Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2012 Issue

The American Revolution in Manuscripts from Joe Rubinfine

Manuscripts from the American Revolution.

Manuscripts from the American Revolution.

Joe Rubinfine American Historical Documents has published their List 169. The American Revolution. A Catalog of Manuscripts. Manuscripts by their nature are very rare, usually being one of a kind pieces. However, those pertaining to the American Revolution as a category are hard to come by. They were not produced in particularly large numbers, and their high collectibility took many out of the market a long time ago. A selection such as those offered by Rubinfine is not easy to come by. They range from an occasional soldier's letter all the way to those written by George Washington during the Revolution. Along the way, we find many others from the generals and other officers who commanded the troops, and occasionally one from a political or diplomatic figure. This is a catalogue that will be appreciated by anyone who focuses on the American Revolution. Here are a few samples.

Which American Revolutionary War General is best known today besides George Washington? Sad to say it probably isn't Nathanael Greene, Horatio Gates, or similar noted patriotic leaders of that time. The “honor,” such as it is, undoubtedly belongs to Benedict Arnold. He achieved his notability/notoriety for all the wrong reasons. His name, to Americans, is synonymous with “traitor.” Arnold, at one time a brave though difficult commander for the Americans, turned coat for money, passing vital secrets to the British. He was finally caught as he attempted to turn over West Point to the enemy, just managing to escape behind British lines ahead of capture. Item 5 is a pass signed by Arnold on May 8, 1776, when he was still one of America's loyal military leaders during an unsuccessful attempt to capture Canada. From Montreal, he signs a pass permitting one Josiah Blakely, a trader from New Haven, to proceed to Albany. It was a similar pass that Arnold would issue four years later to British spy John Andre in his unsuccessful attempt to cross American lines that revealed Arnold's treachery. $6,500.

Arnold was seriously injured during the unsuccessful campaign in Quebec, but he could have done worse. Item 19 is a letter from General Horatio Gates, sending General John Thomas his orders to proceed to Quebec to lead the American forces. Gates notes that Washington “sincerely wishes you a Pleasant Journey & all imaginable Health & Success...” Washington clearly had no idea what was going on in Canada. Thomas arrived to find only a small, outnumbered, bedraggled force remaining, with smallpox running rampant. He had no choice but to order a retreat. Not only did he not achieve the wished for “success,” he was not able to maintain his health either. Thomas was stricken with smallpox and died on June 2, 1776, a few weeks after his arrival. $17,500.

Benedict Arnold was certainly guilty of treason, but another American suspected of that crime was Nathan Hale. NO! Not that Nathan Hale. This was the other Nathan Hale, an officer from New Hampshire. This Hale had surrendered his small command of soldiers to an even smaller British detachment. Hale had returned home after being placed on parole by the British after his capture. He was then taken into custody by the Americans. In this letter from 1777, Goose van Schaick, an American officer, writes General Gates, “As the charge against the Colo. is of the highest nature, Viz high Treason I have tho't proper to confine him in the Fort, where he will remain, 'till your further Pleasure is known...” Evidently, Gates must have forgotten about Hale as no further action was taken against him. Ultimately, under the terms of his parole, Hale returned to his British captors and died there three years later. Item 55. $1,500.

Item 42 is another permission slip, sort of an excused absence from his Pennsylvania regiment granted a Lieutenant Wallace. The permission comes from “Lord Stirling,” as General William Alexander was known. It was signed by his 17-year-old volunteer Aid de Camp. It is one of the earlier signed documents available from the the young man. It is signed “Jas. Monroe Aid de Camp.” It was signed in 1778. Just under four decades later, James Monroe would be elected President of the United States, the last of the revolutionary generation to serve in that office. $6,500.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025 Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’sGeek Week2-17 July | New York Sotheby’sGeek Week2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Buzz Aldrin's FLOWN Apollo 11 Crew-Signed NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Cover. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Lunar Surface Flown Mission Emblem Presented to Tom Stafford by John Young. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Albert Einstein. Typed Letter Signed ("A. Einstein."), to Ann Morrisett, Affirming a Pacifist's Right to Self-Defense, March 21, 1952. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Operating and Maintenance Manual for the BINAC Binary Automatic Computer Built for Northrop Aircraft Corporation. Philadelphia, 1949. $30,000 to $50,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Steve Jobs Apple Computer Business Card, c. 1977. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Extensive Chronology of Spacecraft From Apollo to Skylab, Signed by a Member of Every Crewed Apollo Flight and the Commanders of Each Skylab Mission. $5,000 to $8,000.
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  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800

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