINT 9 and comes with provenance in the form of an autograph letter in French signed by Gandhi’s personal secretary, Amrit Kaur.

Art

Lot 141 is a 1p autograph letter in French signed by Pablo Picasso dated August 1, 1953. In this letter to his close friend and financial adviser Max Pellequer, Picasso writes that he is not a professional ceramicist, but rather a secondary one. Picasso studied under Suzanne and Georges Ramié at the Madoura Pottery studio in Vallauris, France after 1947. In the studio space reserved for him there, Picasso later produced thousands of limited-edition and figural pitchers, vases, plates, and bowls.

Lot 141, Pablo Picasso ALS

Sports

Lot 440 is an unused 50-stamp block of commemorative stamps, with black titles omitted, celebrating the centenary of professional baseball in 1969, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Professional Stamp Experts. Series U.S. #1381, “Professional Baseball / 1869-1969” in yellow, red, green, and black, celebrates 100 years of the professionalization of America’s favorite pastime, beginning with the first professional baseball team: the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

These are just a few of the sensational items featured in our July sale.

We hope you can join us!