England. Three years later (this letter was written in 1809), we would be at war with England. Price: $150,000.
Item #17 comes from Aaron Burr. It’s a letter about banking issues, but in it he complains that it took eight days for him to receive a letter because of the poor quality of roads in New York. They still haven’t been fixed and New Yorkers are still complaining. Price: $2,400.
Item #40 contains an argument from unknown authors against a national bank. The writer argues such a bank would be undemocratic and concentrate power in a “monied aristocracy.” Hmm. Price: $400.
Item #53 is a major document, Alexander Hamilton’s first report to Congress as Secretary of the Treasury. In it he outlines his plans for establishing the credit of the nation. The catalogue points out that Hamilton’s controversial proposals start the divisions which in time lead to the development of political parties. Price: $20,000.
Now we get to the fun stuff from Hamilton. Item 61 is a self-defense he is forced to publish when enemies attempt to tie him to financial improprieties of one James Reynolds. Turns out the $1,000 he gave Reynolds was to keep him quiet about the affair Hamilton had with Reynolds’ wife. “The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife.” Things never change. Is Hamilton an improper leader? Depends on what your definition of “is” is. Price: $1,100.
Item #63 is a 1768 broadside attacking the Stamp Act signed by the selectmen of Boston. One of those selectmen’s signatures is unmistakable: John Hancock. Price: $275,000. Evidently the protest is more worthy then the act itself, as item #167, a first printing of the Stamp Act, can be had for $7,500.
Item #180 is an official printing by Congress of the “Assumption Act” of 1790. In it, the federal government assumes the Revolutionary War debts of the states. It is a cornerstone of Hamilton’s economic plan for the new nation, and it is signed, perhaps reluctantly, by Hamilton’s rival, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Price: $100,000.
We skip ahead in time to Item #186, an 1833 letter from then Vice President Martin Van Buren to the Attorney General describing tensions in Congress after passage of the “Force Bill.” South Carolina had attempted to nullify the federal government’s right to collect customs duties at the port of Charleston. The “Force Bill” gave President Andrew Jackson the authority to use the Army to enforce the tariff. South Carolina objected that the duties, designed to protect Northern manufacturing, were raising costs for South Carolinians, and risked retaliatory tariffs in Europe against South Carolina’s exports. Ultimately, South Carolina got little support from its Southern neighbors, avoiding a
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
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’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.