University Archives September Sale Results
Wilton, Connecticut - University Archives held its September 18, 2024 auction yesterday. Over the course of seven hours, 544 lots crossed the auction block at breakneck speed. We received thousands of online bids across multiple auction platforms, as well as numerous absentee and phone bids from the United States and overseas. Our industry-topping sell-through rate of 97% went unchallenged despite the large sale size. U.S. Presidential, Science, Space, Military, and Literature yielded the most outstanding returns of the day. Items deaccessioned from the Forbes collection and consigned by the Manuscript Society elicited special interest. Some sale highlights can be found below.
U.S. Presidential / Political
Lot 71 was a Lincoln signed prisoner discharge note dated March 6, 1865 - just five weeks before his assassination - instructing officials to offer a detained man the chance to take an oath resulting in his release. Both Union deserters and ex-Confederates were freed if they pledged allegiance to the Union, according to the terms of Lincoln’s December 8, 1863 executive order. The handsomely presented Lincoln autograph sold for double its low estimate, or $12,500 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 92 was a hardcover copy of G. Gordon Liddy’s 1980 autobiography, Will, signed by eight individuals intimately involved in the Watergate scandal: Jack Anderson, Archibald Cox, John Ehrlichman, Sam Ervin, Leon Jaworski, G. Gordon Liddy, Maurice Stans, and Frank Wills. The signed book with JSA authentication exchanged hands for over ten times the low estimate, or $4,062 including the tip.
Lot 92, Watergate SB
Science
Lot 512 was a 1p typed letter in English signed by Nikola Tesla on August 6, 1895 and addressed to a well-wisher. Tesla wrote in part: “Scientific research, with the special aim of advancing the well-fare of mankind is, in my opinion, the noblest human effort.” Evidently the scientist’s philanthropic sentiments inspired especially aggressive bidding: it sold for $34,375 including the buyer’s premium, or nearly three times the high estimate!
Lot 205 was a 7pp German-language rocket test flight report, dated July 16, 1943, boldly signed by Wernher von Braun, then chief of the Nazi research facility at Peenemünde, as “v. Braun” on the second page. The report includes data from the 28th test flight of the V-2 Aggregat 4 rocket. After emigrating to the United States after World War II, the German rocket scientist worked on NASA Redstone missile and Saturn rocket projects. The von Braun signed report exceeded the high estimate to sell at $16,250 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 205, Wernher von Braun DS
Military
Lot 372 was a letter signed by Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, believed to be the only Gettysburg correspondence of Lee’s in private hands. Lee addressed this July 4, 1863 letter to his enemy, Union General George Meade, inquiring about a wounded and captured Confederate officer of the 42nd Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers, Colonel Hugh Reid Miller. Miller had been gravely injured the previous day during Longstreet’s Assault at the Battle of Cemetery Hill, and Lee was wondering if Meade had any information about Miller’s health or whereabouts. Sadly, Miller died of his wounds at Gettysburg about two weeks after the battle. The Lee signed letter cleared the low estimate and sold for $53,125 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 412 was a World War II-themed group of war-dated communications and ephemera, including two radiograms dated December 7, 1941, one of them reading "AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL." The lot also featured a pigeon message seeking alternative route instructions, sent to Moffett Airfield by “a tired aviator” in September 1943. The lot sold for nearly three times the high estimate, or $17,500 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 412, World War II & Pearl Harbor archive
Art, Literature & Music
Lot 135 was a Marc Chagall presentation copy of an illustrated French-language book, signed, inscribed, and dated by him, and featuring a 2-page original drawing of an angel in colored pencil on the half title page. The Chagall artwork and autograph sold for over double the high estimate, or $9,600 including the buyer’s premium.
Lot 454 was a 3pp autograph letter signed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, dated March 8, 1835 and addressed to a 13-year-old family friend, Lucia Russell. The letter anticipates many ideas that Emerson would explore in his essay Nature, the foundational text of Transcendentalism published the next year. Among these is the necessity of solitude to receive Nature’s clearest and manifold messages. Emerson wrote in part: “…Nature is always talking to you, especially when you are alone.” The Emerson letter capped its high estimate, selling for $16,250 including the tip.
Lot 454, Ralph Waldo Emerson ALS
Lot 304 was a contract for a 1961 performance of “The Judy Garland Show” at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, signed by the singer four times, once as “Judy Garland” and three times initialed as “JG.” In pursuance of the contract, Garland performed 24 songs in front of over 8,000 spectators at a concert on September 13, 1961. The Garland signed contract garnered $1,900 including the buyer’s premium, or more than three times the high estimate.
These were just a few of the exceptional lots in our September auction. Our next sale is scheduled for October 30, 2024. We hope to see you then!