University Archives is excited to announce its November 10, 2021 sale
University Archives is excited to announce its November 10, 2021 sale. Rare Autographs, Photographs & Books will feature over 390 lots of exceptional historical material from multiple collecting categories, including U.S. Presidents/First Ladies, Revolutionary War, Art, Music, Literature, Entertainment, and Sports. Over 30 lots of the sale are related to the Old West, with many pieces from the personal collection of celebrated Western photographer Jim Tackett.
The November 10th auction index is as follows: American Politics/Supreme Court: Lots 1-32; American Presidents/First Ladies: Lots 33-106; 379-384; Art: Lots 107-118; Aviation/Space: Lots 119-134; Business/Notables: Lots 135-171; Civil Rights/Native American/Slavery: Lots 172-206; Declaration of Independence/Rev War: Lots 207-230; Entertainment/Music/Sports: Lots 231-254; History/Military: Lots 255-331; 360; International/World Leaders: Lots 332-339; Judaica: Lots 340-341; Literature: Lots 342-359; Old West: Lots 361-378; Science: Lots 385-391.
PRESIDENTIAL
Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Roosevelt are just a few of the presidents featured in our November sale. A 1p autograph letter signed by Thomas Jefferson in superb condition touting America’s superiority over Europe to American diplomat William Lee contains stellar content and is sure to interest presidential collectors. John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk signed the appointment of “Robert S. McNamara of Michigan” to serve as the nation’s youngest Secretary of Defense on January 21, 1961. An autograph album compiled by a New York businessman contains 180 signatures of Lincoln administration officials and members of the 37th U.S. Congress, including President Abraham Lincoln and 6 current and future Lincoln cabinet members (Seward, Chase, Welles, Stanton, Smith, and Fessenden). President Zachary Taylor introduces a Louisiana surveyor to Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing in an excessively rare 1p autograph letter signed.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
One of the highlights of this category is a military commission dated January 1, 1776 boldly signed by John Hancock in his role as President of the Continental Congress. The document appointed one Joseph Moses a Captain in William Prescott’s 7th Regiment of Foot, the same company which was counseled “not to fire until you see the whites of the [British soldiers’] eyes” at the Battle of Bunker Hill six months earlier. Another remarkable relic is a Revolutionary War powder horn belonging to 18-year-old minuteman Oliver Buttrick and used at the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775. The horn has an ownership label on vellum at its base and is accompanied by over 50 pages of provenance information available upon request.
OLD WEST
30+ lots document lawlessness and disorderliness in the Wild West. Items range from a law summons personally endorsed by a young Wyatt Earp, to the autographed recollections of an aging Doolin-Dalton Gang outlaw. 21-year-old Wyatt Earp’s first job in law enforcement was as constable of Lamar, Missouri. In May 1870, Earp scrawled over 20 words on the back of a legal summons and signed it as “WS Earp constable.” Former Doolin-Dalton Gang member Emmett Dalton recalled some of his earliest train robberies over 40 years after the Wild Bunch was obliterated at Coffeyville, Kansas and only four months before his own death. Dalton wrote in part, “…the first time ‘Bill’ ‘Doolin’ ever broke the law, was with us…” Hanging Judge Roy Bean endorsed a witness statement describing the arrest of a Langtry, Texas lawbreaker named Royal B. Trent in 1889 as “Sworn to before me Roy Bean." The assortment of fantastic Old West memorabilia also includes photographs of Jesse James’s hideout, snapshots of turn-of-the-century Texas, and postmortem “trophy” photographs of gun-riddled outlaws, ex-Jim Tackett collection.
There are many more items to see in our beautifully illustrated online catalog. We hope you can join us on November 10th!
Browse the Auction Now!
--John Reznikoff