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New York City’s 1797 Laws and Ordinances—James Kent’s Personal Copy
JAMES KENT,
Signed Copy of Laws and Ordinances, Ordained and Established by the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New-York...Passed and Published the first day of May, 1797, in the eighth year of the Mayoralty of Richard Varick, Esquire. New York: George Forman, 1797. First edition, James Kent’s signed copy with autograph notations to front endpapers. Modern calf. 67 pp., 8⅛ x 4¾ in.
Item #23637.01, $3,500
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Susan B. Anthony Plaster Relief Medallion Copyrighted by Her Sister
SUSAN B. ANTHONY,
Plaster Bas-Relief Medallion by [Sidney H. Morse], June 1897. 7¾ in. round. 3 x 2 in. brass plate on verso with inscription, “Copyright, June 1897, By Mary S Anthony / Endorsed by the Political Equality Club of Rochester, N.Y.”
Item #26052, $3,500
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Julia Ward Howe Autograph Manuscript on Suffrage, Tipped Into Limited Edition Biography
JULIA WARD HOWE,
Autograph Manuscript, n.d. [ca. 1882], tipped into Laura E. Richards and Maude Howe Elliott, Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910, 2 vols. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915. First edition. Two volumes in original cloth-backed boards and the scarce dustwrappers and original slipcase. Copy #438 of 450 copies of the Large-Paper Edition. [x],392,[2]; [x],434,[2] pp.
“I believe in suffrage…. I believe in the great awakening by the womanly soul a conscience which will rise up like a flood, & sweep away the petty & effete prejudices....”
This biography of Julia Ward Howe by two of her daughters, assisted by a third, is illustrated with plates and portraits, including a facsimile manuscript of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It won the 1917 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Special edition, including a page handwritten by Howe on women’s suffrage. Howe refers to her first interest in suffrage “about fourteen years ago.” She helped found the New England Woman Suffrage Association in 1868, so we date it as ca. 1892, 14 years later. But she might consider her interest in suffrage to have started a bit earlier, right around the end of the Civil War.
Item #26018, $3,500
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“John Bull and the Baltimoreans” Lampooning British Defeat at Fort McHenry in Baltimore Following their Earlier Success at Alexandria
[WAR OF 1812]. WILLIAM CHARLES,
Print. John Bull and the Baltimoreans. Satirical engraved aquatint cartoon. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [October, 1814]. 1 p., 12½ x 9 in. Frame: 18¾ x 15 in.
“Mercy! mercy on me. What fellows those Baltimoreans are. After the example of the Alexandrians I thought I had nothing to do but enter the Town and carry off the Booty. And here is nothing but Defeat and Disgrace!!”
A masterpiece of design and composition.
Item #25448, $3,400
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Arthur Ashe’s United Negro College Fund Benefit Silver Bowl Trophy
[ARTHUR ASHE],
United Negro College Fund Silver Bowl, October 1977. Inscribed “UNCF- Arthur Ashe 3rd Annual Tennis Benefit / [sponsor] Burger King Corporation” 8 x 3¾ in.
Item #25681, $3,400
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Masonic Apron, Neck Sash & Medal of U.S. Mint - California Gold Refiner James Booth, with a Lithograph of Him
[JAMES CURTIS BOOTH],
Collection.
Item #23610, $3,000
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Ben-Gurion Calls for a Jerusalem Home for the Bible Society: “every spiritual idea, for it to exist and exert influence, needs a physical structure, too, a central home…”
DAVID BEN-GURION,
Letter Signed to Menasche Elissar. 17 Kislev 5731, December 15, 1970. 1 p., 8½ x 11 in. Form letter on “The World Jewish Bible Society” letterhead. In Hebrew.
Item #20230, $2,950
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Honoring Washington and Quoting His Farewell Address (Drafted by Hamilton)
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
A rare glazed cotton kerchief printed in black bearing a full length portrait of George Washington and a portion of his Farewell Address. Germantown Print Works, c. 1806.
The central image has a full length Standing Portrait of George Washington as President with his sword, after the original painting by Gilbert Stuart painted for William Constable, better known as the “Landsdowne Portrait.” Washington’s portrait is framed by a portion of his farewell address on the left, and his epitaph on the right. The bottom bears three panels, including the Great Seal of the United States, a sailing ship scene labeled “Commercial Union,” and “The British Lion.”
Item #24700, $2,850
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Inventor Thomas A. Edison Responds to His Son’s Note About a Speaking Request
THOMAS A. EDISON,
Autograph Endorsement Initialed, on Charles Edison, Autograph Letter, to Thomas A. Edison, March 3, 1923. 1 p., 5 x 8 in.
Complete Transcript
Mar 3/23
Father –
Oh lookit!!
I suppose they want me on the theory that “a man can always talk best when he aint bothered by facts and information” as Kin Hubbard says.
However “my attainments in the field of electrical engineering” are such as should be the envy of any college president.
[Thomas A. Edison endorsement at top:]
Charlie / you might put you foot in it. / E
Item #26773, $2,500
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Bartholdi Plans for Statue of Liberty Right Arm and Torch Exhibit at 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
FREDERIC-AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI,
Autograph Letter Signed, in French, recipient unknown, June 8, 1876, Philadelphia. On “International Expositions, Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Superior Commission of International Expositions, General Station, Hotel de Cluny, Rue du Sommerard, Paris” letterhead. 2 pp., 5⅛ x 8⅛ in.
Complete Translation
Dear Mademoiselle,
It will give me great pleasure to see my work figured in the respected publication of Mr. Harper. I am thinking of returning to New York on Monday and I will have the pleasure of bringing you, in person, the block and the notes that you asked for.
Would you be so kind to thank Mr. Harper for <2> his appreciation of my work and yourself accept the expression of my most devoted feelings of friendship.
Bartholdi
Philadelphia 8 June 1876
Item #24887, $2,500
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Eleanor Roosevelt Defends Universal Military Training – and 18 year-old Voting Rights
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT,
Typed Letter Signed, to Flora E. Shirah, February 27, 1951. 2 pp., 7¼ x 10¼ in.
“I suppose you can say that anything which is obligatory is in some degree similar to communism or fascism. The only difference here is that we the people, are consulted and it is our representatives through whom we speak… I think you are a trifle emotional when you call 18 year old men, children. I think they should be allowed to vote…. Of course there are inequalities and injustices in any big undertaking.”
“I am sorry if you feel that you can not trust your government…. You can not expect always to have one man who will carry the burdens of the whole democracy and express their thinking for them. Now we have to do it for ourselves.”
“We are not alone in Korea, many nations are represented … but we have to bear the brunt … because we were spared during the last war from war in our own country and therefore today we are the strongest nation in the world.”
“A mothers’ rebellion would certainly be a novel and interesting undertaking because there would be a division even among the mothers. I do not know, nor could I tell you exactly how you could find out how many men in Congress have eighteen year old sons but I am sure there are a great many who have.”
A rich and fascinating letter by one of the twentieth century’s most powerful first ladies.
Item #24793, $2,500
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Harry Hines Woodring Political Archives and Related Material
HARRY WOODRING,
Archive. Featuring a Harris & Ewing photo of Roosevelt at his desk signed and inscribed,“to Helen Woodring (wife) from her friend Franklin D. Roosevelt”. With over 30 official and other photos of Woodring and/or his wife, many being proof copies from Harris & Ewing, five acetate recordings of Woodring including the “Cabinet Series” of the “United States Government Reports” radio series with paperwork, a 1940 letter from General George Marshall, assorted certificates, calling cards, government letterheads, Woodridge family ration books in a leather case, leather jewelry/vanity case with Mrs. Woolridge’s initials and December 25, 1939 date, etc. First half 20th century.
Item #25690.01, $2,000
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Bartholdi Signed Note, on His Calling Card, Fundraising for the Statue of Liberty
STATUE OF LIBERTY,
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. Autograph Note Signed, on his calling card, c. 1878. With Marquis de Rochambeau, Autograph Note Signed, on his calling card, and a calling card for Count Sérurier, during fundraising effort to present Liberty Enlightening the World to the United States. 3 items. 3¾ x 2¼ in.
Item #24842, $1,800
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Lincoln Portrait by Currier & Ives
[ABRAHAM LINCOLN],
Currier & Ives. Lithograph, New York, 1865. In 24 x 29 in. hand-gilt frame.
Item #20323, $1,800
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The Congressional War on Kansas over Slavery and Statehood – 1854 – 1858
[KANSAS],
Collection of 59 printed speeches and government documents. Mostly pamphlets printed in Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1854, 1856 and 1858. Includes President Franklin Pierce, Charles Sumner (who had nearly been killed in the Senate due to his anti-slavery views), Stephen Douglas, Schuyler Colfax, William Seward, Henry Wilson, Thomas Hart Benton, Daniel Clark, John Bingham, A.P. Butler, Erastus Brooks, Josiah J. Evans, Robert M. T. Hunter, and others. Printed pamphlets, speeches, orders, and Senate acts, some with original printed wrappers. Mostly octavo, pagination varies, as does condition.
Item #23739, $1,750
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A Ruff-Necked Hummingbird by Audubon
JOHN JAMES AUDUBON,
Print. Ruff-Necked Hummingbird, [1871].
Best known for his seminal Birds of America, Audubon’s prints are among the world’s most recognized images.
Item #22114.02, $1,750
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The Gettysburg Address
[ABRAHAM LINCOLN],
Book. Includes a foldout map of the planned cemetery and a copy of Lincoln’s dedication. Published in Harrisburg, 1864. Fair condition.
Report of the Select Committee Relative to the Soldier’s National Cemetery, Together with the Accompanying Documents, as Reported to the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, March 31, 1864.
Item #21371, $1,750
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N.Y. “Sons of Freedom” Pull Down Statue of King George III
[Revolutionary War],
Large Engraving, “Pulling Down the Statue of George III, By the Sons of Freedom, At the Bowling Green City of New York July 1776,” 34” x 25,’ uncolored, titled after a painting by Johannes Adam Simon Oertel and engraved by John C. McRae, 1859.
After the Declaration of Independence was read to the Continental Army in New York on July 9, 1776, a boisterous crowd of soldiers, sailors and citizens headed to the huge gilt lead equestrian statue of King George III which had been installed on Bowling Green only six years earlier. The crowd toppled his Majesty, who then made his first Broadway appearance before being carted to Connecticut. The head was rescued by Tory sympathizers, and later spotted in the home of Lord Townshend. The rest of the King and the horse he rode in on was melted down. In a truly epic burn, Ebenezer Hazard remarked that the redcoats “will probably have melted majesty fired at them.” Indeed they did; the sculpture was used to make 42,088 bullets.
Item #24461, $1,600
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Pennsylvania Deputy Governor Urges General Assembly to Resist French Expansion in North America in Early Stages of the French and Indian War
[BENJAMIN FRANKLIN],
Pennsylvania Gazette, October 24, 1754. Newspaper. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall. 6 pp., 9¼ x 14½ in.
This issue of Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette reports the speech of Deputy Governor Morris of Pennsylvania to the General Assembly, urging them to prevent the French and their Native American allies from gaining control of the colony’s western border. The General Assembly responded that they were eager to assist but lacked any “Instructions from the Crown how to conduct ourselves on this important Occasion” and requested a recess until called together again.
Item #22426.07, $1,500
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Harvard’s 1791 Graduating Students and Theses, Dedicated to Governor John Hancock and Lieutenant Governor Samuel Adams
HARVARD COLLEGE,
Broadside. List of Graduating Students and Theses for Disputation. Boston, Massachusetts: Samuel Hall, 1791. 1 p., 18 x 22 in.
Interesting broadside in Latin issued for Harvard University’s 1791 commencement lists Latinized names of 27 graduating students. Among the graduates are New Hampshire Justice John Harris (1769-1845); U.S. Representative Thomas Rice (1768-1854); and Henry Dana Ward (1768-1817), youngest son of General Artemas Ward (1727-1800), who initially commanded the patriot army around Boston in 1775.
Item #24462, $1,500
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