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University Archives: Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, and Books

Auction Reports

Auction Name Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, and Books Total Sales (USD) 804,993.28
Auction Date January 06, 2021 - January 06, 2021 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 577,740.00
Sale Number #10621 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 718,530.00
Total Lots 437
Sold Lots 410 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 823,090.00
% of Lots Sold 93.82% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 1,015,180.00
Unsold Lots 27 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 79.30%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
82 Einstein

Einstein Among the Most Important Letters in Private Hands; His Manuscript On the Theory of Relativity, Hitler and the Nazi’s and an Incredible Statement on his own Modesty, In English 1 page Ready f

April 14, 1944 USD 75,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 100,000.00
385 Adam Smith

Adam Smith Rare 4 p. ALS On The Financial and Moral Responsibility of the Son of Royalty

October 29, 1759 USD 60,000.00 - 70,000.00 USD 50,000.00
417 George Washington

George Washington Superb Letter Re: Battle of Yorktown Giving Thanks for "advantage obtained over the enemy, as it exhibits a noble proof of that ardor & spirit in the allied troops”

October 4, 1781 USD 24,000.00 - 26,000.00 USD 31,250.00
77 Einstein

Einstein on Unified Field Theory, Space, Matter, and Motion - A Superb Letter Signed in Full

September 25, 1954 USD 25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD 28,125.00
419 G. Washington

G. Washington Rare Commission For an Indian Fighter alongside W. H. Harrison, and Lewis and Clark in Legion of the United States.

August 27, 1795 USD 16,000.00 - 18,000.00 USD 21,250.00
418 George Washington

George Washington Requests Three Months’ Pay as Colonel of Virginia Militia, 1754 Extremely Rare this Early

November 18, 1754 USD 12,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD 20,000.00
79 Einstein

Einstein on his "Cult of Personality" Used to Further Jewish Causes

May 6, 1929 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 17,500.00
150 Thomas Jefferson

Great Jefferson Letter to His Cousin on Plantation Business

April 15, 1811 USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 17,500.00
308 Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald Among Finest Known On Trying to Return to the USA: "If I can get the government to drop charges … and get the Russians to let me out…" 3pg. ALS

May 31, 1961 USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 12,500.00
201

"Dallas Morning News" November 23, 1963 Front Page Newspaper Printing Plate!

November 23, 1963 USD 900.00 - 1,000.00 USD 11,875.00
424 James Watt

James Watt ALS Discussing the Grain Millers Opposition to His Albion Mill—Signaling the Start of the Industrial Revolution

September 5, 1784 USD 18,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 11,875.00
192

JFK Assassination Lincoln Continental Hood Ornament Attributed to Have Been on the Presidential Limousine

Ca. 1958-1963 USD 300.00 - 400.00 USD 10,000.00
368 Babe Ruth, L. Gehrig, T. Cobb, H. Heilmann and more

Babe Ruth, L. Gehrig, T. Cobb, H. Heilmann and more Signed HOF Ball! W. Spence LOA

Ca. 1920's USD 6,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 10,000.00
266 President Abraham Lincoln

President Abraham Lincoln Signs Commission for Captain Wounded at Fredericksburg

July 1, 1864 USD 6,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 8,750.00
283 James C. Maxwell

James C. Maxwell Superb ALS

January 5, 1878 USD 500.00 - 600.00 USD 8,750.00
26

Huge Lock of Napoleon's Hair Collected Around 1819, Over 50 Strands!

Ca. 1819 USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 7,500.00
66 Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin Superb Letter About Mentor Charles Lyell

December 26, 1876 USD 6,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 7,500.00
62

Bay of Pigs Gold Veteran Ring, Inscribed 2506, with F.B.M Inside

Ca. 1960s USD 800.00 - 1,000.00 USD 6,875.00
125 A. Hamilton

A. Hamilton Finished His Historic Stint As 1st Sec. of the Treasury, He Moves Back to NY and Eliza Hands Over the Keys

February 18, 1795 USD 3,000.00 - 3,500.00 USD 6,875.00
250 John F. Kennedy, Jr.

John F. Kennedy, Jr. Mass. Driver's License Circa 1981

Ca. 1981 USD 400.00 - 500.00 USD 6,875.00
52 Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill TLS to Botha Re: Black Laborers at the End of WWI

July 1, 1919 USD 3,000.00 - 3,500.00 USD 6,250.00
310 Oswald

Oswald, Superb Russian Content ALS, "…there is a lot of things still to be done"

May 5, 1961 USD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 6,250.00
30 John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth Plays Macbeth at The Boston Museum!

Ca. 1863 USD 2,000.00 - 2,400.00 USD 5,625.00
256 Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Boldly Signed Newsweek Cover, Ca.1965

March 19, 1965 USD 2,000.00 - 24,000.00 USD 5,312.50
78 A. Einstein

A. Einstein Superb Scientific Letter on Planets and Principles of Nature

January 13, 1942 USD 6,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 5,000.00
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
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