News & History

University Archives welcomed both regulars and newcomers to its April sale, Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection. The Abraham Lincoln Collection, comprised of 60+ lots sandwiched in the middle of the U.S. Presidents section, generated intense interest among phone, absentee, and live online bidders. Lincoln autographed material – and especially relics like hair, fabric, wood, and wallpaper, etc. – showed very strong results. Economic uncertainty has not yet touched the autograph industry, where aggressive collecting is still taking place in all major categories. April marked yet another $1-million sale at University Archives.

Select sale highlights included:

Abraham Lincoln & Other U.S. Presidents

Lot 71 was a military appointment dated March 10, 1863 signed by President Abraham Lincoln appointing one William H. Forbes as Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers. Forbes had fought in the Battles of South Mountain and Antietam and was captured by Mosby’s Rangers during the Action at Mount Zion Church about one year later, in July 1864, resulting in six months’ internment as a prisoner of war. The boldly signed document sold for 40% over its high estimate, or $18,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 73 was a document dated July 11, 1862 signed by President Abraham Lincoln with a very rare and very fine full signature. Lincoln appointed John A. Graham as interim Register of the Treasury on the day he also tagged Major General Henry W. Halleck as General-in-Chief of the Union Army. The beautifully autographed document exchanged hands for more than 3 times its high estimate, or $28,250 including the tip.

Lot 73, Abraham Lincoln DS

Lot 74 was a collection of 32pp manuscript pages, ca. May 30, 1867, being the testimony of Thomas T. Eckert, a Civil War-era military telegraph operator who later served as Assistant Secretary of War. Eckert had been called as one of 89 witnesses before a Congressional Committee investigating President Andrew Johnson in the latter’s first impeachment trial in January 1867. In this remarkable testimony, Eckert discussed what he knew about John Wilkes Booth’s diary, his burial, his co-conspirator Lewis Powell, and the existence of a semi-mythical Confederate cypher. The lot sold for double its high estimate, or $17,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 102 was an autograph letter signed by one Norton Galloway, a Civil War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, on February 14, 1902. Galloway’s account proves his ownership of the authentic Derringer pistol used by John Wilkes Booth during Lincoln’s assassination, tracing a line of custody to the Port Tobacco, Virginia ferryman who was gifted the weapon. Truly a sleeper in the sale, this unique account sold for more than 16 times the high estimate, or $10,710 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 26 was a 2pp letter signed by President James A. Garfield on April 29, 1881, less than three months before his fatal shooting, on “Executive Mansion” stationery. Garfield wrote to an appointee tapped to serve as Third Assistant Postmaster who later declined the appointment during the aftermath of the “Star-Route Scandal,” which revealed corruption in the U.S. Postal Service. It sold for 50% over its high estimate, or $18,750 including the tip.

World Leaders

Lot 437 was a manuscript document in Cyrillic dated October 7, 1722 and signed by Tsar Peter I, congratulating fellow European monarch Frederick Wilhelm I of Prussia on the birth of a son, Augustus Wilhelm. The document stated (translated) in part: “… We bless your Royal House on the birth of this prince… With the wish that you may be graced with further well-being to Our greatest satisfaction and the prospering of your Royal House…” The royal autograph garnered $20,480 including the buyer’s premium, with a hammer price above the high estimate.

Science/Space

Lot 505 was a typed letter in German signed by Albert Einstein on March 1, 1935, the year he renounced his German citizenship and officially applied for permanent American residency. In this letter addressed to Jesse Mendheim, Einstein excoriated the German anti-Semitic weekly magazine Der Stürmer, published by Julius Streicher, who would later be tried at Nuremberg and executed. Einstein said: “It would be very beneficial if my collection [of such magazines] could be used to inform non-Jewish circles here about the true nature of the Hitler regime. In my opinion, not enough is being done in this regard.” This extraordinary letter sold for almost double its high estimate, or $21,250 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 505, Albert Einstein TLS

Lot 220 was a copy of the July 25, 1969 issue of Time Magazine showing Neil Armstrong on the front cover assertively signed by the “Man on the Moon” at right. The Apollo XI space mission had just concluded on July 24, 1969, after 8 days in Space. The lot sold for over double its high estimate, or $3,000 including the buyer’s premium.

Early America

Lot 303 was a Revolutionary War-dated document signed by John Hancock on May 13, 1782 appointing one Seth Webber as a carpenter aboard the Massachusetts State Navy schooner Tartar. The ship captured French and British prizes during its career as a privateer and, less than one year later, fought a naval skirmish against the British frigate Belisarius, leaving three British dead. The document sold for $18,750 including the buyer’s premium, or for 20% above its high estimate.

Lot 474 was a Texian Loan certificate dated January 11, 1836 co-signed by three commissioners including Stephen F. Austin, who would die within the year. The certificate granted 640 acres to a Cincinnati real estate investor as a way to fund the ongoing Texan Revolution and encourage immigration from the United States to Texas. The document exceeded its high estimate, selling for $6,250 including the tip.

Entertainment

Lot 351 was an autograph note signed by Marilyn Monroe in Osaka, Japan, ca. February 1954, during an overseas trip entertaining U.S. troops stationed in Korea. Monroe thanked airman Hilda “Bugs” Benning, the roommate of Monroe’s military escort Ollie Palmer, for having loaned her his leather bomber jacket on a frigid excursion to a U.S. airbase. The warm and lovely signed note sold for $12,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Literature

Lot 456 was a first edition presentation copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays: Second Series (Boston: James Munroe, 1844), signed and dedicated by the author to his close friend and financial adviser Abel Adams. The volume containing “Experience” and “Nature” sold for 20% above its high estimate, or $6,250 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 459 was a 2pp autograph letter signed by Margaret Mitchell on April 1, 1939 while hiding out in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mitchell wrote her editor at Macmillan, Harold S. Latham, that she and husband John Marsh were “not registered under our own names. [A] distasteful practice… necessary when traveling if we want to get any peace and rest.” Seven months later, the Civil War blockbuster Gone With The Wind premiered in Atlanta, Georgia. The lot sold for over 40% over its high estimate, or $8,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Marvelous Miscellany (Business, Military, Sports)

Lot 269 was a McDonald’s gift certificate, ca. 1981, signed by entrepreneur Ray Kroc, which topped its high estimate by over 80%. This piece of classic Americana sold for $5,000 including the tip.

Lot 406 was a United States Military Academy yearbook, ca. 1903, signed by 94 cadets including Douglas MacArthur, future Pacific Theater commander, and U.S. Grant III, grandson of ex-president Ulysses S. Grant. The album with Pach Bros. portrait photos is a who’s who of future World War I and World War II military personnel. It crossed the auction block above its high estimate, achieving $4,687 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 522 was a photograph of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, taken ca. 1949, co-signed by the two rival players and PSA/DNA certified. This attractive piece of baseball memorabilia sold for over its high estimate, or for $812 including the tip.

These were just a few of the sensational lots in our April sale.

Our next sale is tentatively scheduled for June 4, 2025.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives welcomed online, absentee, and phone bidders to its Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Memorabilia auction yesterday. Our sale catalog received over 26,600 lot views on auction day alone, and substantial bidding volume reflected this. Over 3,300 absentee bids were executed either online or by UA staff, and 96% of our sale items sold. Thus continues our streak of maintaining a sell-through rate of 90% or above for the last 29 consecutive auctions since September 2021. We averaged 471 lots per sale for these 29 sales, and a mean sell-through rate of 98%. No one can top our sales record in the autograph and manuscript industry!

U.S. Presidents

Lot 74 was a blank ship’s passport boldly signed by Abraham Lincoln as President and co-signed by Secretary of State William H. Seward. The successful buyer decided that both the attractive signatures and the near fine state of the passport blank made it a great addition to their presidential collection. The Lincoln signed passport blank sold for 40% higher than the high estimate, or $23,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 75 was a Civil War-dated military appointment signed by Abraham Lincoln as President and co-signed by Secretary of War Simon Cameron, promoting an Irish-born career soldier named Leslie Smith as a Second Lieutenant. Cameron’s autograph on such documents is uncommon since he only served ten months as Secretary of War. The Lincoln signed document sold for more than double its high estimate, or $23,750 including the tip.

Lot 164 came from the Skip Hensel Presidential Collection and was a White House engraving signed by six presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. A phone bidder snatched up this piece for $16,250 including the buyer’s premium – or 40% above its high estimate – for good reason: if the buyer can add the presidential signatures of Obama, Trump, and Biden to the original six presidents’ signatures, its value will likely increase tenfold!

Lot 164, Six Presidents Signed White House Engraving

Lot 146 was a 1p typed letter signed by Harry S. Truman on April 12, 1945, the date of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death and of Truman’s subsequent swearing-in. Addressed to his friend Roy H. Webb of Kansas City, this letter is only one of three Truman signed letters dated April 12th that have come to auction in the last 25 years, and the only one to have been signed by Truman with his full name. The Truman signed letter exchanged hands for $16,250 including the tip, exceeding its high estimate.

Lot 54 was an autograph letter signed by ex-President Thomas Jefferson, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded GEM MT 10. In this letter written at Monticello on October 17, 1816, Jefferson thanked Henry A.S. Dearborn for sending him an English translation of a scientific work by French agronomist Charles Philibert de Lasteyrie about the Isatis tinctoria plant, traditionally used to produce blue dye. The Jefferson ALS sold for 25% above the high estimate, or $15,000 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 2 was a 1p autograph letter signed by John Quincy Adams on November 6, 1814 in Ghent, Belgium, where he was attempting to negotiate War of 1812-ending peace talks with Great Britain. Adams wrote in part: “Our negotiation is spinning out and unless our Government brings it to a close, will be a mere chancery suit…” This wonderfully candid letter with great political content garnered 20% more than its high estimate, or $15,000 including the tip.

Lot 157 was a first printing of a pamphlet entitled “The Will of General George Washington: To Which is Annexed, A Schedule of His Property, Directed to be Sold” (Alexandria: Record of the County Court of Fairfax, 1800). The document reproduced George Washington’s last will and testament, finalized by the former president in July 1799, only six months before his death in December 1799. This remarkable piece of presidential ephemera sold for nearly double the high estimate, or $9,375 including the buyer’s premium.

Civil Rights

Lot 251 was a later printing of Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), boldly signed on the front loose endpaper by King and presented to Doug Gilbert, a Duke University divinity student and Civil Rights activist. Sourced directly from the recipient’s family, the King signed book sold for almost twice its high estimate, or $9,375 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 251, Martin Luther King, Jr. Signed Book

Military

Lot 409 was an archive of 12 letters (59pp) by British Admiral Alexander Cochrane, 1804-1814, mentioning monumental events from the War of 1812 including the burning of Washington, D.C. In a 3pp autograph letter signed dated September 19, 1814, Cochrane wrote flippantly: “… This day Congress meets[.] What will Jamie Madison say for suffering their house [the White House] to be burned during their Recess.” The extraordinary archive achieved three times its high estimate, or $7,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 416 was a collection of 12 photographs featuring 13 autographs from the “Band of Brothers,” as members of E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment, 21st Airborne Division were called in the 2001 HBO miniseries of the same name. The popularity of World War II-era collectibles right now is probably the reason why the archive sold for 10 times its high estimate, or $6,250 including the tip.

Lot 416, “Band of Brothers” Signed Photos

World Leaders

Lot 425 was a 1p typed letter signed by Winston Churchill dated May 6, 1939, just four months prior to Britain’s declaration of war against Nazi Germany. In this letter to Major David Percy Davies, his editor at “News of the World,” Churchill wrote that his forthcoming article about the British Admiralty must not comment too explicitly on the British Navy’s role during wartime, showing a prudence called for by current events. The Churchill signed letter sold for $6,250 including the buyer’s premium, or well over its high estimate.

Lot 484 was a 1p document in Russian initialed in red colored pencil by Josef Stalin. In an effort to curtail “contamination” by state enemies – like White Guard (anti-communists), Kulaks (wealthy peasants), and Trotskyists (adherents of Stalin’s despised political enemy, Leon Trotsky), Stalin authorized the increase of military personnel in the Molotov region. Just six days earlier, in late May 1940, Stalin had tried (and failed) to orchestrate Trotsky’s assassination. Stalin’s henchmen would succeed three months later in Mexico City. The Stalin signed document sold for $6,875 including the tip.

These were just some of the incredible lots in our March 2025 sale. Our next sale is tentatively scheduled for April 23, 2025.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives welcomed in the New Year with a $1-million sale yesterday! That makes two consecutive months that University Archives has achieved sales exceeding $1 million (our back-to-back sales in December 2024, the December 11, 2024 sale at University Archives, and our December 4, 2024 co-branded sale with Eaton & Brennan Auctions, generated nearly $1.5 million combined.) Over 7,000 approved bidders on multiple bidding platforms vied for items in our January sale, Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Memorabilia. Bidders from the United States, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom dominated online bidding by country of origin, but we also received bids from Finland, Hong Kong, and Mexico! And our buyers found much to buy: 96% of items offered in our January sale sold.

Just a few of the estimate-crushing highlights from our January sale include:

Art

Lot 138 was an astounding collection of 70+ original metal (copper and steel) etching plates and woodblocks, 1887-1975, sourced by a New York art dealer. The group represents 30+ international Modern artists of the highest caliber, including: Pablo Picasso (3), Salvador Dalí (5), Marc Chagall (1), Georges Braque (3), Alberto Giacometti (1), Georges Rouault (9), Marcel Duchamp (2), Jean Cocteau (2), Pierre Bonnard (2), Marie Laurencin (7), Leonard Baskin (2), Wilfredo Lam (1), André Derain (3), Raphael Soyer (6), Joseph Stella (4), and many others. After an intense flurry of online bidding in the weeks before the auction, the lot finally sold to a phone bidder for $112,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 138, NY Art Dealer Lot of Plates & Woodblocks

U.S. Presidents & First Ladies

Lot 52 was an autograph letter by Thomas Jefferson as President signed not once, not twice, but four times, including a rare full signature. In this letter dated February 17, 1809, President Jefferson asked for the assistance of his grandson and namesake, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, in securing a newspaper subscription. The President’s signatures appear in four different ways: as “Jefferson” in addressing his grandson; as “Thomas Jefferson” within the text; as “Th: Jefferson” at the conclusion of the letter; and as “Thos. J.” in the docketing verso. This remarkably well-autographed presidential missive passed the auction block for 300% of the high estimate, or $34,375 including the tip.

Lot 129 was a franking signature by George Washington, PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic. The cover dated January 5, 1780 was written in Morris Town, New Jersey and addressed to Colonel Stephen Moylan of Colchester, Connecticut, the leader of “Moylan’s Horse,” or the 4th Continental Light Dragoons. Later that year, Moylan’s cavalry was involved in major Revolutionary War engagements at Springfield and Bull’s Ferry. The Washington frank exchanged hands for 40% above the high estimate, or $25,000 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 129, George Washington Franking Signature

Lot 89 was a brown leather purse belonging to Mary Todd Lincoln back in Illinois. The relatively plain handbag, with a front pocket secured by two brass turn-locks and a central pocket secured by a push-button lock, was gifted to one of Lincoln’s Springfield, Illinois acquaintances. The item was accompanied by a handwritten note of provenance reading: “This hand bag was the original property of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. When they ‘packed up’ to start for Washington, she gave it to Miss Langford in Springfield. I got it directly from Miss Langford. Miss Langford exchanged this bag with Mr. George G. Hartinaw [?] for some jewelry in Milwaukee & I bought it from him in 1910. John E. Burton.” The future First Lady’s fashion accessory sold for well over three times its high estimate, or $17,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 81 was an Abraham Lincoln signed check from Springfield, Illinois dated September 28, 1857. Lincoln paid about $14 to Reuben F. Ruth, a local saddle and harnessmaker, from accounts he had held at the Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Company since 1853. The same day, Lincoln also paid a furniture dealer, several newspaper publishers, and an antislavery settler. The lot sold for its estimate, or $31,250 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 37 was a check signed by James A. Garfield as President, accompanied by provenance from his son, James R. Garfield, more than 50 years after the former’s assassination. President Garfield authorized the payment of William “Billy” T. Crump, White House steward, for “Incidental expenses and cook hire.” The check, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded MINT 9, is only one of two known examples of a President Garfield signed check. It sold for more than double the high estimate, or $21,250 including the tip, handily trouncing Christie’s 1999 other signed check record of $10,000.

Lot 37, James Garfield As President Signed Check

Military

Lot 336 was a book series supplement of thirteen World War I maps personally owned by a young George S. Patton. The red cloth slipcase is twice signed by Patton: the first time on the front cover, as “G S Patton Jr”; and the second time on the spine as “Patton.” The maps, which show various stages of the March 1918 German Offensive, are neatly housed in an accordion folder with numbered tabs for easy retrieval. This treasure of militaria sold for double the high estimate, or $7,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 305 was a 3”-long graphite segment from Chicago Pile-1, Enrico Fermi’s nuclear reactor, displayed in a highly collectible Lucite case with engraved plaque. This graphite pin was one of many holding Uranium deposits in place within the reactor. Fermi successfully initiated the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction within CP-1 on December 2, 1942. The relic sold for over the high estimate, or $5,312.50 including the buyer’s premium.

Business

Lot 209 was a great piece of Americana: a ca. 1981 booklet of McDonald’s gift certificates, the first one in the packet boldly signed by Ray Kroc, the entrepreneur who helped turn the fast-food restaurant into an iconic billion-dollar business. It sold for $7,500 including the buyer’s premium, or over 10 times the high estimate!

Lot 209, Ray Kroc Signed McDonald’s Gift Certificate

These are just some of the memorable highlights from our January 29, 2025 sale.

Our next sale is tentatively scheduled for March 12, 2025.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives reached a monumental milestone in December 2024: sales of nearly $1.5 million! Our December 11, 2024 sale, Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books – Just In Time For The Holidays, yielded stupendous results, as did our co-branded sale with Eaton & Brennan Auctions on December 4, 2024, Hit Factory Recording Studios Memorabilia Auction. In addition to the December 11th sale’s being our most profitable to date, University Archives also maintained its industry-topping sell-through rate of 96%. We had 9,000+ approved bidders, many from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and we also welcomed online bidders from South Africa, Singapore, and Hong Kong. It was truly a worldwide event, with over 27,000 lot views on Invaluable.com on December 11th alone.

U.S. Presidents

University Archives’ most dominant collecting category – U.S. Presidents – performed extremely well, outstripping its collective high estimates.

Lot 146 was a 2pp letter signed by President George Washington on October 3, 1789. The circular addressed to Governor of Connecticut Samuel Huntington itemized key pieces of legislation that had been enacted by the 1st session of the 1st U.S. Congress, recently convened from March 4 to September 29, 1789. During this extremely productive session, the U.S. Congress outlined the Judiciary Act, appropriated money for the federal budget, and authorized the federal use of state militias. The Washington signed letter sold for $162,500 including the buyer’s premium. That’s more than double the high estimate!

Lot 146, George Washington LS

Lot 52 was an outstanding ship’s passport signed by the shortest-serving U.S. President, William Henry Harrison, sometime during his month-long presidency. Signed by President Harrison in advance as a blank, it was used by customs officials on April 30, 1841, nearly a full month after Harrison’s death from pneumonia on April 4, 1841, for a New Bedford whaling ship called Agate that foundered off the Cape Verde Islands in a severe storm two years later. The scarce Harrison signed document exchanged hands for $118,750 including the tip.

Lot 147 was a 1p partly printed partly document co-signed by George Washington as President and Thomas Jefferson as U.S. Secretary of State pertaining to the newly created U.S. Customs Service. The document dated March 21, 1791 appointed Vincent Redman as Inspector of the Revenue for Kinsale on the Yeocomico River, the oldest port on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, and located near Washington’s birthplace. Redman was one of 59 original revenue collectors appointed. The Washington and Jefferson dual signed document sold for $53,125 including the buyer’s premium, selling for 70% over the high estimate.

Lot 84 was a draft call signed by President Abraham Lincoln on July 24, 1863 requesting the first part of a conscription quota, a levy of 2,406 troops from the 18th District of Pennsylvania. The draft call was one of the first signed by Lincoln and came just a week after the New York Draft Riots. The Union’s need for additional soldiers was pressing following the Battle of Gettysburg three weeks earlier. The Lincoln signed order sold for $34,375 including the buyer’s premium, surpassing its high estimate by 30%.

Lot 84, Abraham Lincoln DS

Lot 140 was a 1p typed letter signed by President Harry S. Truman on May 9, 1945, just one day after V-E Day and two days after Germany’s unconditional surrender. In this letter addressed to Major General Paul W. Baade, commander of the 35th Division, Truman congratulated him on the “wonderful part they [the troops] have taken in the glorious victory over the Germans.” Baade’s 35th Division had participated in the Allied march to Berlin during the last days of the war. The Truman signed letter sold for $4,687.50 including the tip, or a 60% boost over the high estimate.

Early America

Lot 264 was a 1p partly printed document boldly signed by John Hancock as the Governor of Massachusetts dated July 14, 1788 appointing one William Allen as Major of the 6th Regiment of the 1st Division of the Suffolk County Militia. The document, whimsically framed behind glass above a quill pen, sold for $10,625 including the buyer’s premium, or more than double the high estimate.

Lot 268 was a 1p autograph letter in English signed by Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat turned Revolutionary War hero. In his letter dated October 28, 1831 addressed to an unknown American correspondent, Lafayette opined about France’s Revolution of 1830, and in closing, referred to himself as “an American.” The Lafayette signed letter sold for 90% more than its high estimate, or $13,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 456 was a 3pp autograph letter signed by John Marshall dated June 25, 1823, during his tenure as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, regarding his sister’s slaves in Kentucky. In the letter addressed to his nephew Martin P. Marshall, the Chief Justice mentions state-specific laws pertaining to slave-holding. The letter sold for $13,750 including the tip, or more than 20% higher than the high estimate.

Science

Lot 466 was a photograph of Albert Einstein wearing his beloved scruffy leather jacket, probably taken by Lotte Jacobi, and signed by him as “A. Einstein, 1947.” The portrait is shockingly modern in its sensibility, with Einstein staring boldly at the viewer. Einstein presented the signed photograph to Derek J. de Solla Price, the British physicist and historian of science. The arresting Einstein signed photograph sold for nearly twice its high estimate, or $17,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 466, Albert Einstein SP

World Leaders / Military

Lot 369 was a 2pp document signed by Josef Stalin in blue colored pencil at its conclusion, dated September 15, 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of U.S.S.R. The document was signed only one week after Hitler began the Siege of Leningrad. In the document, Stalin ordered the Red Army to protect Moscow, which was Hitler’s third military objective after securing Leningrad and eastern Ukraine. The Stalin signed document sold for $13,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 319 was a measuring scale used by Gus Schultz, foreman of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s drafting room and machine shop at Los Alamos, dating from the Manhattan Project-era. The precision tool would have been used to correctly scale atomic bomb components and is believed to be one of the first ever offered at auction. It sold for over double its high estimate, or $2,000 including the buyer’s premium.

Entertainment

Lot 297 was Marilyn Monroe’s Connecticut driver’s license, boldly signed by her as “Marilyn Monroe Miller,” and PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic. The ca. July 28, 1958 license lists Monroe’s birthday, height, and address in Roxbury, Connecticut, where she lived with playwright husband Arthur Miller from 1956-1961. The Hollywood starlet relic sold for $43,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Art

Lot 176 was a rare 1p autograph letter in French signed by Pablo Picasso, PSA/DNA encapsulated, certified, and graded GEM MT 10. In this letter dated October 16, 1958 and addressed to Picasso’s close friend, the art collector and financier Max Pellequer, Picasso mentioned a mutual acquaintance – Maurice Loncle, a French art collector of 19th/20th graphic arts. The item sold for 40% more than its high estimate, or $16,250 including the tip.

Lot 160 was a color photograph depicting Salvador Dali working on a sculpture, with an original Dali doodle of Don Quixote below in purple pen incorporating his signature. Dali’s sketch of the literary knight on horseback was dedicated to his lawyer Arnold Grant in November 1975. The Dali signed original artwork sold for nearly 10 times its high estimate, or $23,750 including the buyer’s premium.

These are just some of the spectacular highlights from our December 11, 2024 sale.

Our next sale is tentatively scheduled for January 29, 2025.

We hope you can join us!

University Archives held its October 30, 2024 sale last week. Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books achieved especially strong returns in the U.S. Presidential, Early America, Science, World Leaders, Civil Rights, Religion, and Sports collecting categories. Not only did we maintain our exceptionally high long-time sell-through rate of over 90% (97%), but we also surpassed a company record: the most lot views ever received on Invaluable.com on a sale day, with 31,217 lot views. We are continuing to build a respected world-wide reputation.

U.S. Presidents

Lot 1 was a letters patent document co-signed by John Quincy Adams as President and Henry Clay as U.S. Secretary of State. The document dated August 30, 1826 was matted with a rare John Quincy Adams carte de visite after Mathew Brady. It sold for over double its high estimate, or $2,000 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 20 was a scarce 1p autograph letter signed by James A. Garfield as President, dated June 15, 1881, just two weeks before he was shot by Charles Guiteau. In the letter, Garfield gives directions to a hotel-owner in the “summer colony” of Long Branch, New Jersey, where First Lady Lucretia Garfield was recuperating from a bout of malaria. After the shooting, the fatally wounded Garfield ventured to Long Branch himself, to benefit from the sea air; he died there at Franklyn Cottage in September 1881. This remarkable letter sold for 40% more than its high estimate, or $12,160 including the tip.

Lot 20, James A. Garfield ALS

Lot 121 was an autograph document signed in full by George Washington as “Mr George Washington.” The document dated ca. 1773 pertained to a 1751 land survey of 445 acres that Washington had completed over 20 years earlier for one Richard Seymour on behalf of Washington’s older half-brother Lawrence Washington. Washington’s endorsement certified that he waived all claims to the original land ownership through either his half-brother or younger full brother Charles Washington. The document relating to Washington’s first humble career – as a backwoods land surveyor – exchanged hands for more than the high estimate: $18,750 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 122 was a provisional discharge certificate signed by George Washington in his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, dated June 7, 1783, and issued to Jonathan Titus, Jr., a Private in the 2nd New York Regiment. The document granted Titus Jr. a furlough and provisional discharge after 6 ½ years’ military service, part of which was spent at his father’s side. Jonathan Titus, Sr. and Jonathan Titus, Jr. fought together at engagements at Saratoga, Valley Forge, Monmouth, and Stony Point. The Washington signed document sold for 40% over its high estimate, or $20,000 including the tip.

Early America

Lot 253 was a printed U.S. Treasury circular, dated August 27, 1792, and boldly signed by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. In it, Hamilton outlined a new way to transmit “Abstracts of Licenses” for exports. Just a few months earlier, Hamilton had deftly handled the Panic of 1792, successfully preventing a nation-wide recession. The Hamilton signed document sold to an ecstatic phone bidder for 40% more than the high estimate, or $10,625 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 256 was a partly printed and partly manuscript pay order boldly signed by John Jay and directed to Benjamin Franklin, dated June 15, 1779. Jay instructed Franklin to remit 31,000 Livres Tournois to French playwright Caron de Beaumarchais. Famous for his comedic farces The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, Beaumarchais was also a secret agent who served as a liaison between the Americans and French prior to their official 1778 alliance. In this way, de Beaumarchais facilitated the transfer of French arms and supplies to the Continentals. This spectacular Revolutionary War-dated pay order exchanged between two of the era’s most influential Founding Fathers sold for 250% more than its high estimate, or $12,500 including the tip.

Science

Lot 447 was a 3pp autograph letter in German signed by Albert Einstein in which the scientist explores both his Unified Field Theory and General Relativity. This exceptionally long scientific letter addressed to Einstein’s friend and fellow physicist Cornelius Lanczos includes a total of twelve equations in Einstein’s hand. It also features unexpectedly comedic content, as when Einstein refers to Freud, another of the greats of twentieth-century science, as an “old man” whose “‘father complex’ … can so easily take hold … [in] an alarmingly unstable situation…” The letter sold online for over its low estimate, garnering $53,125 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 447, Albert Einstein ALS With Equations

World Leaders

Lot 392 was a 1p autograph letter in Gujarati twice signed by Mohandas Gandhi in what is the earliest example of an ALS we’ve ever seen. Gandhi wrote his older brother Laxmidas from South Africa on January 22, 1889 inquiring about mutual acquaintances. Gandhi signs the letter formally at the conclusion as “Mohandas Karamchand Pranam” and also signs it as “Gandhi” when writing out part of his brother’s name. This early letter sold for 20% more than its high estimate, or $10,625 including the buyer’s premium.

Civil Rights

Lot 219 was a British halfpenny made of Middlesex copper, ca. 1790s, depicting one of the most recognizable of all anti-slavery images and slogans: a shackled enslaved person asking “AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?” The coin catalogued GB D&H-1038b sold for over five times its high estimate, or $5,312.50 including the buyer’s premium.

Religion

Lot 223 was a 1p autograph letter signed by Charles Wesley, the famed Methodist hymnodist, dated January 24, 1753, in which he regretfully declined an invitation from Ebenezer Blackwell, a wealthy London banker. Blackwell had recently converted to Methodism and financed much of the ministries of the Wesley brothers (including John) and George Whitefield. The letter sold for 20% over its high estimate, or $4,687.50 including the tip.

Sports

Lot 489 was an entrance ticket boldly signed by Babe Ruth and PSA/DNA graded GEM MT 10. The ticket granted admission to the Rhode Island Independent Amateur Softball Championships held in East Providence, Rhode Island from September 2-7, 1941. Guest stars Babe Ruth and Ted Williams both participated in crowd-drawing baseball-hitting demonstrations. Ruth had played for the Red Sox minor league team the Providence Grays nearly 30 years before. The signed ticket sold for double its high estimate, or $12,500 including the buyer’s premium.

Lot 489, Babe Ruth Signed Ticket

Lot 491 was an archive of sports correspondence courses featuring autograph endorsements signed by the “Father of Basketball Coaching” Forrest C. “Phog” Allen, ca. 1935. The archive includes a 12th ed. hardcover copy of Allen’s foundational text, My Basket-ball Bible (1934) as well as printed curriculum handouts and graded assignments. The lot sold for well over the high estimate, or $7,500 including the tip.

Our next sale is tentatively scheduled for December 11, 2024.

We hope you can join us!

Visit our website, www.universityarchives.com, for more information, or check out our sale catalog here.

University Archives is thrilled to announce its upcoming sale, Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books, an auction of over 485 lots, on October 30, 2024. One of the marquee items is Lot 89, a highly unique and once-in-a-lifetime set of presidential signatures from George Washington to Barack Obama, all signed as President, from 1789 to 2010. This museum-quality collection comes from a Dallas, Texas gentleman and joins a great volume of exception presidential autographed material from other consignors. A timely assortment up for auction just a few weeks ahead of the 2024 United States presidential election! Outstanding items of historical interest from the Science, World Leaders, Civil Rights, Religion, Art & Music, Aviation & Space, History & Military, and Sports categories will also pass the auction block.

Lot 89, Presidential Collection

U.S. Presidential

Lot 89 is a complete set of presidential signatures from Washington to Obama, consisting of autograph letters signed, typed letters signed, and signed letters, together with a variety of signed documents, all signed as President. There are very few complete sets of Presidential autographs signed as President, mainly due to the scarcity of William Henry Harrison pieces, as he served just one month in office. Many of these sets reside in institutions and will never be offered to the public. It is likely that fewer than a dozen such sets likely exist in private hands, this one being one of the very best. In this way, a set of Presidential autographs signed as President is thus scarcer than a set of autographs from the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. The original set was curated by a collector whose passion for history and preservation also inspired him to assemble an equally phenomenal Signers set. We suggest that you pre-qualify as a bidder if you intend to compete for this marvelous collection.

Lot 20 is a scarce 1p autograph letter signed by James A. Garfield as President, dated June 15, 1881, just two weeks before he was shot by Charles Guiteau. In the letter, Garfield gives directions to a hotel-owner in the “summer colony” of Long Branch, New Jersey, where First Lady Lucretia Garfield was recuperating from a bout of malaria. After the shooting, the fatally wounded Garfield spent several painful months in Washington before eventually venturing to Long Branch himself, to benefit from the sea air. He died there at Franklyn Cottage in September 1881.

Lot 121 is an autograph document signed in full by George Washington as “Mr George Washington.” The document dated ca. 1773 pertained to a 1751 land survey of 445 acres that Washington had completed over 20 years earlier for one Richard Seymour on behalf of Washington’s older half-brother Lawrence Washington. Washington’s endorsement certified that he waived all claims to the original land ownership through either his half-brother or younger full brother Charles Washington.

Lot 110 is an 8pp advance press copy of a printed speech draft signed by President Harry S. Truman, ca. October 30, 1945. In this important postwar speech, Truman laid out his administration’s position on “reconversion” – the transition from a wartime economy to a peacetime one. Japan’s surrender and war’s end meant that the U.S. economy now faced a painful process jockeyed by both Labor and Industry interests. Truman urged the American people to harness the spirit of collaboration formed during World War II to meet the day’s challenges.

Lot 58 is a military commission signed by President Abraham Lincoln promoting a Connecticut native named Orson H. Hart to the rank of Captain and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers in Daniel Sickles’s newly mustered “Excelsior Brigade” of primarily New York-based volunteers.

Science

The October sale features autographed letters, photographs, and sketches related to Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, Carl Jung, Guglielmo Marconi, Samuel F.B. Morse, Vinton Cerf, and Robert Goddard. Lot 447 is a 3pp autograph letter in German signed by Albert Einstein in which the scientist explores both his Unified Field Theory and General Relativity. This exceptionally long scientific letter addressed to Einstein’s friend and fellow physicist Cornelius Lanczos includes a total of twelve equations in Einstein’s hand. It also features unexpectedly comedic content, as when Einstein refers to Freud, another of the greats of twentieth-century science, as an “old man” whose “‘father complex’ … can so easily take hold … [in] an alarmingly unstable situation…”

Lot 447, Albert Einstein ALS

World Leaders

Winston Churchill, Louis XIII, Josef Stalin, Mohandas Gandhi, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara are just a few of the World Leaders represented in our upcoming sale. Lot 392 is a 1p autograph letter in Gujarati twice signed by Mohandas Gandhi in what is the earliest example of an ALS we’ve ever seen. Gandhi wrote his older brother Laxmidas from South Africa on January 22, 1889 inquiring about mutual acquaintances. Gandhi signs the letter formally at the conclusion as “Mohandas Karamchand Pranam” and also signs it as “Gandhi” when writing out part of his brother’s name.

Lot 403 is a 1p manuscript document in Russian boldly signed by Josef Stalin, then a member of the Revolutionary Committee, dated September 9, [1920], and pertaining to military preparedness during the ongoing Polish-Soviet War. Stalin discusses artillery and troop movements in the days leading up to the decisive Battle of Neman River, which the Soviets lost to the Poles after a 10-day battle, marking the onset of the end of the war. Just one year later, Stalin reaffirmed his reputation as a skillful military advisor when he orchestrated the Soviet invasion of Georgia. This was one of the first steps towards consolidating Stalin’s power until he became the era’s top Soviet official. 

Art & Music

Lot 134 is an autograph letter in French signed by Pablo Picasso, PSA/DNA graded GEM MT 10, on the reverse of a postcard depicting “Paix” [“Peace”], a reproduction of the original color lithograph that Picasso produced for a peace conference held in Stockholm, Sweden in July 1958. Picasso mentions his second wife Jacqueline as well as his children in this June 20, 1960 letter to his patron and art collector Max Pellequer.

Lot 294 is a contract signed by both John Lennon and Yoko Ono Lennon, dated September 11, 1975, relating to their production company, Bag Productions, which the couple had established in the late 1960s and which later produced the 1971 solo album “Imagine.” The contract outlines terms of ownership of a large quantity of signed and unsigned lithographs, album covers, and colophon pages.

History & Military

Lot 205 is a massive archive of 18 autograph letters signed by Hawaiian missionaries, ca. 1846-1849, comprising 56pp. The correspondence written by members of the 8th Company of Missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions includes vivid descriptions of a surfboard and surfing, complete with pen sketches; volcanic eruptions and coastal topography; interactions between Whites and indigenous Hawaiians; and other topics of religious and human interest. The majority of the letters were penned by Dr. Seth Lathrop Andrews, a medical missionary from Putney, Vermont headquartered in Kailua, Hawaii.

Lot 205, Hawaiian Missionaries Archive

Lot 332 is a Civil War-dated 1p autograph letter signed by Brigadier General George Custer on April 6, 1864. Custer congratulated Captain R.R. Moffatt for his new “saber shield” design for cavalry weapons, stating: “I am firm in the belief that the possession of it by our cavalry would give confidence and increases courage to those wearing it.” Of course, nothing better represents Custer than his bravado on the battlefield; he firmly believed that a fringed saber sash or innovative military equipment could bolster a warrior’s confidence.

These are just a few of the wonderful items in our next auction. Please see our fully illustrated catalog for more information. We hope you can join us!