Each year, we handle countless historical treasures, many of them new not only to our clients but also to the scholarly community. These are not always the most expensive pieces we sell; but their discoveries and sales carry special significance. This amounts to working constantly with the various Presidential Papers’ Projects to learn more about them and also notify scholars of their existence. 2015 was no exception. Below are some of the pieces we sold in 2015 that were major historical discoveries.
Abraham Lincoln Secretly Maneuvers to Use His Newly Found Political Influence on the National Stage
Acquired from an institution; Now in a private collection
29-Year-Old George Washington's Original Accounting and Receipt for the Rent of Mount Vernon and Use of Its Slaves For the Years Before He Took Inheritance of the Estate
Now at Mount Vernon
Stephen Hawking at the Dawn of His Great Career: His Original Signed Agreement to Write His First Book, Now a Classic of Cosmology and Astronomy; The only definitively authentic of Hawking known to have reached the market
Now in a private collection
The Original Agreement to Fund the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad, Acquired Directly From the Descendants of the Builder Himself
Now in a private collection
An American Treasure: William Henry Harrison's Original Congressional Gold Medal, Bestowed For His Role in Saving the American Northwest in the War of 1812
Acquired from the Harrison descendants; Now in a private collection
Emily Dickinson on Her Revered Father: He “was always so gallant to his young kinsmen”, and was capable of “great tenderness”; An unpublished three-page letter to her Uncle William, with extremely rare characterizations of her father, whose towering figure dominated her early life
Now in an institutional collection
Marquis de Lafayette: "the era of institutions established on a fair declaration and practice of the Rights of Man is wholly American, and dates from our glorious United States revolution."
Discovered in Europe; Now in a University collection
Gen. George Washington Celebrates the Liberation of the National Capital, Philadelphia, From the British
Now in a private collection
The Opening Act of Camelot: Almost Certainly the First Appointment John F. Kennedy Signed as President, Put Into Operation Upon His Arrival at the Oval Office
Now in a private collection
Theodore Roosevelt's Original Handheld Manuscript Victory Statement to the Press and Nation on Election Night 1898, The Key Moment in His Rise, As His Election As Governor Was Assured
Now in a private collection
Very Uncommon Pardons, the Rarest of the Presidential Document, Signed by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe
Now in private collections
