THE RAAB COLLECTION ~Philadelphia~
Customer Satisfaction and Guaranty Policy
Every item purchased from us is guaranteed to be authentic, without time limit, to the original purchaser. Moreover, we want you to be satisfied, so except as follows, any item purchased from us may be returned (in the same condition as received) for a full refund within five days of receipt. This return privilege does not apply to layaways, or where, to accommodate a customer, we have deferred shipping for longer than two weeks after purchase. P.O. Box 471, Ardmore PA 19003 (800) 977-8333 www.raabcollection.com
The hunt for history is an ongoing process. Here is a very small selection of material we have recently offered and sold. 1) Sam Houston Struggles to Mold the Newly Founded Republic of Texas Stressing Peace and Tolerance
“We will be in no haste in this business. The creation was perfected in six days." He hopes for the success of his famed Nacogdoches speech denouncing mistreatment of the Indians, and seeks time to oppose the men and measures of opponents, even as he ponders their intentions. 2) The Shining Vision of Susan B. Anthony. In an apparently unpublished letter, she reveals the entire sweep and scope of her goals
“Woman’s rights means perfect equality for women in every thing and every place - equal freedom and franchise in the government - equal chances at play and work - equal powers in church, society and the home - never to be treated as a child or inferior - always as an equal, responsible human being.” 3) President U.S. Grant Donates a Sizable Philanthropic Christmas Gift For the "Benefit of the Poor and the Schools For Poor Children" He sends it to the pastor of his church, who later administered to him his last rites
4) The Original Document in Which George Washington Lends His Entire Personal Stock in the Potomac River Company, Which He Helped to Found, to Help It Survive. This newly discovered document is signed three times, filled out in his hand, and signed by fellow family members. These very shares are mentioned in his will and were dispersed on his death less than two years later.
5) The Day War Is Declared Against Spain and He Takes Command of the Rough Riders, Theodore Roosevelt Seeks to Funnel Arms to the Cuban Revolutionaries Fighting the Spanish
The letter, sent to the Cuban revolutionary minister, was also meant to reassure the Cubans that the U.S. would not threaten their independence, and laid out plans to circumvent the American military if it objected to arms shipments. 6) Abraham Lincoln Urgently Writes His Chief Man in Pennsylvania, Trying to Win That Crucial Battleground State in the 1860 Election
Scarce letter of Lincoln showing him personally directing the most famous campaign in American history at its most crucial place and time.
The Raab Collection and International Media
Recently, The Raab Collection discovered a tape of the conversations on board Air Force 1 immediately following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This tape was longer and predates the only other known version. The announcement of the find made news world wide. We appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight with historian Douglas Brinkley, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, CBS Morning News with Charlie Rose, CNN with Wolf Blitzer, BBC, CSPAN, Washington Post, and many other media outlets.
Historical Documents and Institutions
In addition to working with private collectors, we work with, represent and sell to institutions. Sometimes we highlight pieces that find homes in these institutions. With the permission of the acquiring institution, we are pleased to say that the William Eustis - Society of the Cincinnati document offered in our last catalog has found a worthy home at the Shirley-Eustis House, 33 Shirley Street, Roxbury (Boston), MA 02119. This historic property was home to Royal Governor William Shirley and later William Eustis himself. Anyone interested in learning about this National Historic Landmark can do so at www.shirleyeustishouse.org.
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1 Millard Fillmore’s Retrospective on His Life and Career
“I was just an apprentice with little hope of being anything but a mechanic, yet fortune has given me what I never anticipated in worldly honors or dared to hope for...My life, upon the whole, has been a very happy one...and I hope and trust in an Almighty and Merciful God for further blessings in time and in eternity. I hope to be ready to go whenever he may call. I feel that my work here is done...”
Fillmore was not born to privilege, and though promising had to work his way up from the bottom rung. His father apprenticed him to a cloth maker at age fourteen to learn that trade. He struggled to obtain an education living on what was then the frontier. In 1819 he got a break and began to clerk for a New York judge, under whom he began to study law. After buying out his apprenticeship, Fillmore moved to Buffalo, where he continued his studies. He was admitted to the bar in 1823 and began his law practice. He soon earned a reputation as a good attorney and reliable man. In 1828, Fillmore was elected to the New York State Assembly, and in 1832 he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served until 1843. After leaving Congress, Fillmore was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor of New York in 1844. He next won office as New York State Comptroller, and was in office from 1848 to 1849. As comptroller, he revised New York's banking system, making it a model for the future U.S. Banking System.
Luck smiled on Fillmore in 1848. At the Whig national convention, the nomination of Louisiana slaveowner Gen. Zachary Taylor for president angered opponents of allowing slavery in the territories gained in the Mexican War. Whig politicians needed to find a vice presential candidate from a free state, not considered extreme or unpredictable, universally well known and thought of, and preferably from populous New York where he might help carry that crucial state. William Seward was considered, but he had too many enemies. So very unexpectedly, Fillmore was nominated for vice president. President Taylor died in 1850, and the former cloth maker’s apprentice was President of the United States. In the Executive Mansion, Fillmore advocated and signed the Compromise of 1850, and sought to accommodate and intermediate both North and South in the confrontation over slavery. In foreign affairs, he sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to open Japan to Western trade.
In 1872, just two years before his death, in a letter to his lifelong friend Day O. Kellogg, Fillmore reflected back on his life and career. Autograph Letter Signed, four pages, Buffalo, July 24, 1872, to Kellogg. “I avail myself of our first leisure moment to thank you from my inmost heart for your very welcome favor of the 17th & to assure you that the friends of my youth & especially yourself are always remembered with the tenderest regard. Your sister Debra, admiration of my youthful days, is gone. How well I remember her charming, fascinating manner, but then I was just an apprentice with little hope of being anything but a mechanic, yet fortune has given me what I never anticipated in worldly honors or dared to hope for. Still my memory revives with ever fond delight to the companions of my early life; and their value, like that of the Sybiline Leaves, seems to increase as they grow less in number. That affection which was diffused among many is now concentrated on a few; and I never hear of the death of one without a pang of sorrow. I am sorry to hear that you are not as well as usual and to learn that the weight of years bears heavily on you. For myself I have great reason to be thankful for perfect health, the greatest of earthly blessings. I have lost about 20 pounds of flesh, but feel none the worse for that, indeed if anything, the better.
“My life, upon the whole, has been a very happy one - the loss of relatives and friends almost my only grief - and I hope and trust in an Almighty and Merciful God for further blessings in time and in eternity. I hope to be ready to go whenever he may call. I feel that my work here is done, and others more competent will soon fill my place. Alas! how soon, I know not. You speak of the longevity of your family. The genealogy of mine is somewhat extraordinary. My Great Grandfather died at the age of 77. My Grand Father 73 and my own father 92. My Grand Father's family consisted of 5 sons and one daughter whose average ages were over 86. I have lost 3 broth ers, one sister and one daughter, all of whom, but one, died at the age of 22 and as you know, I was 72 on the 7th day of last January.
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“I have never resumed my profession since I left the Presidential chair, but yet time never weighs heavy upon my hands. When I have nothing to do for myself or others, I take great pleasure in reading history, science and occasionally a play of Shakespeare or a novel. I am also fond of geography and books of travel. I am also (I may say to you in “I was just an apprentice confidence) blessed with a very excellent and cheerful wife - but she has suffered lately from ill health and we visited New York with little hope of being for that only, calling on no one. I am happy to say she is improvanything but a mechanic...” ing & joins me in cordial regards to Mrs. K & yourself. As ever your friend, Millard Fillmore.”
According to his New York Times obituary of August 11, 1874, Day O. Kellogg was a leading merchant from Troy, NY who became Mayor of Troy "which position he subsequently resigned to accept that of Consul to Glasgow, tendered him by President Fillmore, with whom he maintained relations of the warmest personal friendship from boyhood." By the time this obituary ran, Day’s friend Fillmore had been deceased for five months after a stroke. As for Mrs. Fillmore, she survived her husband by seven years. $8,000
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Signed Photograph of Warren G. Harding, Inscribed to the Family Secretly Raising Nan Britton's Child, His Daughter
Obtained directly from a Harding/Britton descendant and never before offered for sale
The idea of the presidential personal scandal is commonplace today, but in the 1920s this was not the case. The personal lives of public figures were largely kept private, and scandals revolved around corruption and other areas of political influence. But that changed with the presidency of Warren G. Harding, an affable man known for his love of leisure and women. By the far the most famous such scandal involved Nan Britton, thirty years younger than Harding. Their affair began in 1917 when the moonstruck teenager from Harding's hometown of Marion wrote him asking for a job. Harding put her to work in a clerical position at the U.S. Steel Corporation in Washington, D.C. They continued their affair (often seeing each other in the Oval Office) until his death. Nan gave birth to a baby girl on Oct 22, 1919, named Elizabeth Ann Christian. After his death, Britton sued Harding's estate to gain a trust fund for her daughter. Failing that, she wrote a best-selling book, The President's Daughter, dedicated "to all unwed mothers, and to their innocent children whose fathers are usually not known to the world." It recounted the specific logistics of the affair in great detail and is the first "tell-all" book, a sensation in its time that, which according to John Dean, of Watergate fame but also a Harding biographer, did more to define Harding's legacy than anything else. Britton failed to get multiple publishing companies interested in the story and eventually, in 1927, self published it. According to her mother's book, Elizabeth Ann was conceived on a couch in Harding's Senate office and was born in New Jersey. Britton wrote that Harding personally gave her money to support herself and the child. After he took office, he arranged for Secret Service agents to hand-deliver regular child-support payments. But he refused to meet the girl. Britton wrote that she visited Harding at the White House in 1923, surprising him with the news that their 3-year-old daughter was sitting on a park bench in Lafayette Square, visible from the second-floor window, but he refused to look. When Harding took office in 1921, Britton's sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Scott Willits, adopted Elizabeth Ann for appearance's sake, and she was thus raised in the family. Signed photograph, as President, inscribed to the woman raising his own love child, "With greetings and good wishes to Mrs. S. A. Willits, with that high regard which goes to a daughter of a valued friend. Warren G. Harding. A remarkable association.
Elizabeth Ann grew up in Illinois. After World War II, she moved to Glendale, California where she lived quietly for decades with her husband, last name Blaesing, and their three sons. From her Glendale home, she gave one of her first interviews; her mother was secretly living nearby. "Mother wasn't bitter," she told The Times in 1964, in an article whose headline referred to her as Harding's "love child." "All through the years she never spoke badly of Harding. It was all love, adoration and affection. She told me she loved him very much. She still does.... I had a normal childhood. But then I didn't go around telling people" about her father. Although Britton was never able to prove without a doubt that Harding was in fact her daughter's father, the lurid details and the conviction she inspired has left little doubt to posterity. It was generally believed that she was in fact telling the truth, and this feeling was bolstered by Harding's long time friend and aide, George Christian, who confirmed it as true.
This comes directly from a Harding/Blaesing descendant and has never before been offered for sale.
$8,000
Donated in 1864 to Raise Funds For Sick and Wounded Union Soldiers
March 2012
Unique for having a complete provenance, having been purchased at the Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair by abolitionist and friend of John Brown, E.N. Sill
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Team of Rivals: 3 Autographs of President Abraham Lincoln and His Cabinet,
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President Lincoln's original cabinet included all four of his major rivals for the Republican nomination for President in 1860—William H. Seward (Secretary of State), Salmon P. Chase (Secretary of the Treasury), Simon Cameron (Secretary of War), and Edward Bates (Attorney General). It also included potential rival Indiana favorite son Caleb Smith (Secretary of the Interior), who on the morning of the day when the nominations were made (May 18), declined to have the Indiana delegation support him for president, and Gideon Welles (Secretary of the Navy), head of the Connecticut delegation and a chief Chase supporter. Some of these men had been effectively promised positions as part of the negotiations that led to Lincoln's nomination at the Republican national convention in May 1860. Many of them objected to the inclusion of each other in the cabinet. There were worries about both geographic distribution and balance between former members of the Whig and Democratic Parties. There were also differences over ideology, ethics and personality. Simon Cameron came under particular attack because of his reputation for political and financial shenanigans. "No President ever had a Cabinet of which the members were so independent, had so large individual followings, and were so inharmonious," noted New York politician Chancey Depew. Getting them to work together in harmony would require the skill of a brilliant and masterful leader, and the country had that man in its new president - Abraham Lincoln.
In 1862 Cameron was replaced as Secretary of War by Edwin M. Stanton, who had met Lincoln when they were both attorneys in the same case. Stanton snubbed Lincoln, called him “a low cunning clown” and nicknamed Lincoln “the original gorilla.” This appointment was very much of one piece with his original cabinet selections - choosing a man he knew to be superlatively qualified regardless of that man’s opinion of him or opposition to him. Smith resigned to become a federal district judge at the end of 1862. Lincoln appointed John P. Usher as his successor; Usher had been Smith's assistant secretary. During 1864, Lincoln resisted pressure to replace Usher as Secretary of the Interior with someone of greater stature and political influence.
How could Lincoln do this, look past the politics, oppositions, insults, snubs and the rest? Certainly he was no man to hold a grudge, and he was known as a shrewd judge of people who understood human nature. He also possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires. But really the reason was much more than that. Joseph Medill, the editor of The Chicago Tribune and one of Lincoln's most loyal supporters, asked the President after the 1860 convention why he had made these appointments. "We needed the strongest men of the party in the cabinet," Lincoln replied. "These were the very strongest men. I had no right to deprive the country of their services." He further expanded on his motivations on May 9, 1864, saying “There is enough yet before us requiring all loyal men and patriots to perform their share of the labor...and sink all personal considerations for the sake of the country.” And that was the heart of it, the ability and indeed willingness to “sink all personal considerations.”
It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war. And the results? Of these men, three are considered the greatest ever to hold their offices, and one the second greatest. Seward is considered the best Secretary of State in the country’s history, keeping Britain out of the Civil War (which would have had ruinous consequences) and later acquiring Alaska; Stanton is likewise viewed as incomparable as Secretary of War, organizing and operating the largest and most complex machinery of war the country had ever seen; and Welles managed the naval effort that effectively blockaded the Confederacy, the success of which is held by many to have been the most significant factor in winning the war. Coming in second at his post was Chase, who ran the entire financial structure of the wartime government and invented the concept of paper fractional currency to help pay for it. He is ranked as Secretary of the Treasury only by Alexander Hamilton himself. Bates was key in defending the legality of the war, and in sustaining wartime measures proposed by Lincoln, such as the arrest of southern sympathizers in the northerners. He is known for writing an attorney general opinion that repudiated the Dred Scott opinion, and held that race and color could not disqualify a person from
Elisha N. Sill was an Akron (Summit County), Ohio banker, abolitionist, and Ohio state senator. Renowned abolitionist John Brown called Akron home for the better part of the decade preceding the Civil War, and the two men became friendly. The relationship of Sill and Brown was close enough that during Brown's trial in 1859, Sill gave a famous deposition offering his opinion that Brown might be mentally unbalanced. He likely hoped, unavailingly, that it would save Brown’s life. During the Civil War Sill was active in the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, and he was a member of the committee for the Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair held between February 22 and March 10, 1864. Lincoln and Chase corresponded in June 1864 about an appointment for Sill.
Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair was organized by women of the Soldiers' Aid Society to raise funds to assist soldiers during the Civil War. It was held in Cleveland and was housed in a specially constructed building in the shape of a Greek cross, and the building housed exhibits, including floral, artistic, and war-souvenir displays. Single admission tickets cost $.25. Local railroads cooperated with the Soldiers' Aid Society by selling tickets at their stations and promising free return rail fare to any visitor purchasing more than $1 worth of admission tickets. The fair, opened formally by Major General and future President James A. Garfield, was more popular than expected and extended longer than planned. Total proceeds were the then-huge sum of $78,000. The book “Historical Sketch of the Soldiers Aid Society of Northern Ohio” states: “MONDAY, February 22d, 1864, the anniversary of the birthday of WASHINGTON, and henceforth to be remembered by Clevelanders as the inaugural day of the great SANITARY FAIR, opened inauspiciously with clouds and rain. But by nine o clock the sun peered through the clouds, the sky cleared, the morning air was balmy and spring-like, and nature smiled in happiest mood. Above the fair building, around and in which the workers still clustered, thickly and busily as bees, floated the flag of the Union, and from housetops and flagstaffs throughout the city the stars and stripes were flung out. The streets were thronged with citizens and strangers. The crowd was especially great at the ticket offices for the fair, which were located at the halls of the great building and in the principal music and bookstores.” It continues, “Several fine engravings adorn the walls, autographs of LINCOLN are for sale here, and useful and fancy goods of every variety.”
Document Signed, Washington, entitled “Autographs of the President and Cabinet, 1864,” likely signed February 1864, being one of the Lincoln autographs mentioned as on sale at the Northern Ohio Sanitary Commission Fair, donated by Lincoln and his Cabinet, and purchased at that time by Sill. Sill placed it in his two volume set of ”The American Conflict” by Horace Greeley (with his ownership signature in volume one), and there it remained for almost one and a half centuries. The books, in fair condition, are included.Sill died in the 1880s, and the books remained in the Akron area, perhaps in his family. About 100 years ago the books, with the autograph sheet, were obtained by Summit County Probate Judge Lewis D. Slusser, a Lincoln scholar. They remained in his family until a few weeks ago, when we acquired them from his granddaughter. This piece itself is a great rarity, as we can only find four meeting its description in public records going back 40 years. But it is unique in having a complete provenance, and it stands in a class by itself for having originated with a friend of John Brown. $31,000
March 2012
The United States Sanitary Commission cared for the Union's sick and wounded soldiers and promoted clean and healthy conditions and army camps. It held fairs in certain large cities around the country, mainly in 1863-4, to raise funds for its activities. Lincoln’s personal assistance to benefit these fairs is well known, as he contributed notes, documents and signatures to be sold or auctioned at the fairs.
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citizenship under the Constitution. Usher at Interior championed the cause of Native Americans on reservations in the Southwest.
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President Lyndon B. Johnson Calls the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 4 “The most important international agreement since the beginning of the nuclear age”
Two days after the Treaty is signed, he writes a key U.S. Senator to campaign for ratification
The year 1968 stands out as one of the most tense and violence-filled years since the end of the Second World War. The Vietnam War was raging at its height, and the major powers were at each other’s throats. North Vietnamese and Vietcong were being supported by the Soviet Union and China, and their clients launched a Tet Offensive that made it clear the U.S. was not winning that war. President Johnson was forced to declare he would not be a candidate for reelection, as antiwar demonstrations erupted all around the U.S. and indeed the world. Yet just then, when prospects seemed bleakest (perhaps their very bleakness scared the parties), the U.S. and the Soviets agreed joined with other signatory nations in agreeing to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. On July 1, 1968, they signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a landmark treaty whose objective was not merely to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, but to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states.
Johnson saw it as a major accomplishment, and spoke at its signing, saying: “After nearly a quarter century of danger and fear—reason and sanity have prevailed to reduce the danger and to greatly lessen the fear. Thus, all mankind is reassured. As the moment is reassuring, so it is, even more, hopeful and heartening. For this treaty is evidence that amid the tensions, the strife, the struggle, and the sorrow of these years, men of many nations have not lost the way—or have not lost the will—toward peace. The conclusion of this treaty encourages the hope that other steps may be taken toward a peaceful world. It is for these reasons—and in this perspective—that I have described this treaty as the most important international agreement since the beginning of the nuclear age.”
The Treaty would need to be ratified by the U.S. Senate, and Johnson expected plenty of opposition from those who were against any limitation on American arms. So he followed up by contacting Senate leaders to build support for ratification. This letter, to powerful Sen. Howard Cannon, was part of that effort. Typed letter Signed, on White House letterhead, Washington, July 3, 1968. “On Monday it was the proud privilege of this government to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We will begin talks with the Soviet Union on further steps to peace soon. Because of the great importance of these events to all the people of the world, I'm sending you a personal copy of the remarks I made on Monday. I hope that you'll give this matter you're full and urgent attention. I trust we may move forward as a united people toward bringing a measure of order into the affairs of our troubled planet.” We obtained this from the Cannon heirs, and it has never before been offered for sale. Johnson’s outreach was a successful start, but it was not until Richard Nixon was in office and joined in urging ratification that the Senate gave its consent. $3,500
Emancipation Proclamation,” Repeats Lincoln’s Favorite Poem
Artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter was hired to paint a large canvas depicting the “First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation”, which was to show President Lincoln and his Cabinet at that momentous moment. From February-July 1864, Carpenter set up a studio in the State Dining Room of the White House and was given free access to Lincoln's office and had much interaction with the President, his family and his Cabinet. After Lincoln’s assassination, Carpenter wrote his “Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln,” with first hand accounts of the Lincoln White House which he witnessed while doing his famous painting, as well as anecdotes from other sources about President Lincoln. Published in 1866, it was widely considered authoritative, as Carpenter had seen Lincoln every day, he had no political agenda, and was trusted as a reliable observer.
Lincoln loved reading Shakespeare and Robert Burns, and recited their works from memory. He liked “Oh why should the spirt of mortal be proud!”, a poem by William Knox written early in the 19th century. Lincoln, however, was long unaware of the poem’s author. Union General James Grant Wilson recalled: “I called at the White House once with Isaac N. Arnold, a member of Congress from Chicago. In the course of conversation the President expressed his admiration for Dr. Holmes’s poem ‘‘The Last Leaf’...His favorite poem, he said, was one entitled Mortality’, the author of which he had failed to discover, although he had tried to do so. I was pleased to be able to inform him that it was written by William Knox, a young Scottish poet who died in 1825. He was greatly interested, and was still more gratified by the receipt, not long afterwards, of a collection of Knox’s poems, containing his favorite.” In this Autograph Quotation Signed, Carpenter testifies: “‘Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud?’ Mr. Lincoln’s favorite poem.” A wonderful piece of Lincolniana, and a unique one in our experience. It comes with an original flyer for his book dated 1866. $1,000
March 2012
“Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud?”
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Francis Bicknell Carpenter, Who Lived For Six Months in the 5 Artist Lincoln White House While Painting “First Reading of the
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The King Names the Successor to the Poet, Lord Byron
“The said George Byron, late Lord Byron, died without issue male on the 19th day of April 1824...”
George Gordon Byron, 6th hereditary Baron Byron, commonly known simply as Lord Byron, made his fame not in the House of Lords, but as a poet and a leading figure in the Romantic Movement. Among Byron's best-known works are the poems “She Walks in Beauty” and “When We Two Parted”, in addition to the narrative poems “Childe Harold's Pilgrimage” and “Don Juan”. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.
Byron was celebrated in life for his self-imposed exile and love affairs, including one with his halfsister Augusta Leigh who gave birth to his daughter and one with Lady Caroline Lamb who famously referred to him as “Mad, bad and dangerous to know.” However, the modern sense of romantic character is often understood in terms of Byronic ideals of a gifted, perhaps misunderstood loner, creatively following the dictates of his inspiration rather than the standard ways of contemporary society. He travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at 36 years old from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in that country.
Document Signed, London, July 21, 1825, investing the successor of Lord Byron with his titles and entitlements. George Anson Byron petitioned King, humbly representing that his ancestor Sir John Byron had been “advanced to the dignity of a Baron of this Realm,” and that the right to be invested with that office had been granted to “the heirs male of his body...That the same dignity descended by males claiming through males to the said George Byron, late Lord Byron; That the said George Byron, late Lord Byron, was on his accession...duly summoned to Parliament...and took his seat in the same; That the said George Byron, late Lord Byron, died without issue male on the 19th day of April 1824; The dignity of Baron Byron descended to the Petitioner...as the only surviving son of George Anson Byron, the paternal uncle of the said George Byron, late Lord Byron...” The King here responds.
“It is our will and pleasure therefore is that you make or cause to be made forthwith one Write of Summons under the Great Seal of our United Kingdom...to be directed to the said George Anson Byron by the name, style and title of Baron Byron...And for so doing this shall be your Warrant.” The document is signed by King George IV at its head, and at the conclusion is certified as “By His Majesty’s command” by Robert Peel as Home Secretary. Peel would go on to a famous career as Prime Minister. $4,500
An important document in the history of the Western World
March 2012
Signed in 1814 when Bonaparte was dispatched to Elba, it dismembered the French Empire
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The Official Authorization to Ratify the Treaty of Paris between Britain and France That Ended the Napoleonic Empire
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The French Revolution, with its democratic and expansionist fervor, not only overthrew a long-entrenched monarchy, but unsettled much of Europe. The French sought to export their revolution, the royal rulers of other nations fought for their lives, and peoples from Russia to Haiti struggled to maintain or assert their own identities. The conflicts lasted from 1792 to 1815, involved almost all nations in Europe, and spilled over into Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. In its early years, the French Revolutionary Armies defeated a number of opposing coalitions (featuring Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia and others) and expanded French control to Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. In 1798 the French invaded Egypt, and the following year Napoleon attained the office of First Consul, the head of the French government (as well as army).
By 1804, when Napoleon had himself crowned emperor, the French Republic, starting from a position precariously near occupation and collapse, had defeated all its enemies (except Britain) and produced an army that would take the other powers years to emulate. With the conquest of the left bank of the Rhine and domination of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, the Republic had achieved nearly all the territorial goals that had eluded the Bourbon monarchs for centuries.
In April 1805, Britain, Russia, Austria and Sweden formed the Third Coalition to eject the French from Italian, Swiss and German territory. After huge victories at Ulm and Austerlitz (the latter with the Tsar Alexander I personally present), Napoleon entered Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace, and the Coalition’s aims were frustrated. A Fourth Coalition in 1806-7 found itself mainly on the defensive, as Napoleon occupied Germany and Poland, crushed the Russian army and sent the Swedes scurrying. Napoleon was now in a commanding position, but his inability This contains not only the signed to force the British into a peace was a thorn in his side. So in ratification by George IV, but the 1808, he overplayed his hand. To foreclose British access to its entire authorization copy of the ally Portugal, he invaded Spain launching the Peninsular War. Initially the French enjoyed easy success in Spain, taking treaty. Madrid, defeating the Spanish and consequently forcing a withdrawal of the heavily out-numbered British army. However, in 1809 the British put together the Fifth Coalition along with Spain, and by 1810 the British had a strong army on the ground opposing Napoleon, and that army was led by the capable Duke of Wellington.
In 1812 came another miscalculation: Napoleon, at the height of his power, invaded Russia with a pan-European Grande Armée, consisting of 650,000 men. Initially, as in Spain, Napoleon’s force found it easy going, but the main Russian army retreated for almost three months, pulling the French after them. The two armies finally engaged in the Battle of Borodino on September 7, in the vicinity of Moscow. The battle was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 men and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties. The French captured the main positions on the battlefield, but their success was entirely Pyrrhic, as they failed to destroy the Russian army; logistical difficulties meant that French losses were irreplaceable, unlike Russian ones. Napoleon entered Moscow, but the city had been evacuated and was burning, and the Russians spurned his offer of peace talks. Sitting in the Kremlin as the Russian winter set in, with no supplies or prospects of victory, Napoleon was forced to retreat west. The winter, the lack of supplies, the blocking movements of the Russian army, and the constant guerilla warfare by Russian peasants and irregular troops proved devastating for the French. When the remnants of Napoleon's army crossed the Berezina River to safety in November, only 27,000 fit soldiers remained, with some 380,000 men dead or missing and 100,000 captured.
There was a lull in fighting over the winter of 1812–13 while both the Russians and the French rebuilt their forces; Napoleon was still able to field 350,000 troops. Heartened by France's loss in Russia, Prussia joined with Austria, the German states, Sweden, Britain, Spain, and Portugal in a Sixth Coalition. Napoleon assumed command in Germany and inflicted a series of defeats on the Coalition culminating in the Battle of Dresden in August 1813. Despite these successes, the numbers continued to mount against Napoleon as his troops dwindled while those of his foes augmented, and the French army was pinned down by a force twice its size and lost at the Battle of Leipzig. This was by far the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars and cost more than 90,000 casualties. Napoleon withdrew back into France, his army reduced to 70,000 soldiers and 40,000 stragglers, against more than three times as many Allied troops. The French were surrounded: British armies pressed from the south, and other Coalition forces
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At the Treaty of Paris negotiations
positioned to attack from the German states. Napoleon was unable to prevent Paris being captured by the Coalition in March 1814. When Napoleon proposed the army march on the capital, his marshals decided to mutiny. On April 4, led by Marshal Ney, they confronted Napoleon, who had no choice but to abdicate. He did so unconditionally on April 11.
On April 20, 1814, Napoleon bid adieu to his troops at Fontainebleau and was exiled to the small island of Elba, where he arrived on May 4, 1814. Through the skillful guidance of French diplomat and chief negotiator Charles de Talleyrand, who saw prospects of lenient treatment if the Bourbon monarchy was restored, King Louis XVIII was returned to the throne and arrived in Paris on May 3.Â
The Napoleonic Wars were essentially ended by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on May 30, 1814, between France on the one side and the Allies (Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, and Portugal) on the other. As Talleyrand predicted, the victorious Allies, even after nearly a quarter century of war, gave generous terms to France under the restored Bourbon dynasty. But France was not the only nation profoundly affected by the Treaty, as the destinies of other nations such as Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands were determined as well. Under the Treaty’s chief provisions:
* France retained her boundaries of 1792, representing 3,280 square miles more than those of 1790, including Avignon and the Venaissin, but surrendering the left bank of the Rhine, Belgium, and territory annexed or controlled in Italy, Germany, Holland and Switzerland;
* France was to be returned most of the colonies she had lost with the exception of Malta, Tobago, St Lucia and the Isle of France; * Switzerland was to be independent;
* Holland and Belgium were to be united under the House of Orange as an independent state; * Germany was to become a federation of independent states;
* Italy was to consist of several independent states apart from territory ceded to Austria;
* France promised Britain to abolish the slave trade; and
* It was agreed that the final settlement of Europe was to be made at a Congress to be held shortly at Vienna.Â
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Each nation warring with France signed its own copy of the Treaty, to which it and France were parties. British perseverance and organization, acting as the leader of all the coalitions and its pushing the wars to a successful conclusion, had led to Napoleon’s demise, so its Treaty with France was the one of central importance. Official Treaty, starting with the following paragraph: “His Majesty, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Allies on the one part, and His Majesty the King of France and Navarre on the other part, animated by an equal desire to terminate the long agitations of Europe, and the sufferings of Mankind, by a permanent Peace, founded upon a just repartition of force between its States, and containing in its Stipulations the pledge of its durability, and His Britannic Majesty, together with his Allies, being unwilling to require of France, now that, replaced under the paternal Government of Her Kings, she offers the assurance of security and stability to Europe, the conditions and guarantees which they had with regret demanded from her former Government, Their said Majesties have named Plenipotentiaries to discuss, settle, and sign a Treaty of Peace and Amity.” Signing the Treaty for Britain were Lord Castlereagh, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Cathcart and Gen. Charles Stewart. Talleyrand signed for France (as Le Prince de Benevent). The ratification copy (included) is signed by these four in proxy. Napoleon’s farewell
The Treaty next had to be ratified. An official copy of the entire Treaty text was prepared. This was 22 manuscript pages, at the end of which were added 8 pages of Additional and Secret Articles, for a total of 30 pages. Appended to this was a two page Ratification Statement: “We having seen and considered the definitive Treaty...have in the name and on behalf of His Majesty, approved, ratified, accepted and confirmed...For the greater testimony and validity of all which we have signed these presents in the name and on behalf of His Majesty, and have caused to be affixed thereto the Great Seal of the United Kingdom...” This was signed secretarially by Prince George (later King George IV) as regent for his demented father George III. These two sections together constituted the official ratification copy, to be submitted to and approved by the King. Third, to enable and empower the government to ratify, it was necessary for the Great Seal of the Realm to be affixed to it, and under the British Constitution, the Seal could only be legally affixed with the written authorization and order of the Sovereign. This would be the operative signature for the ratification.
Document Signed, Carlton House, London, June 11, 1814, being the official authorization and instruction to ratify the Treaty, signed by Prince George as “George PR [Prince Regent]” and by Castlereagh, which document is attached to the official 30-page ratification copy. “Our Will and Pleasure is that you forthwith cause the Great Seal of the United Kingdom...to an Instrument bearing date with these presents (a copy thereof is hereunto annexed) containing our ratification...of a Definitive Treaty of Peace and Amity...concluded and signed at Paris on the 30th of May, 1814...and for so doing this shall be your Warrant...”
Things did not turn out quite as expected, and the Treaty of Paris did not prove to be the final document of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon returned from exile on Elba to Paris on March 20, 1815 and be tried to reassert his power in France. There was a brief war which included the Waterloo Campaign. There Napoleon was defeated by Wellington on June 18, finally ending the entire era of wars. The Congress called for by the above Treaty to meet at Vienna found itself concluding its work in the shadow of the renewed threat from Napoleon, and additional treaties taking this into account were signed in June 1815. $60,000
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It is apparently unpublished: We can find no other account written this close to the battle reaching the market in at least 40 years
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Account of the Battle of New Orleans as Experienced by the City’s 8 Eyewitness People, Written the Very Day After It Ended
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After burning Washington in August, 1814, the British were emboldened to make their next foray, an ambitious plan to take New Orleans, and use that as a base to seize the land obtained by the Americans in the Louisiana Purchase. A fleet with some 9,000 British troops arrived off Lake Borgne by the Americans in the Louisiana Purchase.. Cochrane sent naval forces forward to sweep American gunboats from Lake Borgne on December 12. Attacking with 42 armed longboats, they overwhelmed Thomas ap Catesby Jones' force on the lake. With the lake open, British army forces landed on Pea Island and established a British garrison. Pushing forward, 1,800 of their men reached the east bank of the Mississippi River on December 23 and encamped on the Villeré Plantation.
In New Orleans, the defense of city was tasked to Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, commanding the Seventh Military District. Working frantically, Jackson assembled around 4,000 men which mainly included the 7th US Infantry, the Tennessee and Kentucky militia, and local men of all stripes. Unwilling to tolerate British troop on American soil unchallenged, Jackson sortied from the city and launched a three-pronged attack. In a sharp fight, “An invading enemy at our gates seek- American forces bloodied the British and put them off ing admission and our hitherto peace- balance, causing them to delay their advance on the city. Using this time well, Jackson's men continued able citizens uninured to the hardships building fortifications. As the main British force arof war now exposed to all its horrors rived on January 1, 1815, a severe artillery duel began in defense of all they hold most dear – between the opposing forces. On January 8 the British moved onto the Chalmette plain and went on the attheir lives.” tack. Seeing the British columns before their line, columns of men who were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, Jackson's inexperienced men opened an intense artillery and rifle fire upon the enemy. The British were unable to make inroads, and soon the entirety of British senior command on the field was killed or wounded. Their losses were such that they were forced to give up their entire strategy.
The victory at New Orleans on January 8 cost Jackson around 13 killed, 58 wounded, and 30 captured for a total of 101. The British reported their losses as 291 killed, 1,262 wounded, and 484 captured/missing for a total of 2,037. A stunningly one-sided victory, the Battle of New Orleans was the signature American land victory of the war, securing the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, solidifying American independence and awakening a strong sense of national identity in the young country. For Jackson personally, the victory was the first step along a path that eventually led to the White House.
Jean Baptiste Florian Jolly de Pontcadeuc was born in 1767 to an aristocratic family in Brittany as the cloud of the French Revolution loomed over French society. He and his wife Marguerite, also an aristocrat, were almost guillotined. He escaped the mob in June 1793 by climbing out the upper back window of his chateau, clambering down by an almost-too-short ladder. Marguerite escaped by disguising herself as a peasant, carrying her babies to the coast in panniers on a donkey. Florian decided to seek fortune and safety in America, specifically Louisiana, with its many French émigrés. He and his family came to New Orleans where they were well known. Laura Eugenie Florian was a daughter of this family, and she was in the city during the Battle of New Orleans and its prelude.
Benjamin Latrobe was America’s first great architect, designing the United States Capitol, and pioneering water works in Philadelphia and New Orleans. Latrobe saw great potential for growth in New Orleans, situated at the mouth of the Mississippi River, with the advent of the steamboat and great interest in steamboat technology. His first project in that city was in 1807, and he and his family became familiar with it and made many friends there. His son Henry lived in New Orleans during the War of 1812, and his daughter Lydia became friends with Laura Florian. Lydia was a dynamo noted for her independence and spirt, and she was the wife of Nicholas Roosevelt. As such she was the great aunt of President Theodore Roosevelt.
The day after the Battle of New Orleans, with her experiences fresh in her mind, Laura Florian wrote Lydia Roosevelt that her brother Henry was safe, and describing what she had seen, heard and felt during that momentous time. Autograph letter signed, New Orleans, January 9, 1815. “What a moment is this my sweetest Mrs. Roosevelt for your distant friends! An invading enemy at our gates seeking admission and our hitherto peaceable citizens
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uninured to the hardships of war now exposed to all its horrors in defense of all they hold most dear – their lives, their families and property. You must doubtlessly ere this have learnt the untoward events which have taken place and which render our very existence precarious. The anxiety you cannot but feel for a beloved brother under such circumstances is too readily conceived, and to sure you of his continued welfare is my present chief inducement in writing, for I readily acknowledge that did no such inducement exist, did not the idea of the suspense and uneasiness the uncertainty of his fate must create in your mind, separated by distance, with a report of danger is always magnified tenfold, strongly urge me to resume my pen. I had hardly found time or courage and Mr. Latrobe's moments must be too constantly engaged to enable him to give news of himself.Â
"The enemy have now been nearly a month in this quarter. They entered by the lakes in barges built for the purpose and attacked half a dozen gunboats stationed at the Bay St. Louis. A most noble resistance was made but the in equity of numbers was so great - 200 against 2500 - that they're making any at all may be considered an act of desperation. They were all young men who had never yet had an opportunity of standing fire, and now when their courage was first put to the test were firmly determined not to cede even to a superior enemy or sell their lives as dearly as possible. The last gunboat which surrendered was commanded by a Capt. Jones who behaved like a perfect hero - with one arm fractured and a wound in his breast he still disputed every inch of plank, calling on his men to fight on, till overpowered by numbers and loss of blood he sunk and was necessitated to order the flag to be lowered. The consternation and distress spread in town by this fatal loss you may readily conceive. We are still ignorant of the names of those who fell in the engagement, as the flag of truce sent with proper attendance for the wounded has been detained. Mrs. Dr. Claiborne whom you may remember in Natchez behaved most courageously on the occasion. She had been sometime at the Bay for health, for she has been these four years in decline and from her appearance you would suppose the slightest breath would annihilate her very existence, and now while the cannon balls were whistling around her was unconscious or rather insensible to the danger. She was carrying cartridges to those who were firing from the shores. A dead calm succeeded this first storm which however continued in our apprehensions when the week following we were once more aroused by the news of the British having entered by a bayou leading from Lake Borgne and were then 6 miles below town. The confusion this created, I should vainly attempt to describe, but on this as all other occasions it was chiefly caused by the women. This agitation and fear would have restrained all inclination to gaiety, you could not have refrained from laughing at the site of the old mulattos, and orange and apple sellers, running with their baskets on their heads, their countenances distorted with fright, yelling as if the whole circle of infernal gods were at their heels.Â
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"Gen. Jackson whom we may regard as the savior of Louisiana, who alone has possessed talents to unite the jarring interests of the different sects and nations which compose our population, and oppose an enemy formed of regular troops long experienced in the fatigues, the preparations and above all the art of war, soon joined [confronted] the invaders at the head of all the militia and of the few Tennesseans who had then arrived to our assistance. An engagement took place the same evening and such was the undaunted courage of our men that it was impossible to prevent their throwing themselves into the thickest of the battle, and many particularly the riflemen finding themselves in the very heart of the enemy without means of retreating, were made prisoners. It lasted not more than two hours but the firing was so incessant that some of our British prisoners who have served in the continental war in Spain aver they never experienced anything equal to it; while the darkness which pervaded rendering the objects so indistinct that they were sometimes uncertain whether wrestling with friends or foes created additional horror. It is said that the enemy had been then three days onshore making their way through the swamps and that very same night were to have marched up and taken quiet possession of the city. And this they might easily have effected had they not fortunately for us attempted to seize the son of Gen. Villere, mistaking him for his father, who was seated writing when they entered and made him prisoner. He escaped and concealed himself among the sugar canes, and one of his Negroes witnessing what was passing immediately came up and gave the alarm, too late to prevent their landing but time enough to save the town. Had British gold and British interest not found its way among the inhabitants of Lake Borgne who are chiefly composed of fisherman, it would have been utterly impossible for any enemy in the world to have penetrated through the woods and swamps to the banks of the river. Several Spaniards it is also supposed have aided them in their enterprise. Both sides now for a few days remained within their entrenchments, until the enemy's troops becoming impatient at the delay (as we have been informed by deservers from their camp) they attacked our lines. On the first fire from our rifleman they turned their backs and fled like lightning. They were however rallied and returned to the charge but were eventually completely repulsed. It is supposed that there are flight was merely ruse da guerre to entice our troops within some battery concealed in the woods where they might have played on them with some effect, and it required all the power of the General to restrain them from following. The Caroline one of the two vessels which were stationed in the river and had been firing on the enemy was blown up with red hot shot and then sunk. There were two men killed on board and five wounded. You would be astonished at the account of the few who are killed on our side notwithstanding the desperate manner in which they exposed their lives. The Tennesseans particularly have inspired the Creoles and indeed all the inhabitants here with such an idea of their valor that I believe they will live long in their memory. As for the troops under the command of Gen. Coffee, the British vow they are devils and not men and that had Washington been defended by such, the Americans had never severed such a disgrace there.
"Yesterday was witness to the next and last engagement – to describe the incessant and tremendous roar of cannon and musketry with which we were awoke before dawn would be impossible. Imagine claps of thunder, while the echo prolongs the sound undyingly till another clap overpowers the roar of that and continues increasingly till a third and so on. Or rather fancy the grating of an immense wheel – but no I can convey no idea to you which can in the smallest degree give an accurate conception of the sound with which our ears were assailed. The carnage was indeed terrible. The enemy advancing on the plain were cut off by dozens, while those who first attempted entering within our entrenchments were made prisoners. Pirogues and carts have since yesterday morning been incessantly employed in bringing in the wounded prisoners and have not yet concluded the painful task. There are 900 already in the hospital and Arsenal. The prisons have been emptied of those who had been taken before and sent to Natchez on their parole, in order to make room for others and still the number is so great that the General has been compelled to retain some at the camp for there is in town neither place to put them nor men sufficient to guard them. It is calculated that the British must have lost yesterday 2000 while the utmost extent of ours did not exceed 8 or 10 killed and 30 wounded. This is almost incredible but when we reflect on the eminent disadvantages under which they fought, immediately under the fire of our batteries, our men protected by these batteries, the ac count does not appear so entirely improbable. Do not suppose that between the engagements we enjoyed near perfect quiet, for the batteries from the two camps and one we have or rather had on the opposite bank of the river (yesterday it was partly destroyed), and the Louisiana stationed there also kept up an almost daily sufficient firing to keep our fears awake.
"Yesterday week in particular was a most awful day. Without coming to any actual engagement balls, bullets, bombs etc. whistled without ceasing for several hours. I'm afraid you will explain why Laura, is this the way you undertake to alleviate my uneasiness? In truth for those exposed to the fire of the enemy, you cannot but experience
Original, manuscript eyewitness accounts of New Orleans and its citizens, before and during the battle, in the immediate wake of the experience, are rarer than rare. We cannot find any that have come onto the private marketplace in the last 40 years. More likely this is the first previously unknown letter from New Orleans on January 9, 1815 to surface since the 19th century. $15,000
Our new website, with new design and functionality, coming this Spring
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"Your former acquaintance Mrs. Livingston has been acting a much conspicuous part since the arrival of Gen. Jackson, but as she cannot act without over acting, she has rather made herself an object of ridicule than admiration. The whole tribe have been endeavoring to make themselves popular but notwithstanding all their attempts will not, I believe, succeed this time. The batture is the distant goal of their intrigues. Mrs. L. visited the camp last week for the second time and walking through the ranks, condescendingly offered her hand to the Tennesseans and Kentuckians, calling them the preservers of our country and thanking them in the name of all the ladies for the courage and valor they displayed. My hand absently aches with holding my pencil so I must without further preamble wish you adieu for the present. However, I must add the British have sent to demand an armistice of three days, but Jackson only accorded them till today to bury their dead.”
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the utmost dread, though such has been the good fortune which has attended our arms that not half a dozen of our citizens have fallen victim to the war, and your brother employed in building fortifications is certain less exposed than any other. We are still in ignorance of the number of the invaders. Some suppose that they are not more than 7000 strong, others imagine they have at least 10,000. Our troops increase daily in number – we have about 12,000 and expect more. Jackson has displayed hitherto as much prudence as courage, forbearing to attack the enemy, rightly considering that the lives of so may citizens, and each important to his family, were not carelessly and desperately to be hazarded. It is said that he is now waiting for a reinforcement of regulars to attack in turn. I am conscious that in this bungling account of the proceedings here, I can give you but a poor idea of things as they really are and unless you possess as much curiosity as Mr. Talcott attributes to us you will hardly have patience to go through. But women, you know, notwithstanding all their queries and inquiries are generally left in the dark as to the true state of affairs. The town is as quiet and tranquil as if inhabited by shades and specters instead of man. You would take it for a second Herculaneum. We are busy since the commencement of the war here making lint [fabric] for the wounded, shirts, pantaloons and blanket coats for the Kentuckians and Tennesseans who may almost literally be called sans-culottes. One of the Negro girls is this moment returned from the Garrison where she has been…from Mama for the wounded, crying and sobbing as of her heart would break at the state of wounded who were brought in yesterday. Blankets, mattresses, pillows have been sent from almost every house for their use, and I assure you if the bravery of our men is to be commended, the humanity of the ladies deserves no less praise. I speak not this from ostentation for Heaven knows I have nothing to give but the labor of my hands, and while I can help to make shirts and pantaloons (which by the bye is to me quite a new accomplishment), I judge not others but better they have to bestow.
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Adams Secures the First Major Recognition of American 9 John Independence by a Non-Belligerent Power and Rejoices in the "great event which was yesterday finally concluded"
This is the original, famous letter of Adams to the Rotterdam merchants, the day after he learned of recognition of American independence by the Netherlands, which he had struggled to achieve
Support for the American Revolution was strong in the Netherlands, where the ideas of 'The Age of Reason' were extremely popular and hopes for greater freedom were excited. After France recognized the new American republic in 1778 and declared war on England, a strong party developed that wanted the Dutch government to follow the same policy. But the Netherlands and Great Britain had been official allies for a hundred years and this pro-American policy was not universal. The Netherlands was composed of sovereign provinces that had united to form a federal government. Provincial legislatures controlled by long established local families elected representatives and sent them to the States-General that was the parliament of the nation. The head of state was the hereditary “crowned” ruler of the Dutch Republic. Caution if not opposition existed in both the ruling families in the provinces, who were concerned that freedom would erode their power, and in the Stadholder, William of Orange, who was reluctant to offend his cousin, the British King. Moreover, Dutch commercial interests, though in principle favoring American independence, were worried about losing the profitable trade they carried on with the fledgling U.S. from their holdings in the West Indies. An alliance with America might imperil that trade, since British sea power could easily disrupt it.
In January 1781, John Adams arrived as Minister to the Netherlands and was charged with the task of obtaining political and financial support in the form of a treaty of friendship and commerce. His initial task in Holland was to persuade the Dutch government to recognize him as the formal diplomatic representative of the United States. He met with formidable obstacles, not the least of which was that Count Vergennes, the French foreign minister, was working behind the scenes to block Dutch recognition and thus maximize American dependence on France. The war was not going well at home either, and the simple military facts hindered his mission. So in the spring, Adams made a daring move and went out of diplomatic channels with an appeal direct to the States General and the Dutch people. On April 19, he wrote a 16-page letter proposing that the two countries enter into a treaty, suggesting that such a treaty would result in profitable trade relations and considerable financial gain for the Netherlands. He also drew parallels between the American and Dutch Republics, writing “In the liberality of sentiments in those momentous points of freedom of inquiry, the right of private judgment and the liberty of conscience…the two nations resemble each other more than any other.” The document was translated into English, French and Dutch and widely distributed as a pamphlet. In the words of biographer David McCullough, when the Dutch government refused to accept his diplomatic credentials, Adams “took his case to the people of the Netherlands,” urging the Dutch public to petition its government to recognize the United States. He lobbied States-General delegations, visiting personally representatives from 18 cities in the province of Holland alone. In every place, McCullough writes, “the reception was the same - approval, affection, esteem for the United States.” But the odds against him were long, and he still had no results to show.
Then, in October 1781, British forces under General Lord Cornwallis surrendered to a combined French and American force at Yorktown, Virginia, and on November 23 word reached Amsterdam. This event convinced many in Europe that the Americans were likely to prevail in the war, but the Dutch were the first to act. In February 1782, the province of Friesland instructed its States General delegates to move to acknowledge Adams as an official diplomatic representative; soon other provinces followed suit. Now the picture had changed. "The Most Signal Epocha, in the History of a Century”
On April 12, 1782, Adams negotiated with the Netherlands to receive a loan and for recognition for the United States. Then, on April 19, occurred an event that Adams labeled "the most Signal Epocha, in the History of a Century." The Netherlands recognized the United States and admitted Adams as its ambassador, becoming the first European nation (aside from American ally France) to do so. Of course, the world recognized in France a self-in-
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terested party long at war with Britain. Thus this Dutch recognition was the first indicator of a broader acceptance of American independence. Moreover, it was clear that the diplomatic ice being broken, other nations would soon take the same action and American independence would be assured. Adams believed then and for the remainder of his life that this event was the foremost achievement of his diplomatic career.
Many merchants of the Netherlands, and the port city of Rotterdam, were friends to the American cause, and Jacobus Nolet was one of their leaders. He wrote Adams on behalf of a committee of Amsterdam merchants, congratulating him on the important development and asking for an audience with the newly-recognized ambassador. Adams responded in this famous letter by showing a keen understanding of the moment, and expressing a willingness to meet the group.
Autograph Letter Signed, The Hague, April 20, 1782, to Nolet. “I received today the letter you did me the honor to write me yesterday, and am exceedingly obliged to you for your cordial congratulations, on the great event which was yesterday finally concluded by their High and Mightynesses. The Favor of Providence has been remarkably manifested in the progress of this negotiation hitherto, that I very sincerely join with you imploring its continuance, to the mutual prosperity, and the permanent establishment of the Liberties of H e c a l l s o n p ro v i d e n c e f o r “ t h e both Nations. I have small pretensions to an accurate knowledge of the commerce of either m u t u a l p ro s p e r i t y, a n d t h e p e r country; but such general notions of it as manent establishment of the have fallen to my share I shall ever esteem it Liberties of both Nations.” a pleasure and an honor to communicate. I shall be sorry, however, to give the trouble of coming to the Hague to so reputable a number of the merchants of your city, but as I do not propose to return to Amsterdam before Thursday, I shall be happy to receive them, or any of them, at the [Hotel] Marechall de Turenne at the Hague on any day before that time, and if the hour of 12 on Wednesday next action suit your convenience, none will be more agreeable to me.” This very letter is utilized by the Massachusetts Historical Society as an educational resource.
In fact, the Amsterdam delegation led by Nolet met with Adams just two days later, on April 22. In their address, the town’s merchants noted the common love of liberty in the Netherlands and the United States arising from their birth in revolutions against despotic powers. They expressed their joy at the States General’s providential decision to recognize American independence and acknowledge Adams as minister plenipotentiary. $42,000
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10 The U.S. Treasury Implements Alexander Hamilton's Financial System
Following the Revolutionary War, the new nation, its member states, and a great many of its citizens were deeply in debt. In January of 1790, Alexander Hamilton published his “Report on the Public Credit”, in which he argued that the financial health of the nation was essential to its prosperity; and to achieve this end, he proposed that all debts were to be paid at face value, the Federal government would assume all of the war debts owed by the 13 states, and the state debts would be paid out of the federal treasury. But rather than just pay the debt load off, he recommended the consolidation of the debts into new securities (stocks, or what we would today consider bonds) with public revenues specifically pledged to pay their interest. Subscribers could obtain and trade these securities and would receive interest from the federal government. Hamilton’s plan proved to be a great success, wiping out a huge debt without a crippling lump sum payment, establishing the credit of the United States both domestically and internationally, encouraging American business, and tying the wealthy class to U.S. government investments.
In 1792, Nathaniel Appleton was the Commissioner of Loans for the US government stationed in Massachusetts. Oliver Wolcott, Jr., son of the Signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the Comptroller of the Treasury under Alexander Hamilton and would succeed him as Secretary in 1795. On March 17, 1792, Appleton wrote to Wolcott sending him an accounting of the interest he had paid on debt in the hands of these government stock subscribers and received this letter from Wolcott in return, acknowledging that and asking for an accounting of how much money remained in the Massachusetts account books.
Letter Signed, Treasury Department, Comptroller's Office, March 28, 1792, to Nathaniel Appleton. "Sir, I have received your letter of the 17th instant with abstracts and vouchers of payments made in the quarter ending on the 31st of December 1791, on the dividend accounts, for the quarters ending on the 31st of September 1791. They should have been accompanied by an account current showing the balance of cash in your hands. You will there be pleased to transmit one as soon as possible. I am, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Oliver Wolcott."
With free franked envelope signed by Wolcott, addressed to "Nathaniel Appleton Esquire, Commissioner of loans for the state of Massachusetts." Docketed "Comptroller's office, 28 March 1792, acknowledged returns of interest paid to 31 Dec 1791 on interest due 30 september 1791." A glimpse inside the workings of Hamilton's financial system and the new American economy. $1,000
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The Official Authorization to Ratify the Treaty of Alliance Between Great 11 Britain and Spain That Led to the Defeat of Napoleon in the Peninsular War Signed in 1809 when Napoleon’s power was at its zenith, it showed that the British would never accept his triumph
The Treaty of Tilsit, signed in July 1807, established Napoleon’s supremacy in western and central Europe and broadened the French attempt to exclude Great Britain from all Continental trade so as to destroy its economy. Only Denmark and Portugal remained as seacoast nations open to British ships. Both of these nations quickly came under heavy French pressure, but especially strategically placed Portugal, which was a traditional ally of Britain. Although Portugal took certain actions to comply with French demands, it appeared to Napoleon that it was merely playing for time, trying to balance their nod toward compliance with the needs of the British. Napoleon was then at the peak of his power and influence, and he determined not to wait, but to force Portugal to close its ports by conquest. To get at Portugal, he had to move through Spain, which was theoretically his ally; the result was the bitter and protracted Peninsular War.
The Peninsular War was probably one of the two worst mistakes Napoleon made during his lengthy reign over France, as the conflict in Iberia continued from 1807-1814, caused a popular uprising in Spain, and proved to be a continual drain of manpower and resources. The invasion of Iberia was launched late in 1807, and on December 1 the French captured Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Thinking Portugal in his grasp and with an existing military presence in Spain, Napoleon then began a series of maneuvers to make Spain a dependency of France. On the pretext that they were reinforcements for the Portuguese campaign, large numbers of French troops entered Spain and seized Pamplona and Barcelona in January and February 1808; soon there were over 100,000 Frenchmen in Spain. On March 23, French Marshal Joachim Murat entered Madrid, ostensively to maintain order but actually to secure the French position in the nation’s capital. Meanwhile, a palace revolution had deposed King Charles IV and placed Ferdinand VII on the Spanish throne. However, Charles and Ferdinand were called to Bayonne by Napoleon and coerced to abdicate on May 5–6 in favor of Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte. A bloody uprising against foreign hegemony began in Madrid on May 2 - immortalized in Francisco de Goya’s paintings - but was put down by Murat; on June 15 Joseph was proclaimed king of Spain. These events provoked open rebellion in Spain. Within two months, the British landed a force in Lisbon under the Duke of Wellington to support the Spanish and Portuguese resistance. While this was taking place another British force advanced into Spain and found itself facing the French alone. The scale of the war in the Peninsula escalated as a Spanish victory in July 1808 was answered by Napoleon's arrival in Spain at the head of 200,000 veteran troops. He quickly took Madrid and forced the British into a terrible retreat through the Spanish mountains that ended in the evacuation by sea of a British army at La Coruña in January 1809. Napoleon thought the war was won and transferred command of French forces to Gen. Soult, while he returned to Paris to prepare for war against Austria; Napoleon would never again lead an army in the Peninsula.
But Napoleon failed to take into account the ages-old British determination not to allow the entire continent of Europe to be dominated by the any one nation under any circumstances, its fear of an invasion if this happened, and its specific loathing of Napoleon. Even as the British army was making its way to the coast for evacuation, the British government was planning to hold its position in Portugal, expand out from there, and to pursue and win the war on the Peninsula. The first step it took in that direction was to negotiate a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Alliance with the Spanish forces fighting Napoleon, under the auspices of King Ferdinand VII. Official Treaty, original ratification copy of which is still attached, with chief provisions providing:
* There would be a “stable and inviolable peace; and a perpetual and sincere amity, and a strict alliance during the war against France; together with an entire and lasting oblivion of all acts of hostility done on either side, in the course of the late wars, in which they have been engaged against each other”;
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* The British King would “continue to assist, to the utmost of his power, the Spanish nation in their struggle against the tyranny and usurpation of France: and the Spanish government...engages never, in any case, to cede to France, any part of the territories or possessions of the Spanish monarchy, in any part of the world.” Signing the Treaty for Britain was Foreign Minister George Canning, and for Spain its Minister Juan Luis be Apodaca.
The Treaty next had to be ratified. An official copy of the entire Treaty text was prepared and that is included. Second, at the end of that was appended a Ratification Statement. In this case, the combined total for both was eight manuscript pages, with the Ratification Statement in Latin reading: “We having seen and considered the Treaty with its separate articles attached....We have approved, ratified, accepted and confirmed these presents...and have caused to be affixed thereto the Great Seal of the United Kingdom...” These two sections together constituted the official ratification copy, to be submitted to and approved by the King. Third, to enable and empower the government to ratify, it was necessary for the Great Seal of the Realm to be affixed to it, and under the British Constitution, the Seal could only be legally affixed with the written authorization and order of the Sovereign. This would be the operative signature for the ratification.
Document Signed, London, March 10, 1809, being the official authorization and instruction to ratify the Treaty, signed by the King as “George R”, and by Canning, which document is attached to the official ratification copy. “Our Will and Pleasure is that you forthwith cause the Great Seal of the United Kingdom...to an Instrument bearing date with these presents (a copy whereof is hereunto annexed) containing our ratification...of a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Alliance...concluded between us and our Good Brother the Catholic King, and signed at London the 14th of January last...And for so doing this shall be your Warrant...”
The alliance of these two countries, traditional enemies since the 16th century, was a telling one as to Napoleon, and it was highly successful at achieving its goals. The allies, commanded by Wellington, made the most imaginative strategic move of the Peninsular War, turning the region north of Lisbon into a gigantic fortress by building the lines of Torres Vedras - a continuous fortification stretching twenty-five miles from the Atlantic coast through Torres Vedras to the broad Tagus river. Campaigns in subsequent years involved prolonged fighting over the fortified towns between Portugal and Madrid; both Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz were eventually taken by Wellington in 1812. Later in that year he wins a significant victory at Salamanca and briefly occupied Madrid. In the decisive campaign of 1813, Wellington met the army of Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte (technically at that stage King of Spain) at Vitoria on June 21. Wellington captured the entire French artillery train, of some 150 guns, and all the baggage - including Joseph's impressive collection of art, which now graces Apsley House (Wellington's residence in London). The war petered out into 1814 until Napoleon abdicated. So after waging a seven year war and being bled white over that time, French hopes on the Peninsula were over.
Interestingly, after his brother was overthrown, Joseph Bonaparte, late King of Spain, fled to America. He lived in New York and then Philadelphia, finally settling on an estate in Bordentown, New Jersey. There he entertained French expatriates and the leading intellectuals and politicians of his day. Joseph’s (and Napoleon’s) younger brother Jerome’s family also left Europe for America. Theodore Roosevelt’s Attorney General, Charles Joseph Bonaparte, was the Emperor’s great nephew. $18,500
Would Issue General Orders 11, Freeing the Slaves in 3 South States
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Hunter formed the first unit of black soldiers from the occupied South, and Davis then placed a bounty on his head
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Jefferson Davis Writes President Millard Fillmore, Recommending for 12 Promotion Future Major General David Hunter, Who in the Civil War
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David Hunter followed the course of many successful antebellum military careers. He went to West Point, served in the Mexican War with General Taylor, and received a recommendation for advancement after success there. In 1850, he approached a military superior with whom he had served, Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, to recommend him to fill a military position being created by Act of Congress. So did Senator Davis appeal directly to Fillmore, unknowingly beginning a long and distinguished career for future General Hunter that would end with him burning sections of the South and attempting to free the slaves in portions of the South.
Hunter was friends with Abraham Lincoln and corresponded with him on the subject of slavery and emancipation. Soon after the firing on Fort Sumter, Hunter was promoted to Colonel of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, but three days later his political connection to the Lincoln administration bore fruit and he was appointed the fourth-ranking brigadier general of volunteers, commanding a brigade in the Department of Washington. He was wounded in the neck and cheek while commanding a division under Irvin McDowell at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. In August he was promoted to Major General of volunteers, and was later appointed as commander of the Western Department on November 2, 1861, after John C. Frémont was famously relieved of command due to his attempt to emancipate the slaves of rebellious slave holders.
Hunter was a strong advocate of arming black soldiers for the Union cause. He began enlisting black soldiers from the occupied districts of South Carolina and formed the first such Union Army regiment, the 1st South Carolina (African Descent), which he was initially ordered to disband, but eventually got approval from Congress for his action. A second controversy was caused by his issuing an order emancipating the slaves in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. This was the controversial General Orders 11. This order would be rescinded, as Lincoln did want emancipation to be ordered by military commanders without his approval.
Jefferson Davis, the man who had helped launch Hunter's career, issued orders to the Confederate Army that he was to be considered a "felon to be executed if captured." In response to this, in a letter sent to Davis as the "titular" president of the Confederacy, Hunter wrote, "Mr. Davis, we have been acquainted intimately in the past. We have campaigned together, and our social relations have been such as to make each understand the other thoroughly. That you mean, if it ever be in your power, to execute the full rigor of your threat, I am well assured; and you will believe my assertion, that I thank you for having raised in connection with me and my acts this sharp and decisive issue. I shall proudly accept, if such be the chance of war, the martyrdom you menace; and herby give you notice that unless your General Order against me and my officers be formally revoked within thirty days from the date of the transmission of this letter, sent under a flag of truce, I shall take your action in the matter as final, and will reciprocate it by the hanging every Rebel officer who now is, or may hereafter be taken prisoner by the troops of the command to which I am about returning."
This is Davis's original recommendation for Hunter, on whom he would place a bountied death sentence. Moreover, it comes from the great Sang collection, from which the previous owner acquired this directly. Autograph Letter Signed, Washington, September 14, 1850, to President Millard Fillmore at the "Presidents Mansion." "Sir, Should the bill now before Senate to add to the army a Regiment of Light Cavalry become a law I am informed that Maj. David Hunter of the Pay Dept. will apply for the Commission of Lieut. Colonel in it. In such event, I have the honor to say that I have served with Maj. Hunter when he was an officer of Dragoons and also when he was on the Staff; and can bear unqualified testimony to his fitness for the station he is expected to seek. In addition to his experience in the field acquired in the service above alluded to, he was educated at the US Mil. Academy and served for many years in the infantry. His acquirements though high do not exceed his natural endowments as I am sure all who have served with him will testify. I know that he possessed in the highest degree the confidence and regard of the late President Genl. Taylor. Convinced that the interest of the service will be promoted by the appointment of Major Hunter, I do not hesitate to recommend him and to say that I will be personally gratified at the success of his application. Very truly and respectfully yours, Jefferson Davis." Presented in a double sided frame with images of Davis and Fillmore. Hunter accompanied the body of Abraham Lincoln to Springfield and afterwards was invited by President Andrew Johnson to be a member of the nine-man military commission to try the Lincoln assassination conspirators. $8,500
Other portions of which reside at Mount Vernon
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Fashion of America’s Founding Mother: An Original Piece of 13 The Fabric from a Dress Worn by Martha Washington
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With the possible exception of Jacqueline Kennedy, no first lady's garments have been so extensively studied and copied than those of Martha Washington. She was America's Founding Mother, and the wife of the great General George Washington. Books are dedicated to her attire, and exhibits have been built around it, both at art museums, the Smithsonian, and at Mount Vernon, which is attempting to re-assemble the garments she wore. Women getting married today can read a book or visit multiple sites about what Martha would have worn.
Descendants of Martha cherished these garments and they were passed down through the Custis family. Although Martha had no children with George, she had four children with her first husband, Daniel Parker Custis. Much of the Washington estate, in fact, has passed through this family. Among the well known artifacts this family retained were a few articles of clothing worn by Martha. In February 1932, a Washington area newspaper covered one of these remaining pieces, owned by Nancy Gibbs, who had received it from her mother, Martha Custis Peter, both of whom were heirs to the Custis family treasures. This article describes a silk dress of "excellent quality" that "was cut from one of Martha Washington's finest dresses." It also notes that she had decided to take one piece of the dress and sell it to a "wealthy collector for $100," so likely the fabric was split then, with her brother James Henderson Peter getting a portion as well. Mr. Peter had a winter home in Miami Beach, Florida, and his neighbor and friend was the noted philanthropist Alden Freeman. Freeman built and lived in the home now notorious as the Versacci Mansion. Peter gifted a piece of the fabric to Freeman, around the same time as his sister Nancy donated another piece of the same fabric to Mount Vernon, where it resides today.
Nan Britton became famous for her widely publicized affair with Warren Harding, an affair that ended with the birth of Elizabeth Ann, their secret love child. Harding purportedly paid support money to Britton, but never met the child. When Harding died, failing to get any support out of the Harding estate, she wrote a best-selling book, The President's Daughter, dedicated "to all unwed mothers, and to their innocent children whose fathers are usually not known to the world." It recounted the specific logistics of the affair in great detail and is the first "tell-all" book, a sensation in its time that, according to John Dean, of Watergate fame but also a Harding biographer, did more to define Harding's legacy than anything else. Britton failed to get multiple publishing companies interested in the story and eventually, in 1927, self published it. Britton wrote that she visited Harding at the White House in 1923, surprising him with the news that their 3-year-old daughter was sitting on a park bench in Lafayette
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Square, visible from the second-floor window, but he refused to look. When Harding took office in 1921, Britton's sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Scott Willits, adopted Elizabeth Ann for appearance's sake. The account of Britton and her daughter Elizabeth was widely believed (Harding's chief aide George Christian confirmed the story), and it attracted much sympathy and even indignation (which magnified when Harding's will took no care of his little daughter). It also brought publicity to the plight of unwed mothers generally.
Just a few years after her book was published and a few months after the article showcasing This piece belonged to the daughter of the Martha Washington dress appeared, Nan Warren G. Harding and Nan Britton, and Britton received a letter from Freeman (original has never before been offered for sale included here), along with the original beautiful silk fragment from Mrs. Washington's dress. The letter reads, in small part, "This is a piece of the brocade which the widow Martha Dandridge Custis wore… This little souvenir has special interest at this time as February 23, 1932 will be the 200th anniversary of the birth of our first President and the Father of our Country. I wish here to record my admiration and respect for the character of a perfect mother, Nan Britton, and for her united, devoted and loyal family…. I want to record also my affection and admiration for that clever and precocious child the daughter of our 29th President, Elizabeth Ann Harding. I trust that her mother will pass this bit of broached on to this lovely child, whose love is the solace, consolation and reward for the suffering and aguish through which this wonderful mother has passed in her efforts to secure justice not only for President Harding's daughter but for all other wronged and disinherited children of unmarried mothers…"
Sold here is the original piece of silk cloth from the dress held in the article, most of the rest of which is now at Mount Vernon, this being the only other piece we could find not in an institution, and perhaps the only opportunity for a collector to own a piece of one of Martha Washington's renowned dresses. Included is the original correspondence from Alden Freeman sending the piece to Britton. This piece comes directly from a Harding / Nan Britton descendant and has never before been offered for sale.
Wendell Holmes Pens the Closing Lines of His Poem "Flag of 14 Oliver the Heroes", Which Was Used As the Lyrics of a Civil War Song Our sincere thanks to the people at Mount Vernon, who helped us greatly in our research.
$25,000
When the Civil War broke out, Holmes was deeply moved by patriotism. In 1861 he wrote a poem that was used as the lyrics to the song, "Flag of the Heroes who left us their glory.”
Autograph Quotation Signed, Boston, August 26, 1874, being the final lines of that poem. “Lord of the Universe! shield us and guide us, Trusting Thee always, thro' shadow and sun! Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? Keep us, oh, keep us, the Many in One!” An interesting and unusual signed quotation, one we have never seen before. Holmes own son Oliver put his life on the line by enlisting in the Union Army. He was badly wounded at Antietam, but lived to become a famed justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. $650
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William C. Nell, the First Black Federal Employee and First Black Historian, Researches the Service of a Colored Regiment in the JustConcluded Civil War
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A frequent reader of William Lloyd Garrison’s, “Liberator,” Nell joined the antislavery movement and began working for the Liberator newspaper in the 1840s. At many of the antislavery functions in Boston, he was Garrison’s personal representative. He was also active in the Underground Railroad. In 1851, he became assistant to Frederick Douglass and soon after published his own pamphlet on "Colored American Patriots" in the Revolution and the War of 1812. This evolved into the book for which he is best known. Nell drew his stories from personal accounts, cemetery records, and research. His book includes an introduction by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. Nell is acknowledged to be the first Black federal employee of the United States, having been employed in the Boston Post Office in 1863. After the Civil War ended, he worked to identify the efforts of the Black soldiers. Many consider Nell to be the first African-American historian.
Here he researches the service of the 44th Colored Infantry, which saw action at Battle of Dalton, Ga., October 13, 1864. and at the Battle of Nashville, Tenn., December 15-16. Autograph Letter Signed, Boston, June 5, 1866, to journalist and abolitionist James Redpath. At the time he received this letter, he was in South Carolina (then under federal military occupation), having been appointed by General Sherman superintendent of public schools in that state. “Many thanks for the leaves from your journal so kindly loaned me and herewith returned. I would like at a moment convenient for you to be posted with regard to the fight at Dalton, Georgia. Was it? You repeat the charge of the 44th Colored Regiment. I find elsewhere good mention made of the 4th U.S. Infantry. Is it a mistake, or were the 44th and 4th in the fight? I have been much interested with your Evening Post article on the Colored aristocrats of South Carolina.” We have never before seen a letter of Nell, an important civil rights trailblazer. To say this is a rarity is an underestimate. $1,000
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Abraham Lincoln Directs and Manages the Appointment 16 President of Officers at a Crucial Moment in the Civil War
Days after signing the first Conscription Act, he writes, "The nomination fell, with many others, because the number nominated exceeded the law"
Ward Burnett was a New Yorker who had served with distinction in the military for years, most recently in the Mexican War. However, he had not remained with the military after that, so there was a gap in his service of almost a decade. In 1862, he was nominated for a position as Brigadier General, but the appointment did not materialize, the Union not having enough enlistees to sufficiently expand the officer corp. Following that, Burnett began a behind the scenes campaign to gain his appointment, evidently sending a Col. Diven to speak directly to President Lincoln on his behalf. Lincoln held office hours from 1 until 3 PM at the White House on March 7, 1863. During this time he saw Col. Diven. When Diven left, he sat down and wrote directly to Burnett.
Autograph Letter Signed, on Executive Mansion letterhead, Washington, March 7, 1863, to Burnett. "Col. Diven has just been with me seeking to remove a wrong impression which he supposes I might have of you, springing from a report he had once made in the New York Senate, as I understood him. I told him, as I now tell you, that I did not remember to have ever heard of the report, or any thing against you. As I remember, you were nominated last year, and the nomination fell, with many others, because the number nominated exceeded, the law. I call to mind no reason why you have not been re-nominated, except that you have not been in active service, while others more than sufficient to take all the places, have been. Yours truly A. Lincoln."
Not content with this refusal, Burnett enlisted the support of New York Mayor George Opdyke, who wrote to Secretary of War Stanton in June requesting that Burnett be placed in command of a regiment. Stanton replied in this Letter Signed (included), Washington, June 20, 1863 to Mayor Opdyke, saying that if "such power be given to General Ward B. Burnett, to muster men into the United States service, as was given to the late Colonel Baker and others, I have to state, that the request having been considered by the Department, it is not deemed expedient to grant it, great inconvenience and prejudice to the service, having been experienced from irregular authority to muster in recruits. The Department is informed that the force of recruiting officers is amply sufficient to muster in the recruits as fast as is consistent with due examination and proper regard to the interests of the United States..." In May 1861, Edward Baker, referenced in Stanton's letter, was authorized to organize a regiment. Baker was a friend of Lincoln and fellow attorney in Illinois. In October of that year, he was killed at the Battle of Ball's Bluff. Interestingly, although Burnett was never given his commission, he served among the troops used to suppress the riots in New York that coincided with Lincoln's letter to him, riots caused by the forcible recruitment of more active duty soldiers. An uncommon letter showing Lincoln engaged in the direction and management of his wartime officer corps. $25,000
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At the same time as soldiers were in need, officers exceeded the number of places available by law. At the start of the war, the creation of ad hoc units was not uncommon, at the head of which would sit an officer. As the war continued and a quick victory did not materialize, officers and their civil leadership gained more experience in the proper organization and maintenance of a military apparatus. This meant matching the number of recruits to the appropriate number of officers, and that appointments be made consistently and through proper channels.
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On March 3, 1863, because of the great recruiting difficulties caused by the long duration and heavy toll of the war, the government passed the First Conscription Act, making all men between the ages of 20 to 45 liable to be called into service. Service could, however, be avoided by paying $300 or hiring a substitute, a practice criticized as unfair to the poor. It led to riots in New York City, when the working class subject to the draft caused mayhem, and Union Army troops fresh from Gettysburg had to he called to restore order in the city.
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In a Letter Sent “In Strict Confidence,” President Grover Cleveland 17 Discusses Strategy on Important Financial Matters
It “Ought to be done in the direction of economy and business methods”
An 8 page letter, also hoping not to be hardened on receiving kindnesses as President: “It is said that public life hardens one to these things I hope I shall be able to stand it.”
One of the most contentious issues dividing the Republican and the Democratic parties in 1887 was that of high protective tariffs. While it had not been a central point in his campaign, Cleveland's opinion on the tariff was that of most Democrats: that the tariff ought to be reduced. Republicans generally favored a high tariff to protect American industries. American tariffs had been high since the Civil War, and by the 1880s the tariff brought in so much revenue that the government was running a surplus.
In 1886, a bill to reduce the tariff was narrowly defeated in the House. The tariff issue was emphasized in the Congressional elections that year, and the forces of protectionism increased their numbers in the Congress. Nevertheless, Cleveland continued to advocate tariff reform. As the surplus grew, Cleveland and the reformers called for a tariff for revenue only. His message to Congress in 1887 (quoted below) pointed out the injustice of taking more money from the people than the government needed to pay for its operating expenses. Republicans, as well as protectionist northern Democrats like the powerful Speaker of the House from Pennsylvania, Samuel J. Randall, who believed that without high tariffs American industries might fail, and continued to fight reformers' efforts. Roger Q. Mills, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, proposed a bill that would reduce the tariff burden from about 47% to about 40%. After significant exertions by Cleveland and his allies, the bill passed the House. The Republican Senate, however, failed to come to agreement with the Democratic House, and the bill died in the conference committee. Dispute over the tariff would carry over into the 1888 presidential election.
Of the names mentioned in the following letter, William Mutchler was a Congressman from Pennsylvania; Arthur D. Markley a Pennsylvania Democrat and future member of state senate. He was also son-in-law of powerful politico and future U.S. Senator Boies Penrose; Richard H. Hand a New Jersey politician and cousin of Judge Learned Hand; Richard Patterson likely the member of the Pennsylvania state house of representatives of that name; and Antonio Joseph a delegate to U.S. Congress from New Mexico Territory.
Autograph Letter Signed as President on Executive Mansion letterhead, eight pages, Washington, May 11, 1887, to Democratic Congressman William Lawrence Scott of Pennsylvania. Scott also served as a member of the Democratic National Committee and was a Cleveland ally.
“Your kind letter and the barrel therein referred to have arrived and I return my sincere thanks for both. I never owned a barrel of whiskey before and it makes me feel very rich, which sensation I understand often accompanied the consumption of a much less quantity. Your repeated kindnesses come upon me so fast that I am in a chronic state of thankfulness; but as it is said that public life hardens one to these things I hope I shall be able to stand it.
“I want to talk with you about a number of things, and as you will persist in running away I shall try to write you something concerning them. Randall was in the other day & seemed to be amiable. He said he was going to Philadelphia in a few days and hoped to get the Marshall business eased up a little as far as Joseph is concerned. I said I would wait till I saw him again. He spoke very highly of course of Hand and I really expect he will see him before he returns. He also approved very fully the selection of Patterson for the place he holds. Mutchler was in a day or two ago and seems to think under all the circumstances Markley would be the best appointment though he spoke well of Hand and only doubted the propriety of his selection because he was known as a Randall man and perhaps a recognition of another element might be more useful. I honestly think Pennsylvania matters are straightening out. “Now another thing in strict confidence. I am thinking strongly of consolidating some of the Internal Revenue
The issues of the tariff and internal revenue continued to receive Cleveland’s attention. In his Third Annual Message to Congress on December 6, 1887, Cleveland stated attacked the tariff: “The public Treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's development, preventing investment in productive enterprise, threatening financial disturbance, and inviting schemes of public plunder." However, he never did succeed in obtaining a significant tariff reduction. And in his Executive Order of May 7, 1895, he designated new Internal Revenue Rules to deal with the abuses he was concerned with here, thus achieving that goal. $3,500
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“I have talked with a few of our people on the general subject of this consolidation scheme and they all seem to think it should be done. In fact looking the thing all over I think I cannot help it. Have you anything to say about the two PA Collectors who it seems might be dispensed with? It happens that both of them come pretty near you there I mention my intention, though I don't expect to do so in any other case. If these things are done they ought to be done pretty soon so that the new arrangements can begin with the new fiscal year.” Accompanied by the original Executive Mansion mailing envelope, addressed by Cleveland to "Hon. Wm L. Scott Erie Pennsylvania", adding "Personal.” It is housed in a custom case.
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districts. It ought to be done in the direction of economy and business methods and I am of the opinion that this movement would rob people in Congress who want to reduce the revenue in that quarter instead of by readjusting the Tariff, of an argument based upon the present expense of conducting an Internal Revenue System. The consolidation under advisement would dispense with Boyle’s friend who is quite inefficient and the office at Erie. It puts both of these two Districts in McGonigles and a part in Biglers. Of course some of the Collectors thus superceded can be retained as Deputies.
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Official Letter of State From President Jefferson to Napoleon, 18 The Recalling Robert Livingston As U.S. Ambassador to France After He Successfully Concluded Purchase of the Louisiana Territory
A letter of extraordinary importance, also signed by James Madison
The Louisiana Purchase was one of the crucial events in American history, and in terms of the geography and geopolitics the most definitive. The story of its negotiation is both fascinating and surprising. By 1801, the Napoleonic wars involving a large part of Europe had been going on for close to a decade, with the United States striving to keep out of the huge conflict. France was then led by Napoleon Bonaparte, and he was already amidst the string of military and diplomatic successes that would make him the most powerful man of his age, an age that in fact took his name. In February and March of that year, by the Treaty of Luneville and the Convention of Aranjuez, France regained control from Spain of the vast Louisiana territory, with its key port of New Orleans and corresponding control of the Mississippi River. With an expansionist France in possession, President Jefferson worried that the U.S. would almost inevitably get sucked into the European war, and he had visions of the British fleet making for America to challenge France on our side of the Atlantic. This situation could, in Jefferson's words, "marry the United States to the British fleet" and throttle American dreams of a transcontinental republic.
When word of the transfer of Louisiana was confirmed later in 1801, President Jefferson appointed Robert R. Livingston minister to France, and he dispatched him to Paris early in 1802 with instructions to try to purchase New Orleans. Meanwhile, a serious uprising in France’s most important colony in the Caribbean - Haiti - was taking place, as Toussaint Louverture captured Santo Domingo from the French and took control of the entire island of Hispaniola. His difficulties there caused Napoleon to consider that an adventure in the Americas was no longer desirable. His main concern then must have been not French proliferation through North America, but how to keep the British from filling the vacuum themselves.
When he got to Paris, Livingston told French officials that he was authorized to offer $10 million for the city of New Orleans. Momentously, and with no instructions, he also suggested that the United States might be interested in acquiring lands west of the Mississippi. In 1803 James Monroe arrived to assist with the negotiations. On April 11, 1803, combining his disinclination to make a foray into America, his desire to keep the British out, and Livingston’s remark that the U.S. might be willing to take more than just New Orleans, Napoleon offered to sell the United States not only the port of New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory. On April 30, Livingston and Monroe concluded negotiations to purchase all of Louisiana for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States for a cost of about 3 cents an acre. The American negotiators signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on May 2, 1803, even though doing so far exceeded their authority. It may have been the greatest diplomatic triumph in U.S. history. Interestingly, perhaps unsure whether the mission would be successful, or perhaps to create a potential pressure point on the French, on April 18, 1803, even as the Purchase was being made, Jefferson drafted a letter to Napoleon recalling Livingston. That letter was, of course, never implemented, and Livingston stayed on.
In 1804, however, Livingston’s job was done. President Jefferson again wrote Napoleon recalling him. This is that very letter. Letter Signed as President, Washington, June 29, 1804, to Napoleon as First Consul of the French Republic and President of the Italian Republic, officially informing him of the departure of Livingston as American ambassador. "Citizen First Consul and President, Robert R. Livingston, who for several years has resided with you as the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, having desired to return to America, we have yielded to his request. He will accordingly take his leave of you, embracing that occasion to assure you of our friendship and sincere desire to preserve and strengthen the harmony and good understanding so happily subsisting between
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t he two Nations, and which will be further manifested by his Successor. We are persuaded, that he will do this in the manner most expressive of these sentiments, and of the respect and sincerity with which they are offered. We pray God to keep you, Citizen First Consul and President under his holy protection." The letter is countersigned by James Madison as Secretary of State. In all likelihood, Jefferson and Madison dispatched three or four copies of this official letter to be sure that at least one would arrive. In the days of sailing ships plying the Atlantic, and many ships lost at sea, this was a routine precaution. We have found one other copy of this exists and is in an institution, but we are unaware of any others that may have been written or survive. Certainly we have never seen another reach the market. In fact, just one other letter from Jefferson to Napoleon has reached the marketplace in over three decades. Of his great exploit that doubled the size of the country, Livingston remarked, "We have lived long but this is the noblest work of our whole lives...The United States take rank this day among the first powers of the world." $75,000
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Discovered Description of the Military Academy at West Point 19 AbyNewly Its Most Famous Memorialist, Written by Him As a Cadet in 1818
An extraordinarily early, rare and important letter, as the West Point Library has but one cadet account prior to 1820. We could not find any others having reached the market in at least four decades
The Latrobe family is sewn into the fabric of American history. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the patriarch, was the Union’s first trained architect who was instrumental in establishing the Greek, Gothic and Neoclassical styles of architecture in the United States. He is renowned for designing the U. S. Capitol, and the pioneering Philadelphia and New Orleans waterworks; less well known is his design of elements of the White House and his role in its furnishing. It was he who called in fashionable New York merchant Louis Mark on that project. He mentored his teenage sons John H. B. Latrobe and Benjamin Henry Latrobe II, who assisted him.
Benjamin’s son John inherited his father’s aptitude for the arts and design. In 1818, still shy of his 16th birthday, he was sent to West Point to study engineering. At that time, just 200 young men had graduated from West Point since its first two-man class in 1802. But he was forced to return home before graduating when his father died suddenly in 1820, and he became partly responsible for supporting his family. John Latrobe went on to become a lawyer and was instrumental in promoting and establishing the first railroads in America. He was the inventor of the Latrobe stove, and respected artist, president of the Maryland Historical Society, and co-founder of the American Bar Association.
West Point in it’s earliest years
In the 1880s, Latrobe wrote the work for which he is most remembered, his “West Point Reminiscences 18181882,” which is not only fascinating, but is one of the very few first-hand early accounts of the Military Academy. The work was published in 1887 and remains a key source of information about West Point in those days. The few other accounts we have found relating memories of that time are also retrospectives. We cannot recall seeing a contemporaneous description of the pre -1820 era at West Point reach the marketplace. Here is such a description, from John Latrobe himself.
Autograph Letter Signed, West Point, November 22, 1818, to his sister Lydia. "I have delayed writing to you so long that I am now quite ashamed of myself, but I really have so little time that you must forgive me. You see by the date of my letter where I am, and have been since the 28th of September. In the first place I must give you an account of West Point. It is situated on the west bank of the Hudson, about 70 miles from New York, and the nearest town is Newburgh, 10 miles distant. The Hudson rolls on one side of us and on the other are almost inaccessible mountains on whose summits tower the remains of Revolutionary fortifications. The plain itself is situated near 200 feet above the level of the river and is about 3/4 of a mile in circumference. The public buildings are 2 large stone barracks, and an academy and mess house, both of stone, and 5 or 6 brick buildings the quarters of their professors; besides 20 or 30 small houses occupied by washerwomen etc etc. There are at present 230 cadets here, and there is also a company of bombardiers (regulars) who do all the work that is to be done & have a separate barracks which is a very large one built of wood.” “Our education consists of every branch of mathematics & philosophy, engineering, drawing, French & fencing; in fact it is the education of a perfect gentleman. We rise at daylight, make up our beds, sweep out the rows, make the fire and & put everything in order. We then go to roll call, after which we return to our rooms, if our guns want cleaning we clean them, if not we study until breakfast which is at 8 o'clock. After breakfast the guard is marched off, at 9 we go to the Academy and recite, return to our rooms and study until 1 when we have dinner. At 2 we go to recite, return to our rooms and study until 4, when we drill until 5. At 5 go parade, after parade we go to supper at 6. We retire to our rooms and study until half past nine when we retire to rest. Thus endeth every day and thus every day is spent.
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“Our eating is pretty good, indeed much better than I expected, and I cannot find fault with it. I have received two very kind letters from Louis Mark concerning something papa sent on to me and about which he has taken a great deal of trouble. He was very attentive to me while I stayed in New York and pressed me to stay at his house whenever I come to town. In his last letter he told me he had just heard from you and that you and all the family were quite well. If you should ever get this letter, I beg you will answer it, as one of the greatest pleasures I have is to receive letters from any of our family, and direct to Cadet J.H.B. Latrobe, Military Academy West Point, State of New York. Remember me to brother Nicholas, and give my best love to Rosetta, Henry, Sena and dear little Mary. Tell them Uncle John sends them 20 kisses apiece which you must give them.� The franked address panel marked West Point is still present. $4,500
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20 Benjamin Latrobe’s Wonderful Message to His Daughter
A warm and personal letter from the famed architect of the U.S. Capitol
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Benjamin Henry Latrobe was the America’s first trained architect who was instrumental in establishing the Greek, Gothic and Neoclassical styles of architecture in the United States. He is renowned for designing the U. S. Capitol and the pioneering Philadelphia and New Orleans waterworks; less well known is his design of elements of the White House and his role in its furnishing. He saw great potential for growth in New Orleans, designed a number of important projects there. During one trip New Orleans was rife with yellow fever, so upon returning he and his fellow travelers were quarantined. His daughter Lydia was a dynamo noted for her independence and spirt, and she was the wife of Nicholas Roosevelt. As such she became the great aunt of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Autograph Letter Signed, quarantine ground, New York, October 12, 1819, to Lydia. “I arrived here in the Brig Emma after passage of 17 days from New Orleans in perfect health yesterday morning. Being quarantined for 10 days I obtained permission to spend that time with you. But unfortunately the Shrewsbury steamboat made her last trip yesterday & I do not know how to get at you. I therefore applied to go to Elizabethtown from whence I mean to proceed immediately to Baltimore. It is my intention after just spending time enough in Baltimore to settle my affairs, to come on New York, & thence to West Point, before I remove with your mother & sister to New Orleans for a year or two, & to propose that you & your husband should meet us somewhere, so as to go to West Point with us. I wish you could contrive something to make this practicable in spite of your baby & babies. As you are the principal in this affair, I write to you.
“Your husband knows how affectionately I esteem him, but I never have had, & never shall have, the means & opportunity of showing you how much I love you, how proud I am of you, & how entirely you form part of the motives that induce me to think this life of labor & vexation worth preserving & prolonging. To have such a daughter as you is sufficient to constitute as much happiness as any father can deserve, but when I look at you all, Julia, John & Ben, I should be the most ungrateful of mankind were I not proud & thankful.” Just the most wonderful letter imaginable for a father to write his daughter. $2,000
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Rare Memento of the Transatlantic Struggle Against Slavery: Gerrit 21 ASmith Sends a Strand of the "Immortal" Thomas Clarkson's Hair
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Gerrit Smith was one of America's most staunch abolitionists. First a candidate and supporter of the Liberty Party and its strong anti-slavery platform, he later was elected as a Free Soiler, believing that all people had the equal right to soil, regardless of color. He gave his money to the Underground Railroad, to pay expenses for those charged under the Fugitive Slave Law, and most famously to support John Brown. Smith was one of the "Secret Six," a group of wealthy northern abolitionists who supported Brown in his effort to capture the armory at Harpers Ferry. For this, he narrowly escaped charges himself. Interestingly, he would later put up the money to bail Jefferson Davis out of jail.
The legendary Thomas Clarkson was the great English abolitionist and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He struck the first great blow against slavery when he achieved passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended the British trade in slaves. In his later years Clarkson campaigned for the abolition of slavery worldwide. He was a hero to the budding generation of anti-slavery politicians and activists in the United States, foremost The hair is still present among them Smith, who championed his work through the country as Smith sent it and wrote to and of him often. As a member of Congress, he took to the floor of the House to recall something Lafayette said to Clarkson: "I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived, that thereby I was founding a land of slavery." Although Smith and Clarkson corresponded, the latter died well before Smith in 1846. He became the symbol on the banner that men like Smith carried. In 1866, collector W. Andrew Boyd wrote to Smith, asking for his autograph and something by which he could remember Clarkson as well. Smith responded with this note and a lock of hair from Clarkson, which Clarkson himself had sent to Smith at his request. Note Signed, "For W. Andrew Boyd, The immortal Thomas Clarkson sent locks of his hair to me. Attached to this paper is a single hair from one of those locks. Gerrit Smith. Peterboro June 22, 1866." The strand of hair is still present. A touching connection between these two great abolitionists; we have never seen anything like it before. Acquired from the descendants of the collector, this piece has never before been offered for sale. $1,800
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President John F. Kennedy Says the U.S. Must “grasp the opportunities and meet the challenges which confront us as a nation and as leaders in the free world.”
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In 1962, Kennedy's greatest economic worry was the country's balance-of-payments. The United States was buying more than it was selling - and the international trade deficit of $5 billion dollars weakened the value of the currency, risked inflation, and gave foreign nations the power to claim their debts in gold. In order to strengthen the currency and ameliorate these problems, Kennedy needed to boost trade. He wanted the authority to negotiate lower tariffs, and he wanted power, too, to compensate American workers whose jobs would be lost to foreign competition. This was the basis of the Trade Expansion Act, introduced in his January State of the Union Message - and which would eventually see passage nine months later. But in May, the issue was far from settled; here the President stumps for the Act, shoring up support as he praises its benefits.
Typed Letter Signed as President, on green White House letterhead, Washington, May 24, 1962. “Thank you for your telegram in support of the trade program which was presented to me at the dinner of the Coordinating Council of Organizations on International Trade Policy last week. I appreciate your interest and that of your State in the enactment of strong new trade legislation which will enable us to grasp the opportunities and meet the challenges which confront us as a nation and as leaders in the free world.” Though the problems - how to expand trade and protect American jobs - were successfully dealt with at the time, they have returned with a vengeance and are harder to solve than ever. $7,000
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William H. Taft Promotes Efforts to Prevent a Future War Through an Internation Organization to Maintain Peace
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Many Americans were greatly concerned by the outbreak of World War I in Europe in August 1914. Almost immediately efforts commenced to form an international organization to contain and respond to violence in the future. Hamilton Holt published an editorial in his New York City weekly magazine the Independent called "The Way to Disarm: A Practical Proposal" on September 28, 1914, which called for an international group to agree upon the arbitration of disputes and to guarantee the territorial integrity of its members by maintaining military forces sufficient to defeat those of any non-member. Soon calls went out to form local societies as well as a national, umbrella organization.
Former President William H. Taft was a primary supporter and leader of this movement. At a convention in Philadelphia's Independence Hall that would occur on June 17, 1915, The League to Enforce Peace would be formed with him as the head. It would work for a league of nations, a world court and mandatory international conciliation. Even before that formation, Taft was actively promoting such an organization.
Typed letter Signed on his letterhead, New Haven, December 13, 1914, to George T. Northen, a prominent Georgia attorney and grandson of Governor William J. Northen. “I have your letter of December 7, and know that you are organizing the Atlanta Peace Society. I sincerely hope that you may make this an effective organization. I believe that at the close of the present war, a movement for the establishment of an arbitral court will have more support than ever before, and such associations as yours can promote an effective movement for this purpose.� Taft was always interested in legal remedies, and went on to become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. $1,500
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Appoints His Wartime Film Kingpin, Lowell Mellett, to Head the Powerful Office of Government Reports
In 1939, President Roosevelt sought to reorganize certain Federal agencies and on July 1 signed the bill entitled President’s Reorganization Plan No. II that authorized him to do so. One crucial aspect of the changes he sought to implement was to bring into the Executive Office of the President the power to control “information concerning the purposes and activities of executive departments and agencies.” That very day he created the Office of Government Reports (OGR) and named as OGR’s director his friend and confidant, Lowell Mellett, who as former editor of the Washington Daily News had media experience. Mellet had been serving as director of the National Emergency Council, which was involved in public reporting and information dissemination. While the duties of the OGR ostensively included central press-clipping services, public inquiry offices, public-opinion reporting, and the reporting on Washington-field administrative problems, it was also designed to manage and even institutionalize activities that would mold public opinion. Opponents considered establishing OGR as tantamount to setting up a propaganda ministry.
Despite criticism, on September 8, 1939, FDR issued an executive order “There shall be within the Executive Office of the President the following principal divisions, namely: (1) The White House Office, (2) the Office of Management and Budget, (3) the National Resources Planning Board, (4) the Office of Government Reports...” The work of the new office commenced though Congress would not vote a permanent appropriation for the OGR until 1941.
Typed Memorandum Signed on White House letterhead, Washington, July 1, 1939, appointing Mellet head of the OGR. “The National Emergency Council having been abolished as of June 30, 1939, in accordance with the provisions of reorganization plan II, approved by Public Resolution No. 20, 76th Congress...and its functions...transferred to the Executive Office of the President, you are hereby appointed Director of the Office of Government Reports, a part of the Executive Office of the President. In the performance of such duties and functions you are hereby authorized to make expenditures in accordance with the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939 and to appoint such personnel as may be necessary and to perform such other supervisory duties as are necessary to carry on the functions of the Office of Government Reports.” The handwriting filling in the OGR name is Roosevelt’s.
Also included to a Typed Memorandum Signed “F.D.R.” on White House letterhead, Washington, no date but late 1930s, to Mellett as National Emergency Council head, asking “Can you obtain any information from your State Directors concerning the questions raised by the Acting Director of the Budget?” We obtained both of the memoranda from Mellett’s family; they have never before been offered for sale.
The activities of the OGR were greatly expanded after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but in 1942 it was merged into the Office of War Information. At that point Mellett was appointed head of the Bureau of Motion Pictures within that new office and sent to Hollywood. There he would serve as the liaison officer of the Federal Government with the motion-picture industry, and clear films, plan government motion-picture production and distribution, and consult with and advise motion-picture producers of ways and means in which they could most usefully serve the war effort. He was, in effect, the motion picture kingpin throughout the war. Mellett also holds the odd distinction of participating in the first private Presidential conversation ever to be recorded on an Oval Office taping system - a 1940 discussion of Roosevelt's re-election campaign. $3,800
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Editing His Father's Memoirs, Robert E. Lee Welcomes a Copy of a Controversial Version of the Federalist Papers
Robert E. Lee's father was Henry "Light-horse Harry" Lee, who earned that title with his horsemanship during the Revolutionary War, where he fought at Guilford Court House and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Later, he would serve as a delegate to the Continental Congress, Congressman, and Governor of Virginia, and would accompany Washington to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. He also supported the ratification of the Constitution.
During the Civil War, Southerners spoke openly about a shared heritage and shared struggles with the Founders, and felt that they, and not Northerners, were the Founder's heirs. Many Southerners, like Lee, could trace their roots back to the men who fought for independence from the British.
In 1867, Robert E. Lee sat down to edit the memoirs of his father and treated first and foremost his military career and advocacy of a national government, a topic of potential controversy in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. This is particularly so given Lee's own stature as symbol of the Confederacy .
In a letter to his older brother, dated March 19, 1867, he spells out the goals of this effort. "In the biography of our father, in speaking of the men who were distinguished in advocating the adoption of the Federal Constitution & the election of President Washington & of their sentiments of the duty they owed to the state & Ind Governments etc, it is stated Mr Madison's authorship of the Virginia resolutions of 98 & 99 leaves no doubt of his views on the subject, but Gov Lee zealously approved them etc…. I do not wish to revive any partizan feelings or to incite party criticism against the book or to stir up sectional animosity - I would rather allay such feelings & cause the memoirs to be kindly welcomed, rather than be angrily recd. I do not think it is the proper vehicle by which to disseminate political opinions or to discuss controversial questions, & therefore think it best to say no more than to express our father's sentiments on the occasion & to explain his cause… I am daily expecting from Henry B. Dawson of Morrisania N.Y. Editor of the Historical Magazine in relation to Antguilus' History & Biography his volume on the capture of Stoney point, & if it contains what I am told it does, will rewrite the account of that battle."
Dawson was not only the Magazine's editor, he was the 1864 author of an edition of the Federalist widely lauded in the South and condemned in the North, including by the descendants of Federalist co-author John Jay. In it, Dawson ignored later edits by the authors, among them John Jay, and published the original essays as they appeared for the first time. As the New York Times wrote, "We must, however, protest against Mr. DAWSON's dictum, that the authors of the work had no right to revise or correct it."
In this letter from Robert E. Lee, in the midst of his editing of his father's memoirs, he receives not only the works he was awaiting on his father's exploits, but also a copy of this version of the Federalist. Autograph Letter Signed, Lexington, VA, April 22, 1867, to Henry B. Dawson. "My dear sir, I received by the stage Saturday inst. the package of books which you advise me in the 9th ult. you had sent me. It arrived in good order and the books were wholly uninjured, but I do not know how the delay occurred. I hope you received my letter of the 10th inst. explaining why I had not previously replied to you. I am very much obliged for all the books. The copy of the Federalist will be very useful, as mine has been lost. Wish you great success, I am very truly yours, RE Lee." This letter relating Lee to the Founders, his own father, and a Constitutional view of the Federal period is ex Sang Collection. $6,500
An inscribed signature obtained at that time on Kennedy’s very uncommon notepaper, “From the Desk of John F. Kennedy,” reading “To the Castiglias, Best Wishes, John Kennedy.” We obtained this directly from the Castiglia descendants, and it has never before been offered for sale. $3,000
Note to Banker Stephen Girard, Endorsed by Him on 27 AthePromissary Verso
Stephen Girard was a banker who personally saved the U.S. government from financial collapse during the War of 1812, and became one of the wealthiest men in America, estimated to have been the fourth richest American of all time based on the ratio of his fortune to contemporary GDP. Childless, he devoted much of his fortune to philanthropy, particularly the education and welfare of orphans. John Claxton owned a book shop in Philadelphia, and apparently needed the then substantial amount of $2250, likely for the purchase of inventory or a shop location.
A promissary note from Claxton to Girard, Philadelphia, August 27, 1811, stating “Six months after date, I promise to pay Stephen Girard or to order without defalcation Twenty two hundred fifty dollars, value received.” The note is endorsed by Girard on the verso. The debt must have been paid in full, as the Claxton signature is cancelled. Very slightly trimmed on the left margin. $800
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Jim Castiglia was a football fullback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles. He also played for the Baltimore Colts of the All America Football Conference, and even put in a stint as a baseball player with the Philadelphia Athletics. Later he was president of the Washington DC Touchdown Club. In 1961 the Touchdown Club decided to make President Kennedy an honorary member, and representatives were invited to the White House where they met the President and presented him with the honorary membership. A photograph of that meeting showing Castiglia standing to the left of the President is on the Kennedy Library website.
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An Inscribed Signature of John F. Kennedy as President, Signed in the Oval Office for Football Player Jim Castiglia
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Winston Churchill Amidst the Blitz in 1940:
We must “Labour and strive and achieve, with no thought of obstacles and no heed of difficulties. Only if we devote our lives and our energies wholly to the tasks of war can we survive the ordeal and gain the victory, which will save our people from intolerable servitude.”
He labels this the “hour of supreme crisis,” which will require ”stern resolve” and “a sacrifice of personal interest” He famously writes, this is “the front line of freedom”
Churchill was named Prime Minister in May 1940, after the Nazi juggernaut had overwhelmed Poland and then smashed into Denmark and Norway, followed shortly by invasions of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. From that moment his life and career became one with Britain’s story and its survival. Churchill’s task was to inspire resistance at all costs, to organize the defense of the island, and to make it the bastion for an eventual return to the continent of Europe. To do this, he needed to breathe a new spirit into the government and a new resolve into the people. His magnificent oratory, his immense confidence, and his stubborn refusal to accept anything but total victory, did just that, and rallied the nation, particularly during the dark days in 1940 and 1941 before the United States entered the war. The speeches he made in accomplishing this are classics and among the most moving and important ever written in the English language. From his first blunt talk to the House of Commons on May 13, 1940, in which he warned “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”; to his pledge to resist - “We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!”; to his memorable plea for strength and courage - “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour”; his words effectively inspired the people and led ultimately to victory over Nazi tyranny.
France fell in June 1940, and from July to September 1940 all waited tensely for the expected German invasion of Britain to begin, as the Battle of Britain was fought to secure air supremacy and the skies above the south of England became the scene of battles between German and British fighter planes. By September it was clear that the RAF had denied the Luftwaffe the control the Germans needed to cross the English Channel, and the Nazi leaders decided to concentrate instead on bombing cities to pound the British people into submission. On September 7, 348 German bombers escorted by 617 fighters pounded London all afternoon until 6:00 PM. Two hours later, guided by the fires set by the first assault, a second group of raiders commenced another attack that lasted until 4:30 the following morning. For months in succession the cities of Britain suffered night after night of air terror, and while the cities were being destroyed the people sought safety in air raid shelters, and in London, in Underground (subway) stations. Typically there were 100 to 200 bombers dropping around 200 tons of high explosive and 300 incendiaries a day, although there were raids with 300 and 400 planes with more than double the amount of bombs dropped. This bombing of the civilian population came to be known as the Blitz.
Air raids threatened the people, their government and hallowed monuments. On September 13 Buckingham Palace was hit, on the night of September 24 an incendiary was dropped on Downing Street, on October 8 it was the War Office, on October 10 two unexploded bombs hit Horse Guards Parade. By then some 250,000 people were homeless. On the evening of October 14, Winston and Clementine Churchill were being served dinner in the Garden Rooms at No. 10 when several heavy detonations were heard close by. Several minutes later a high explosive bomb hit the Treasury Gardens, yards away. Three civil servants in the Treasury were killed and Treasury Building offices were destroyed. The blast rocked Downing Street. Although the Churchills were unharmed, No 10’s upstairs kitchen and pantry were wrecked, a large plate glass window was shattered and the State Drawing Rooms, Pillared
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Drawing Room and Sloane Dining Rooms were damaged. At the same time occurred one of the saddest moments of the Blitz, as a bomb penetrated the road and exploded in the Balham Underground station (which was being used as a shelter) killing 68 people. A bus travelling in black-out conditions then fell into the bomb crater. On October 20, for his security, Churchill and his government moved to the underground cabinet war rooms.
At the start of the war, Britain imported 70% of its food to feed its 50 million residents. It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans to sink shipping bound for Britain with not merely weaponry, but food, hoping to potentially starve the nation into submission. To deal with sometimes extreme shortages, the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. There were farmers in Britain, and encouraging them to produce as much as possible at as little price as feasible was an important interest of the British government. Churchill himself took a hand in the matter, and when Tom Peacock, the president of the National Farmer's Union, wrote him expressing his concerns, he received the following famous letter.
Typed Letter Signed, on Prime Minister’s letterhead, 3 pages, London, 14th October 1940, the very day of the bombings mentioned above, to Peacock. The letter reads like one of his inspirational speeches with which he rallied the nation. "...I need not tell you that the food production of our country is, at this hour of supreme crises, one of the vital factors in our ability to resist and overcome a formidable enemy. We rely on the farmers...I know that we can do this with complete confidence in their toil, their ingenuity and their readiness to accept hardship in a grave emergency affecting all our people...They take their place in a general plan to meet the exceptional needs of the War. In some cases they may impose burdens; in others there may even be a call to sacrifice of personal interest...And I know that it would be answered by a stern resolve to make the best of the expedients at hand, to labour and strive and achieve, with no thought of obstacles and no heed of difficulties. Only if we devote our lives and our energies wholly to the tasks of war can we survive the ordeal and gain the victory, which will save our people from intolerable servitude. And in this service, the farming community, the home through the centuries of bold and independent men, is called to play a vital part. Today the farms of Britain are the front line of freedom." Very unusually, the original, postmarked envelope is still present. This letter is one of only a handful of war date Churchill letters containing his resounding and moving phraseology that we have had over the decades, and just the second from the Blitz.
Churchill’s phrase that Britain, and specifically its farmers, are on “the front line of freedom,” was quickly published and became a byword for Britain and its farms. The definitive book on the subject uses the phrase in its title - “The Front Line of Freedom: British Farming in the Second World War.” $26,500
The results of German bombing on October 14, 1940, the day this letter was written.
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The Official Ratification Authorization For the Convention Implementing the Alliance Between Great Britain and Sweden in the Third Coalition Against Napoleon
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Although technically at peace after the Treaty of Amiens on March 25, 1802), neither the French nor British expected that peace to last. Napoleon assembled an invasion force meant to strike at Britain and gathered it around six camps in Northern France, and in early 1803 he interposed himself in Germany and Switzerland. Seeing his intentions and consolidation of power on the European Continent, in May 1803 Britain responded by declaring war on France. At this time other nations remained neutral, while British Prime Minister William Pitt spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France. After the execution of aristocrat Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé in 1804 on trumped up charges turned ruling elites against France, Sweden broke diplomatic ties with France and concluded a convention in December 1804 allowing the British to use Swedish Pomerania (now a part of northern Germany) as a military base against France, in exchange for payments. This action would lead to the creation of the Third Coalition.
Then, on March 17, 1805, Napoleon declared himself King of Italy. This meant that France and its allies held sway in most of the territory from the Spanish-Portuguese border on the west to Sicily in the south to the eastern German border in the east and the English Channel in the north. By July Russia and Austria had allied themselves with Britain. All eyes turned to Sweden. On August 9, 1805, after Russia promised Sweden that 40,000 men would come to the aid of that country if it was threatened by French forces, Sweden joined the coalition. However, implementation of the details was left to be negotiated by diplomats Henry Pierrepoint for Britain and Baron De Toll for Sweden. On August 31, a Convention with two instruments was signed whose chief provisions provided: * The military assistance treaty of December 1804 was renewed and British privileges granted by Sweden continued; * The British agreed to subsidize Sweden for its expenses in the war; and * The Swedes agreed to allow Russian troop on their territory; and
The Convention next had to be ratified, which in Britain was a three step process. First a copy of the entire Official Convention text was prepared. This was done. Second, at the end of that was appended a Ratification Statement. In this case, the combined total for both was 20 manuscript pages, all in French or Latin, with the Ratification Statement in Latin reading: “We having seen and considered the Articles...attached....We have approved, ratified, accepted and confirmed these presents...and have caused to be affixed thereto the Great Seal of the United Kingdom...” These two sections together constituted the official ratification copy, to be submitted to and approved by the King. Third, to enable and empower the government to ratify, it was necessary for the Great Seal of the Realm to be affixed to it, and under the British Constitution, the Seal could only be legally affixed with the written authorization and order of the Sovereign. This would be the operative signature for the ratification.
Document Signed, in English, Weymouth, England, September 30, 1805, being the official authorization and instruction to ratify the Treaty, signed by the King George III as “George R”, which document is attached to the official ratification copy. “Our Will and Pleasure is that you forthwith cause the Great Seal of the United Kingdom...to be affixed...to an Instrument bearing date with these presents (copies whereof are hereunto annexed) containing our ratification...of a Convention concluded between us and our Good Brother the King of Sweden, and signed at Helsingborgh on the 31st of August last... And for so doing this shall be your Warrant...” The document is countersigned by Earl Mulgrave, Foreign Minister. By the time this document was ratified hostilities had opened. Having abandoned his plans to invade England, Napoleon rushed towards southern Germany and confined the Austrian Army in Ulm, which surrendered on October 17. The French then took Vienna without resistance. The decisive meeting of the armies took place at Austerlitz on December 2; there the Austro-Russians were completely routed. As for Sweden, its position in Pomerania became untenable and the province was evacuated and left for the French to occupy. A fourth coalition would be formed in 1806 to continue the war. $7,500
The 1972 Yearbook of Homestead High School, the year he graduated, with his senior photograph
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30 Steve Jobs: Portrait of the Visionary As A Young Man
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Steve Jobs was a master innovator, inventor, business genius and visionary who revolutionized and defined the worlds of computing, recorded music and communications. Of course he ended up building one of the world’s greatest companies, but the enthusiasms that made the Apple story possible were built way before. As Steve was growing up, he became increasingly curious about the world of electronics that filled his neighbors’ garages. His father introduced him to Heathkits, which fascinated him. When he attended Homestead High School in Cupertino, California, he enrolled in a popular electronics club. A teacher later recalled one time when his pupil Jobs called up William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, to get spare parts for his homework. Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurial skills showed up early in his life indeed. At Homestead, Jobs befriended Bill Fernandez, a neighbor who shared his interests in electronics. It was Bill who first introduced him to another computer whiz kid, an older guy named Stephen Wozniak. The rest is history. The 1972 Yearbook of Homestead High School, the year Jobs graduated and went into the world, with his picture in with the seniors. We obtained this directly from one of Jobs’ classmates. $1,300
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William Westmoreland Thanks the White House For 31 General Appointing Him to Command the U.S. War Effort in Vietnam
“This is a most complex situation,” he writes, “and the challenge is beyond dimension.”
On June 20, 1964, General William C.Westmoreland assumed command of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). For the next four years,Westmoreland engineered the buildup and consolidation of U.S. military forces in South Vietnam.This buildup included the initiation of a war of attrition at the behest of the Johnson administration’s foreign policymakers, and development of one of the largest military logistical support organizations for U.S., Allied, and South Vietnamese forces in history. MACV, under Westmoreland’s command, was the primary U.S. military, and in many respects political, policyformulating and implementing body in South Vietnam. Westmoreland as Commander controlled all army elements, managed the U.S. military advisory and assistance efforts, advised the U.S. ambassador, and oversaw many Allied units and agencies in South Vietnam.Throughout his tenure as Commander of MACV, Westmoreland maintained its objective - “to assist the Government of Vietnam [South Vietnam] and its armed forces to defeat externallydirected and supported Communist subversion and aggression and attain an independent South Vietnam functioning in a secure environment” - in the forefront of his operational planning, in discussions with Washington regarding troop force levels and strategy, and in the search for peace and public concensus on the war. In time he became known for highly publicized, positive assessments of U.S. military prospects in Vietnam; he saw himself as responsible for “presentation of sound evidence of progress in Vietnam.” As time went on, the strengthening of Communist combat forces in South Vietnam led to his regular requests for increases in U.S. troop strength, from 16,000 when he arrived to its peak of 535,000 in 1968 when he was promoted to Army Chief of Staff.
General Chester (Ted) Clifton was Westmoreland’s classmate at West Point and then been assigned to the same artillery unit after graduation. By the 1960s they had known each other for almost three decades. In 1964 Clifton, who had served President Kennedy as Senior Military Aide, was now holding the same position with President Lyndon B. Johnson. Thus Clifton was the man in charge of White House liaison with the military. In June 1964 when Johnson decided to appoint Westmoreland to command the American effort in Vietnam, it was Clifton who had the responsibility of providing official notification to Westmoreland, which he did on June 17. Typed Letter Signed on his general’s letterhead, 30 June 1964, to Clifton. “Thank you for your thoughtful note of June 17th inclosing the copies of the nomination announcement and the press conference...Needless to say, this is a most complex situation and the challenge is beyond dimension. Be assured I shall give it my best efforts...” Westmoreland was right to think the challenge beyond dimension. All the lives, money and effort could not, in the end, bring success. $2,500
March 2012
“The North would...become very wary of the slave question if it endangered their appropriations... The expressions in relation to sectional questions, and the admission of states and the veto power, are said by Southern Whigs to mean, that it wants no legislation about negroes, no territorial bills... If so it is something to break the shock of a message which would be very bad if it were not utterly powerless.�
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In the Lead-Up to the Compromise of 1850, Jefferson Davis Criticizes the North As Caring More for Money than Slavery, Strikes at the Wilmot Proviso, Mocks Southern Whigs
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In August, 1847, the governor of Mississippi appointed Davis to the vacancy in the United States Senate caused by the death of Senator Speight, and he took his seat December 5, 1847. He ran for a full term in 1849. At that time, citizens of the northern portion of Mississippi felt that the plum political seats had gone to their fellow citizens in the southern portion, such as Jefferson Davis, and insisted on their share. Jacob Thompson was a Mississippi Congressman from the northern part of the state, and he sought election to the seat Davis held. William R. Cannon was a Mississippi State Legislator who also served as President of the State Democratic Convention. He was a Davis ally; when he died at the age of 54, Davis, U.S. Secretary of War at the time, said, "I lost my best friend." The contest was a heated one, and Thompson wrote Cannon apparently claiming that Davis was not a good Democrat because of his personal relationship with (and supposed support of) Whig President Zachary Taylor. Taylor had also been Davis’ father-in-law, though Sarah Taylor Davis had died some years earlier.
Davis was an important figure in the U.S. Senate during the eventful period of 1849 and 1850, in which the country was violently agitated by the question of slavery and the debates over what became known as the Compromise of 1850. He maintained that the South should be given guarantees of equal position in the territories, of the execution of fugitive slave laws, and of protection against the abolitionists. He vehemently opposed the Compromise and measures that diluted the South’s demands.
Dabney Lipscomb was a protege of John C. Calhoun who moved with his family to Mississippi in 1832. He was elected State Senator from Lowndes County in 1845 and served until his death in 1850. At the time of this letter he was president of the Mississippi State Senate. Here he discusses his credentials as a Democrat, maintains the purity of his principles, slams the North as really caring more about money than the slavery question, strikes at the Wilmot Proviso that would disallow the spread of slavery into the territories, and mocks Southern Whigs for being weak-kneed and toothless.
Autograph Letter Signed as U.S. Senator from Mississippi, four pages, Washington, December 29, 1849, to Lipscomb, in response to Lipscomb’s letter to him.
"I thank you for your kind and interesting letter. The conduct of Mr. Thompson is in keeping with his character, except that in writing to Mr. Cannon he committed himself to an open, honorable man, one in whom he could not expect sordid motives to have an influence. I entirely agree with you as to the policy and I will add propriety of delaying action for any test which it may be wished to apply to me before electing a Senator. I may say after the trials I have undergone that I am sure my democracy will stand any crucible, and I feel that an occasion is all which is necessary to dispel the distrust which any one may feel on that point. There were many who judging me by a standard of their own, anticipated my defection from our party in the last presidential canvass. Had my own aggrandizement been the controlling motive of my political acts, as those persons seemed instinctively to expect, the affection and personal confidence of Genl. Taylor would have led me into the path which they expected me to follow, but having opposed his election, denounced the attempt by a banner without inscription to disorganize our party, and put myself uncompromisingly in opposition to this anti-democratic administration, it is stupid as it is dishonest to attempt to impose on the public the belief that I will hereafter abandon my principles for a subordinate place in an organization with which I would not connect myself when its highest position were open to me, and its prospects as brilliant as they have become gloomy. To one with whom politics is a trade this view would seem to be conclusive; to those whose creed is a part of themselves, who would feel degraded by any office which was obtained at the sacrifice of principle, such speculations never come unbidden. My friends will but do what is due to me and themselves by meeting any wish for further scrutiny into my political course by a proposition to push it to the last extremity, say the Legislature of 1851. I am serving out the remainder of a term, and under any state of case would rather be judged at the end of my tour than the middle of it.
“Before this reaches you, you will have seen the end of the long struggle in the House of Reps. for their speaker. It is less than we could desire as a result, but as much as it was possible to obtain. Our people showed an anxiety for organization in which I did not sympathize. The North would feel the want of legislation... and would have become very wary of the slave question if it endangered their appropriations. It was stated here that in New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere the excitement would soon be manifested by mass meetings, and I hope it might create a public feeling against free soilism as the cause of a failure to organize Congress. The message is as ultra Whig as I ever foretold in 1848 the no party administration would be found. The expressions in relation to sectional
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”
Barnum more than any other person created the concept of popular entertainment and developed to a virtual science methods of satisfying the public. As inventor of the idea of promoting entertainment artists, he was the world’s first impresario. But his interests included the theater, and he produced melodramas, farces, and historical plays, put on by highly regarded actors. He revered Shakespeare and “watered down” Shakespearean plays to make them family entertainment. He even tried to buy Shakespeare’s birth home.
Autograph Quotation Signed, Bridgeport, Conn., August 15, 1874, containing his favorite line from Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”
The last record we can find of a similar Barnum/Shakespeare association piece reaching the market was in 1999. $2,500
March 2012
Barnum, America’s Greatest Showman, Gives His Favorite 33 P.T. Shakespeare Quotation
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questions, and the admission of states and the veto power, are said by Southern Whigs to mean, that it wants no legislation about negroes, no territorial bills and will veto the Wilmot proviso. If so it is something to break the shock of a message which would be very bad if it were not utterly powerless. To recommend to the present Congress a protective tariff and a substitute for the Ind. Treasury implies a total absence of all attention to its ingredients. A motion was made yesterday to repeal the restrictions imposed on the Treasury Dept. in its disbursements for the $5,500 collection of revenue showing the sincerity of Whig professions..."
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P.T. Barnum Mentions Jenny Lind, Whom He Made Into the 34 First Singing Star
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Castle Garden, New York, venue of Lind's first American concerts
Showman Phineas T. Barnum had a circus background and operated an extremely popular museum in New York City, where he was known for exhibiting the diminutive General Tom Thumb. He heard about the singer thrilling Europe, Jenny Lind - “The Swedish Nightingale ”- saw an opportunity, and sent a representative to make an offer to bring her to America. Lind drove a hard bargain with Barnum, demanding that he deposit the equivalent of nearly $200,000 in a London bank as an advance payment before she would come to America. He did so, and when she sailed into New York Harbor in 1850 the city went crazy. A massive crowd of more than 30,000 New Yorkers greeted her ship. Barnum kept up a barrage of press releases, handouts, processions, and ballyhoo of all sorts. Amidst a massive publicity campaign, she traveled all around the country, giving 93 concerts for Barnum and making them both a fortune. This made Barnum the first person to promote a singer or musician as you would an attraction, the first to invent the modern concept of stardom for artists, the first to “make” an audience, and thus the world’s first impresario.
Autograph Note Signed, Bridgeport, Conn., January 29, 1875, telling collector Eugene McClelland “Jenny Lind Goldschmidt’s residence is at Wimbledon, England”. $800
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John Hancock Appoints a Noted State Assemblyman Justice 35 Governor of the Peace
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Timothy Tufts was born in 1735 and resided in Charlestown, Mass. He was a prominent man in public affairs, was frequently chosen moderator of the town meeting, and was a selectman for most of the years between 1780 and 1792. Later he served as representative to the General Court (the Massachusetts assembly). The book “Historic Leaves”, volume 1, April, 1902 - January, 1903, on the Tufts University website, relates that he was always spoken of in the records as “Timothy Tufts, Esquire,” and “His commission as Justice of the Peace, signed by Governor John Hancock, may be still seen hanging in the sitting-room of the old house.”
Document Signed, 18 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches, Boston, February 18, 1782, appointing “Timothy Tufts, Esquire of Charlestown to be one of the Justices to keep the peace in the county of Middlesex...for the term of seven years, if he shall during that time behave while in the same office.” This is the very same document referenced in the 1903 book as having a century ago resided in the Tufts family home. We just recently acquired it from a Tufts descendant, and it has never before been offered for sale. In the years from 1780 to 1785, Hancock served his first term as governor of Massachusetts. Documents from that first term are much less common than those from his second from 1787-1793. $6,000
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Just Months After Taking the Governorship of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson Appoints a Revolutionary War Hero to Guard British Prisoners Taken at the Battle of Saratoga
The document has been filled in by Jefferson himself, and is the only such document that we have ever seen
The surrender of General Burgoyne to General Gates at Saratoga, N.Y. on October 18, 1777, placed nearly 6,000 British and Hessian prisoners of war in the hands of the Continental Congress. According to the terms of their surrender, written in a document entitled the “Convention of Saratoga,” the prisoners were to be marched to Boston and then shipped back to Great Britain. When they arrived at Boston, a dispute arose between the Americans and Burgoyne, and on the 8th of January 1778, Congress resolved to suspend the terms of the Convention and keep the prisoners in custody. Late that year the decision was made to relocate them to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they could be more closely watched and better supplied. The local population was alarmed to have introduced into their presence so many enemy soldiers.
Jefferson urged his fellow citizens to remain calm and willingly serve as hosts to the Convention troops. He engaged personally in erecting barracks for the privates and establishing accommodations for the officers, made arrangements for supplies and was tireless in his endeavors to render the situation of the captives comfortable. He also personally undertook the task of guarding them. This was no easy task. Almost immediately, Virginia faced threats that it had never known during Patrick Henry’s administration. From 1776 to 1779, Virginia had remained largely untouched by enemy operations, except Indian raids on its western frontier. During that same period, the state became a granary, magazine, and arsenal for American armies fighting to the north and south. Jefferson encountered the misfortune that British officials decided to do something about Virginia’s supporting role in the Revolution just as he became governor. In 1779, the British began a series of increasingly destructive raids along the coasts and up the rivers of Virginia. As these incursions grew in size and penetrated ever more deeply into its countryside, Virginia’s economy suffered, and concerns grew that the British would rescue the Convention Army and use it for reinforcements.
Colonel John S. Slaughter was a hero of the Revolutionary War. A contemporary newspaper account on his death recounted his great career in service. "At the age of 16 he shouldered his musket in the cause of his country, and continued between two and three years in the most arduous service. He was one of the feeble band, that at Trenton and Princeton, under the great Washington, rolled back the tide of war which threatened to overwhelm our country. Under the gallant Morgan, he breasted the storm at Saratoga and Stillwater and witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne and his whole army. He was subsequently employed in the militia of his own state, and was a Lieutenant among the troops appointed to guard the British prisoners at the Barracks near Charlottesville, where he continued a considerable time."
Autograph Document Signed, Williamsburg, Virginia, October 8, 1779, being Slaughter's original appointment to guard the Convention Army, with the document filled in by Jefferson himself. “....Know you that from the special trust and confidence which is reposed in your fidelity, courage, activity, and good conduct, our governor, with the advice of the Council of State, doth hereby constitute and appoint you the said John Slaughter a Lieutenant in the regiment of guards to the British Prisoners….” Until seeing this document we were unaware that Jefferson personally made appointments to safeguard the Convention Army, as we'd never seen an example in all our decades in the field. This piece bears the notation of renowned early autograph dealer Thomas Madigan, an uncommon and desirable provenance. $15,000
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The Landmark Discovery of the Original White House Version of the Air Force One Tape of Conversations Immediately After the Kennedy Assassination, Prepared For JFK's Senior Military Aide General Clifton in 1964-5, with Significant New Material
Douglas Horne of the U.S. Government's Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board: "The Clifton version of the Air Force One Tapes yields important information." Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero: “The Raabs have done a great service in discovering this important historical audio tape.�
The discovery of this appeared in national and international news, including spots on Piers Morgan, Brian Williams, Wolf Blitzer, and Charlie Rose, among other major programs and networks Only two originals of this historic tape exist; one in the National Archives and one offered right here The assassination
President Kennedy was murdered while riding in a motorcade in Dallas at 12:30 pm CST on Friday, November 22, 1963. Several photos and films captured the assassination, including the famous Zapruder Film. JFK was rushed to Parkland Hospital, where a tracheotomy and other efforts failed to keep him alive. After he was pronounced dead around 1 pm, his body was flown back to Washington aboard Air Force One, on board which were his wife Jackie and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. Upon landing his body was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where an autopsy was performed, and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday the 25th. Meanwhile, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested around 2 pm at the Texas Theatre in the Oak Cliff suburb of Dallas and charged with murdering a police officer named J.D. Tippit. Protesting that he was "a patsy," Oswald was paraded in front of the world's gathering cameras and accused of murdering President Kennedy as well. He was interrogated throughout the weekend, though no recordings or transcriptions were made. During an intended transfer to county facilities on Sunday morning the 24th, Oswald was shot and killed on live television in the basement of the Dallas Police station. His murderer was a local nightclub owner with alleged connections to organized crime named Jack Ruby. People were stunned by all this and there was a wide-spread call for investigation of the Kennedy assassination and aftermath.
The Warren Commission conducted an investigation in 1964, but its conclusion that Oswald was the murderer and that he acted alone was not accepted by many, and the belief grew that there must have been some conspiracy at the heart of the assassination. This led to widespread allegations of a cover up, and a plethora of theories were proposed about who killed President Kennedy and why. The percentage of Americans who doubted the Warren
There is just a trio of important sources of primary evidentiary material in the Kennedy assassination. Two of these are the evidence created or found in Dallas (such as acoustic evidence, ballistic evidence, and physical findings in the Book Depository), and the medical evidence (such as coroner’s photographs and reports). Essentially everything about these materials is known, and they have been analyzed and reanalyzed. They have not been significantly augmented for decades, and not much can be expected in the way of new discoveries.
The third important source of evidence in the Kennedy assassination are the famous Air Force One tapes, which recorded conversations between that plane, the White House Situation Room, and other places in the immediate wake of the assassination. The matters discussed included the disposition of the President’s body, where it should be taken and how it should be removed from the plane and transported, the details of disagreements about these key facts, plans for where Mrs. Kennedy would be taken, attempts to organize a conversation about the President’s autopsy, mentions of cars, funeral limousines and ambulances, plus innumerable other topics. The tapes also placed the various parties, allowing the public to learn where they were, at what time, and what they were saying. These tapes were released by the Lyndon B. Johnson Library, and they start with an announcer stating: “This tape has been edited and condensed to contain only pertinent information relative to events during 22nd of November, 1963.” So with the only tape available an edited version, and no answer to the questions of who ordered the edits or what had been edited out, the tapes themselves poured fuel on the fire and became a central part of the controversy.
The Discovery of the first Air Force One Assassination tape, not previously known to exist
So the prevailing state of affairs has been that the LBJ tape is the only one that exists, that it was edited from original tapes that are presumed lost or destroyed, and that we would learn nothing else. But sometime between the end of November 1963 and July 1965, JFK's senior military aide Gen. Ted Clifton, who worked with him in the White House, took the raw tape recordings from November 22, 1963 and used them to create an Air Force One Assassination tape that was 2:22 minutes long (much longer than the LBJ Library version later). This is the first identifiable White House version of the tape produced, but it was unknown until now except to Clifton and perhaps an aide. Two originals of this version were made for Clifton. During the Johnson presidency, at some time between the end of 1965 and January 1969 when LBJ left the White House, a different, shorter and edited version was created. This edited version went back to Texas with LBJ (leaving no version in the White House records), and it was given by him to the Johnson Library, where it resides today. In 2011 General Clifton’s effects were disposed of by his heirs, and his two originals of the first Air Force One Assassination recordings were among them. The reappearance of this tape is a major event in the Kennedy assassination case, and makes possible for the first time a complete understanding of the versions of the tapes and their chronology. We had the tapes professionally digitized, so they are now in both digitized and reelto-reel form.
March 2012
The famed Air Force One Tape
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Commission’s conclusion leaped from 39% after that report was issued to 60% in 1967. Congress passed the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which act set up the U.S. Assassination Records Review Board to search for, collect and re-examine for public release assassination-related records held by federal agencies. The Board finished its work in 1998 and issued a final report that did not contain findings on the assassination, but did draw out some data and result in highlighting the important information that was still missing. Douglas Horne wrote a portion of the Board's report, and he specifically cited the need to find a more complete Air Force One tape.
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We have a complete and thorough analysis of this tape and its important key new information available on request, and the entire content is up on our raabcollection.com/kennedy website. Here are just a few new points in the Clifton tape;
*The anxious effort to reach Kennedy’s adversary, General Curtis LeMay; *New names, missing identities; *The disposition of President Kennedy’s body, and the autopsy; *The head of the Secret Service, transporting Kennedy’s body, and bringing the new President to the White House; *The President’s remains; Surgeon General Heaton and Admiral Burkley. The sale of one original Air Force One Assassination tape and donation of the other
In January 2012, one of the two originals was donated go to the National Archives and will forever reside in the Kennedy Assassination Records division, which has a Congressional mandate to collect important history and is the nation’s repository for Kennedy Assassination records. For sale here is the other original tape. The buyer will receive the reel-to-reel, and the high definition digitized copy. It is, and will always be, the sole original in private hands. Price upon request.