November 15, 2012
Live Auction26901 Agoura Road
Suite 150
Calabasas Hills, CA, 91301 USA
Phone: 310-859-7701
Fax: 310-859-3842
Email: Info@profilesinhistory.com
Viewing NotesDear Collector: After 28 years of buying and selling important historical documents and rare books for our worldwide clientele, I have decided to pursue auction as the best way to bring wonderful materials on a regular basis to market as we have done in other fields of collecting. I am pleased to announce Marsha Malinowski, former Senior Vice President of Sotheby's rare book and manuscript department for the past 26 years, has joined Profiles in History to usher in this new era in our business. In addition to being Director of our Book and Manuscript auction department, Marsha will continue to work independently with clients offering appraisal, advisory and media services to private clients, corporations and institutions through Marsha Malinowski Fine Books and Manuscripts, LLC. The items in this auction cover a wide spectrum of collecting interests. With each auction, our goal is to offer significant material that is properly described with reasonable estimates. Should you have items to consign to future sales, please contact us. Enjoy the catalog and I hope you find a wonderful addition for your collection. Good Luck! Joseph Maddalena and the PIH Team
Sale NotesHISTORICAL DOCUMENT AUCTION: LIVE, MAIL, PHONE, FAX, INTERNET
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Lot 1: Adams, John Quincy. Autograph letter signed
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Description: Adams, John Quincy. Autograph letter signed, 1 page, (8 x 10 in.; 203 x 254 mm.) "Washington," 25 May 1820. Written to John Howard March Esq. Consul U.S. Madeira. In his letter, President Adams instructs Mr. March to bill him for goods and services just as he would any other customer. Slight toning and some edge separation. John Quincy Adams insists that he be billed for a gift of hogshead and cask of wine. Adams pens in full: " Dear sir, I have received your obliging letter of 15. March. and the Hogshead and ½ Quarter cask of wine to which it refers, for your kind attention in sending which I pray you to accept my best thanks. I must request you to have the goodness to send me a bill for them, charged at the price, which you would affix to the same articles, to your to regular commercial correspondence in this country, with information to whom it shall be paid for you. This request is founded upon a principle which I have always considered as resulting from the spirit if not the letter of the constitution of the United States. While holding an employment in the public service, I have always felt myself interdicted from the acceptance of any present of value not only from foreign sovereigns but from any other person. As the observance of this practice is necessary to the consciousness of my faithful discharge of my public duties, I shall in paying the bill, receive your compliances with my request as an obligation added to that for which I am indebted to you for this mark of your regard I am with great respect, Dear sir, your very obed.t ser.t John Quincy Adams".
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Lot 2: Adams, John. Autograph document signed ("John Adams") as Vice President
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Description: Adams, John. Autograph document signed ("John Adams") as Vice President, 1 page (8 x 10 in.; 203 x 254 mm.), "Philadelphia," 4 January 1797. Beneath Adams' writing is a secretarial note stating, "The distance from Philad. to Frankfort, Ky. is 790 miles." The document is accompanied with a statement signed by Charles Bunall, Assistant Postmaster General, stating the distance from Philadelphia to Frankfort and the route taken for the delivery so the government could pay the courier. Reinforced at bottom two folds; paperclip stains at upper left. Vice President John Adams accepts the Electoral College votes of Kentucky from the Election of 1796 that saw him become the second President of the United States. Adams writes in full: "Received of Mr. Joseph Davis a packet containing the notes of the Electors of the State of Kentucky for President and Vice President of the United States. Witness my hand John Adams". The election of 1796, which saw John Adams become President and Thomas Jefferson Vice President, was the only election in the nation's history in which the President and Vice President were from two different parties. The particularly acrimonious and close election of 1796 exposed many of the potential flaws in the electoral system and prompted the first Congressional proposal that the President and Vice President be voted for separately by electors. Adams, who won by only three electoral votes, unfortunately found Kentucky's four electoral votes split between the Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. With incumbent President George Washington having refused a third term in office, incumbent Vice President John Adams became the candidate on the Federalist Party ticket with former Governor Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina as the next most popular Federalist. Their opponents were former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson along with Senator Aaron Burr of New York on the Democratic-Republican ticket. At this point, each man from any party ran alone, as the formal position of "running mate" had not yet been established. Although Adams won the presidency, Thomas Jefferson received more electoral votes than Pinckney and was elected Vice President according to the prevailing rules of electoral balloting.
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Lot 3: Adams, John. Letter signed ("John Adams") as President
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Description: Adams, John. Letter signed ("John Adams") as President, 1 page (7 ¾ x 8 in.; 196 x 203 mm.), "Philadelphia, PA," 19 May 1796, written to "the Inhabitants of the town of Hamilton in the State of Massachusetts". Minor foxing with uneven bottom margin. During the spring of 1798, as war with France seems inevitable, President John Adams thanks the townspeople of Hamilton, Massachusetts for their unwavering support of his administration. Adams writes in full: "Gentlemen: This affectionate address from the Inhabitants of Hamilton; their opinion of the patriotism and virtue of the supreme Executive authority of the union, from the beginning of the Government, the decided approbation, of the measures taken, during my administration, their zeal to convince the world, that we are not a divided people; their offer of their property, and lives, to support the hard earned Liberty of their Country; and their confidence, under Heaven, that we shall be able to withstand, the most powerful efforts, and machinations of foreign or domestic enemies, are as honorable to their public spirit, as their earnest prayers for me, are affecting to my feelings, and deserving of my gratitude. John Adams 2nd President of the U. S." Originally a section of Ipswich known as "The Hamlet," Hamilton was incorporated on June 21, 1793. The town was named for then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton - whose tragic death at the hand of Aaron Burr was still another six years away at the time of this letter. Here, President Adams, under increasing pressure both at home and abroad to stop French atrocities towards American merchant ships on the high seas, thanks the townsmen of Hamilton for their support of his administration during this difficult time. In fact, just nine days after the date of this letter, Congress authorized Adams to order commanders of American naval warships to seize any French armed ships interfering with American commercial shipping. Congress also authorized Adams to raise a 10,000 man volunteer army, and passed legislation (on June 13th) suspending commerce with France and its dependencies. The fledgling U.S. seemed to be on an irreversible course towards war with France, its former ally! Through diplomacy and his endorsement of the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, Adams skillfully averted war with France, but at a cost to both the Federalist party and his own administration: the Federalists were not returned to power in the election of 1800, and Adams was not elected to a second term as President.
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Lot 4: Anthony, Susan Brownell. Typed letter signed ("Susan B. Anthony")
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Description: Anthony, Susan Brownell. Typed letter signed ("Susan B. Anthony"), 1 page, (8 x 10 ¾ in.; 203 x 273 mm.) on "National-American Woman Suffrage Association" letterhead, "Rochester, New York," 10 January 1900 to an unnamed correspondent. Tipped to a larger leaf. There is minor paper loss to the bottom right edge and top right corner. Susan B. Anthony - Champion of Women's Rights. Anthony pens in full: "My Dear Sir, -- Enclosed is a petition from the national woman suffrage association of your State, duly signed by its president and secretary, which I wish to ask you to present in the Senate at the earliest opportunity. Since the right of petition is the only political means by which women can speak to Congress, I trust that you will present this appeal from disfranchised constituents with the most earnest request for its careful consideration. Hoping to hear from you favorably, I am, Very sincerely yours, Susan B. Anthony". The battle for women's suffrage lasted more than a century, though its birth as a national movement is generally acknowledged to be 1848 at the Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Beginning with a grass-roots effort in new states, where the first legislative victories were won, the movement soon erupted onto the national scene. The debate, however, was not always civil and enlightened; opponents argued that a sweeping change in the status quo would wipe away the distinctions between the sexes, and that a strong faction of women voters would "thwart" the electoral voice of African-Americans. By 1918, President Woodrow Wilson - faced with numerous protests and hunger strikes - changed his position from a "hands-off" policy of states rights to advocacy of a Constitutional amendment. The suffrage movement culminated with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. A wonderful statement from the leader of the women's suffrage movement - a summation of her life's work and core conviction.
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Lot 5: Arthur, Chester A. Letter signed ("Chester A. Arthur")
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Description: Arthur, Chester A. Letter signed ("Chester A. Arthur"), 1 page (8 x 5 in.; 203 x 127 mm.), on personal crest stationery, "Lexington Ave., Newport," 13 November 1886. The former President writes to "the Architect of the Capitol" concerning a marble bust to be commissioned of his likeness to be displayed in the Senate Chamber. Exhibits some toning and three fold lines. Included is a separate CDV of President Arthur with some edge chipping. Chester A. Arthur requests sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens be assigned to create a marble bust in his likeness for display in the Senate Chamber. Arthur writes in part: "I beg leave to recommend that this undertaking be entrusted to Mr. Augustus St. Gaudens of Newport City. I am very faithfully yours, Chester A. Arthur" This letter regards the commission of a sculptor to fashion a bust of Arthur after a Senate resolution to have likenesses of Vice Presidents installed in the niches of the Senate Chamber. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (March 1, 1848 - August 3, 1907) was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance". Raised in New York City, he traveled to Europe for further training and artistic study, and then returned to major critical success in the design of monuments commemorating heroes of the American Civil War, many of which still stand.
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