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1. ALBERS, Henri (1866-1926). Signature.
Popular Dutch baritone, a frequent Metropolitan Opera guest who appeared with the Opera Comique in Paris from 1899 to 1926. Thick bold signature in deep brown ink, heavy stock 3½" X 2½" card, n.p., n.y. [1898]. Very good. Slight age toning and small mark at each corner from mounting, but overall a handsome example.
Price: $40.00
2. ANCONA, Mario (1860-1931).
Signature.
This Italian baritone was master of the bel canto style; a popular regular at London's Covent Garden Opera. Bold signature and "Chicago 23/3 1895" in black ink, heavy stock 3¼" X 2¼" card. Very good. Moderately, evenly age toned; tipped to heavy album leaf stock of same size. A lovely example.
Price: $35.00
3. CAPEHART, Homer E. (1897-1979).
Typed Note Signed / Unsigned Typescript.
"The Indiana Neanderthal," this father of the jukebox industry was elected to the Senate from Indiana in 1944, serving until 1963. TNS, 1p, 8" X 10½", Washington, DC, 1957 February 4. Addressed to noted Lincoln and Civil War scholar ARNOLD F. GATES (1914-93). Fine. On "United States Senate" letterhead, Capehart thanks Gates : "It was very thoughtful of you to take note of the resolution which I introduced for myself and 47 other senators seeking to restore full rights of citizenship to Robert E. Lee.... I thought you might appreciate having a copy of the resolution itself, some historical data and the brief remarks I made at the time of introduction...." Usual huge bold signature in black fountain pen. Accompanied by the last mentioned, a 1p mimeographed 8" X 10½" double-spaced typescript of Capehart's remarks, titled "Remarks by Senator Capehart upon Introduction of the Robert E. Lee Resolution." This resolution failed, by the way -- it wasn't until 1978 that Lee's long-misplaced application for restoration of citizenship was discovered and granted.
Price: $75.00
4. CARROLL, Daniel, of Duddington (1764-1849).
Autograph Letter Signed.
NOT Daniel Carroll of Duddington (1707-34) and NOT older cousin Daniel Carroll of Rock creek (1730-96, Continental Congressman and signer of the U.S. Constitution -- whose cousin was Declaration of Independence signer Charles Carroll) -- but of the same aristocratic Maryland family; it was apparently his land, deeded to the federal government, that the U.S. Capitol and much of the surrounding area was built on. ALS, 1p, 8" X 10", Washington, DC, 1823 January 17. Very good. Bit of age toning and spot of foxing, else bold and attractive. Concerns wood Carroll is donating, reading in part: "...if the amo[un]t of the wood doesnt exceed fifteen or twenty cords of wood I agree to give it for the roads, the ballance if any to be paid to me, as [ ? ] the value of the land occupied by the road -- I must be permitted to say that I cannot see any great advantage in this case except to the ferry, certain it is you have roads enough leading to annapolis...." Nicely signed "Danl. Carroll of Dudn." Unusual.
Price: $250.00
5. CARTLAND, Barbara (1901-2000).
Typed Note Signed.
"The Queen of Romance," British romance novelist who supposedly authored 723 novels and could crank one out in seven days; step-grandmother of Princess Diana. TNS, 1p, 5 3/4" X 7 3/4", Hatfield, England, 1984 August 14. Addressed to Richard C. Laade. Near fine. Original folds. Signs something for an admirer, adding, "I am also sending you a list of the books that I have written so that you can see which ones you have not yet read..." -- no small task! Normal huge, flamboyant, illegible signature in vibrant pink fineline. Aforementioned "list" is present, a 24mo (4" X 6") pamphlet titled "Barbara Cartland: Author of over 370 books," no publisher or year cited. Very good. Single vertical mailing crease. A mini-biography with list of her works.
Price: $75.00
6. CHINN, George M. (1902-87).
Signed First Day Cover.
An American historian and author, Chinn's service in the Marines made him an automatic weapons expert, which qualified him to write the definitive 5-volume "The Machine Gun" (1951-87); director of the Kentucky Historical Society (1960-73) and author of pioneer histories. Signed First Day Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled at Frankfort, Kentucky on September 26, 1968 and with "First Day of Issue" noted. Near fine. Single 6-cent "Daniel Boone" stamp at upper right. No decorative cachet at left; no distracting recipient's name/address -- but near the "sweet spot" Chinn signs large and bold in blue ballpoint. Small portion of original transmittal envelope present. Apropos, for as director of the KHS Chinn was, in effect, caretaker of Kentucky's Daniel Boone heritage.
Price: $40.00
7. DAVIS, Noah K. (1830-1910).
Signature and Title.
This long-time professor of moral philosophy at the University of Virginia (1873-1906) authored numerous texts on logic and ethics and served as editor for the influential "Alabama Educational Journal." Large, bold full signature and "Ed. 'Ala. Educational Journal'" on a 6" X 1 3/4" slip (tipped to slightly larger leaf), n.p., n.y. Near fine. A handsome example.
Price: $35.00
8. LEAVITT, Robert Keith (1895-1967).
Typed Letter Signed / Typed Note Signed / Magazine Dummy.
This American writer graduated from Harvard in 1917 and pursued a career as an advertising copywriter and general nonfiction author, penning corporate histories as well as his bestselling "Noah's Ark, New England Yankees and the Endless Quest" (1947) and "The Chip on Grandma's Shoulder" (1954); a long-time Sherlock Holmes buff, he was a co-founder along with Christopher Morley of the famed "Baker Street Irregulars" and author of "The Origins of 221B Worship." TLS and TNS, each 1p, 8½" X 11", Scarsdale, NY, 1958 June 17 and 1963 January 7. Both addressed to noted Lincoln and Civil War scholar ARNOLD F. GATES (1914-93). Very good. In the earlier letter, Leavitt discusses "A friend of mine, Stuart Law," who "has for some time been toying with the idea of starting a Civil War magazine. Probably, part of the Idea stems from the fact that his press prints a classic motor car fan magazine. He went as far as to get up a dummy of the Civil War periodical as he conceived it, in the belief that it should have a considerable popular appeal and a wider-than-you-might-think sale.... I attach Mr. Law's dummy...." The dummy is present, titled "The Blue and the Grey, 1861-1865: Short Stories of an Era." 8vo. Stiff blue and grey decorative wrappers. (Ca. 100pp). Very good. Handsome and professional original pen-and-ink design on this mock-up, covered with thick gauge mylar. Text block consists of printed text swiped from some unknown text just for filler purposes, and contains such items as portions of Stephen Vincent Benet's "John Brown's Body," Lloyd Lewis's "Sherman: Fighting Prophet," Burton J. Hendrick's "Statesmen of the Lost Cause" and other Civil War bits. The second Leavitt letter contains Leavitt's resignation from the Civil War Round Table of New York, of which Gates was long an officer. "During the last couple of years I have been unable to get to any meetings, and it looks as though in the future my activities might become even more restricted...." An attractive pair of letters and a one-of-a-kind magazine dummy -- most unusual.
Price: $125.00
9. MARTIN, Artemas (1835-1918).
Signature.
This influential self-taught mathematician authored mathematical textbooks and also published and edited the "Mathematical Visitor" (1877-94) and "Mathematical Magazine" (1882-1913); after 1885 he was associated with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Handsome large signature in brown ink, heavy stock 3 3/4" X 2¼" card, n.p., n.y. Near fine. Choice, handsome example.
Price: $65.00
10. McCLURE, Alexander K. (1828-1909).
Signature and Salutation.
The powerful, wealthy, influential owner of the noted Chambersburg, Pennsylvania "Franklin Repository," also a politician and state legislator, proved himself crucial in swinging the Pennsylvania vote away from Simon Cameron (whom he despised) and toward Abraham Lincoln at the 1860 Republican National Convention; in 1892 he authored the popular "Abraham Lincoln and Men of War-Times: Some Personal Recollections of War and Politics During the Lincoln Administration." Bold and handsome "Yours truly" and signature in brown ink, heavy stock 3 3/4" X 2¼" card, n.p., n.y. Very good. Faint mild age toning. An attractive example.
Price: $35.00
11. (MINING CLAIM -- NEW MEXICO).
Partly-Printed Autograph Document Signed.
ADS, 1p, 7 3/4" X 12½", Grant County, New Mexico, 1880 January 8. Very good. Some funky sporadic discoloration, else clean, attractive and fully legible. Titled "Mining Location" in a stereotypical Old West gothic typeface, this mining claim is for a "Vein or Deposit of Gold, Silver, Copper bearing ore, or other rock 'in place,'... situated in Silver Flat mining district in the County of Grant and shall be known as the Old Timer Mine...." A precise description of its location near "the Northwest corner of the Volcanoe Mine" follows, and at the conclusion it is signed at lower left by two witnesses (JOHN R. FRASER and JAMES CORBIN) and at lower right by WILLIAM CHAMBERLIN as "Locator." Verso is docketed by the local county clerk. A picturesque piece of Old West mining history.
Price: $175.00
12. (NEW ORLEANS).
Autograph Document.
Partly-printed AD, 1p, 8½" X 6", New Orleans, LA, 1842 July 1. Fine. "Manifest of the Cargo of the Flat Boat No. 47," listing a cargo of bacon and lard and a city tax of $2.34. On the verso is a printed "Extract from an Ordinance passed by the Council of the Second Municipality of New-Orleans, June 21, 1842." Interesting bit of pre-Civil War shipping history.
Price: $45.00
13. PETERSON, Roger Tory (1908-96).
Signed Commemorative Cover.
"The inventory of the modern field guide," an American ornithologist and artist whose seminal "Field Guide to Birds" (1934) revolutionized field guides and went through many editions. Signed Commemorative Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled at Jamestown, New York on October 28, 1978. Near fine. Single 15-cent "Wildlife Conservation" stamp at upper right. A special commemorative cancel accomplished for some reason AFTER Peterson's August 28 birthdate and 70th birthday (1908), reading "Jamestown, New York / Birthplace of / Roger Tory Peterson." No decorative cachet at left; no distracting recipient's name/address -- but Peterson signs bold and large in his usual red marker across the "sweet spot." Quite attractive. With original transmittal envelope.
Price: $75.00
14. PONTES, Crimilda (1927-2000).
Signed First Day Cover.
Award-winning American graphic designer and calligrapher who specialized in book covers and dust jackets, mainly for Yale University Press; a pupil of reknowned calligrapher John Howard Benson, she was a designer for the Smithsonian Institute for 23 years. Signed First Day Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled in Washington, DC on 1968 November 4 and with "First Day of Issue" boldly stamped. Single 6-cent "Chief Joseph" stamp at upper right. Fine. At lower left, in black fineline, Pontes signs handsomely in her lovely calligraphic script. Pontes did the lettering for this stamp. Small portion of original transmittal envelope also present.
Price: $50.00
15. ROCKWELL, Norman (1894-1978).
Signed First Day Cover.
American painter of nostalgic homespun scenes of daily American life, many done for the Saturday Evening Post front cover (1916-63). Signed First Day Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled in Hannibal, Missouri on 1972 October 13 and with "First Day of Issue" boldly stamped. Single 8-cent "Tom Sawyer" stamp at upper right. Fine. Above the postal cancellation -- Rockwell's favored location -- he boldly pens his handsome cursive signature, preceded by "Sincerely." A superb example on an appropriate cover. Small portion of original transmittal envelope also present.
Price: $150.00
16. RODGERS, Richard (1902-79).
Signed Postal Cover.
Popular, prolific, Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer of such Broadway musicals as "Oklahoma" and "South Pacific." Signed Postal Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled in the city of Rodgers' birth (New York, New York) on the day of his birth (June 28), 1972. 5-cent "American Music" stamp and 8-cent U.S. flag stamp at upper right. Fine. Near the center, Rodgers signs boldly in black fineline. NOT a First Day Cover, but a choice signature on an imaginatively-created cover with an appropriate stamp. Accompanied by a folded blank 7¼" X 10¼" sheet of Rodgers' letterhead stationery. Original transmittal envelope also present as well as a modern printed reproduction of Nickolas Muray's fine early portrait of Rodgers with Lorenz Hart.
Price: $100.00
17. SCALI, John (1918-95).
Signed Printed Document.
This ABC news reporter entered diplomacy when he acted as an intermediary during the Cuban Missile Crisis, helping divert a disaster; in 1971 President Nixon named him his foreign affairs advisor; from 1973 to 1975 he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Signed Printed Document, 8" X 10," 7pp (recto and verso; 4 leaves), New York, NY, 1974 December 6. Near fine. Stapled at upper left, as issued; two faint horizontal original folds. Standard mimeographed press release issued by the "United States Delegation to the General Assembly," titled "Statement by Ambassador John Scali... on Strengthening the Role of the United Nations...." In a blank area at top center of the first page, the ambassador boldly pens "with best wishes / from / John Scali" in black fineline. In this speech, Scali deplores "the growing tendency of this Organization to adopt one-sided, unrealistic resolutions that cannot be implemented" as well as "a new threat -- an arbitrary disregard of United Nations Rules, even of its Charter." He goes on to cite numerous instances of both, closing with: "...we must now renew our commitment to the central principles of tolerance and harmony upon which the United Nations charter was built. We must redouble our efforts to use this Organization as the world's ultimate instrument for compromise and negotiation. I pledge my nation to these efforts." Most unusual in this form.
Price: $100.00
18. SLANIA, Czeslaw (1921-2005).
Signed First Day Cover.
Possibly the most famous and certainly the most prolific postage stamp and banknote designer and engraver of all time, with more than 1000 stamps to his credit, this Polish-born Swedish artist accomplished his first postage stamp for Poland in 1951; in 1959 he began designing stamps for Sweden and numerous other countries. Signed First Day Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 1983 March 24 and with "First Day of Issue" boldly stamped -- AND below this cancelled in Stockholm, Sweden on the same date! Single 20-cent "Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between U.S. and Sweden 1783" at upper right and nearly-identical Swedish version of same stamp below. Fine. Slania signs boldly in blue ballpoint at upper left (simply "Slania"), while above his in black fineline is the signature of Swedish designer DAN JONSSON, the stamp's designer. Very uncommon. This stamp was Slania's first U.S. postal issue. A quite uncommon signature. Original transmittal envelope also present.
Price: $95.00
19. THOLLANDER, Earl (1922-2001).
Signed First Day Cover.
This beloved Napa Valley artist is best known for superb pen and ink illustrations of California scenes that filled the "Back Roads of California" series he wrote and illustrated; he also illustrated 32 children's books and 20 cookbooks during his long and varied career. Signed First Day Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled in San Jose, California on September 9, 1977 and with "First Day of Issue" boldly stamped. Single 13-cent "First Civil Settlement Alta California 1777" at upper right. Fine. Thollander has rubberstamped a small image of a log home set among pine trees at lower left, and above this he boldly inscribes and signs in black fineline: "Best Wishes! / Earl / Thollander / Calistoga, California / Oct 1, '77." With original transmittal envelope. Thollander's fine color image of an early California homestead graces this lovely stamp.
Price: $75.00
20. (VICKSBURG, Mississippi -- Early Development). GARLAND, Robert (1801?-1884?).
Autograph Letter Signed.
Early settler (as of 1824) of Vicksburg, Mississippi. ALS, 3pp + integral stampless address leaf, 8¼" X 13½", Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1835 June 24. Addressed to General George Rust (1788-1857), defender of Baltimore during the War of 1812, elected brigadier general in the Virginia militia in 1824; superintendent of the United States Armory at Harper's Ferry (1830-37); noted businessman and farmer with many business interests. Very good. Some age toning along fold lines, else clean and boldly written and extremely legible. Outstanding content in which the cryptic Garland attempts at length to persuade the well-off Rust to speculate in land in the Vicksburg region -- with himself, of course,as his representative. Reads in part: "...my views on the subject of the vast field now open for speculation in vacant lands of the Government, bordering on the Mississippi, and its tributary Streams within the cotton growing region -- The foundation of an immense fortune may be laid for any capitalist who will embark in, and advance some 12 or 15000 dollars in the entry of some of the richest lands which have yet been brought into the public market. Fifteen thousand dollars invested at the Government price of $1.25 cts pr. acre would purchase about 11,500 acres -- This as soon as selected and entered, would be worth $10 pr. acre, which would amount to the sum of $115000 which is the lowest price that could be placed upon lands selected with judgment -- And before the expiration of five years would command double that price. I have resided in this country eleven years, and am well acquainted with a region of as fine cotton lands as have ever been brought into the market. From the avidity with which the lands are sought out, from the swarms from Virginia, and other southern and western States; from the impoverishment of the uplands of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, & South Carolina, and other cotton growing regions; together with the small quantity of Government lands left, adapted to the cultivation of cotton. No doubt can exist that the sale of lands... will in a short time be rapid at from 10 to 20 dollars and upwards." He then goes on about his long experience in surveying and selecting the best lands, noting that "an individual who has [money] vests it in lands, or negroes which by the certain appreciation of the former... in a short time yields ten or twenty times the sum vested, and as to the latter you were enabled to form a pretty correct estimate of the value of their labor when you were here from what you saw and heard....." After continuing along these lines, he finally concludes, "Should you Sir know of any one who would like to amass immense wealth without risk in a short time, please make known my propositions as stake hire...." Absolutely superb content on early Mississippi, cotton growing, land speculation and more.
Price: $450.00
21. WAGNER, Captain Ernest E. (1910-?).
Signed First Day Cover.
This legendary steamboat captain -- one of the last -- commanded the "Delta Queen" when it was the last operating steamboat in the country in the 1960s and served briefly as master of the "Mississippi Queen"; he's remembered for the 1947 fire aboard the "Island Queen" when he saved Captain Jim Baker's life, suffering severe burns himself, and for his role in ensuring the survival of Mississippi steamboats and in mentoring a new generation of steamboat captains. Signed First Day Cover, 6½" X 3½", cancelled in Little Rock, Arkansas on 1 October 1968 and with "First Day of Issue" boldly stamped. Single 6-cent "Arkansas River Navigation" stamp at upper right. Fine. No decorative cachet at left, but this cover bears a special circular "Delta Queen" cancellation at upper left, which notes around its rim, "1926 Steamboat 1970 Cincinnati, Ohio." This cover was never addressed, but bears Wagner's bold, large (5½") signature in blue ballpoint across the "sweet spot." Accompanied by the original transmittal envelope (which likewise bears the Delta Queen cancellation recto and verso) and a 5½" X 3½" color picture postcard of the Delta Queen. Uncommon.
Price: $95.00
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