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!
