Back

RR Auction: Fine Autographs and Artifacts Featuring World War II

Auction Reports

Auction Name Fine Autographs and Artifacts Featuring World War II Total Sales (USD) 1,214,707.00
Auction Date June 11, 2025 - June 11, 2025 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 794,600.00
Sale Number #719 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 1,257,600.00
Total Lots 840
Sold Lots 583 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 1,450,800.00
% of Lots Sold 69.40% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 2,209,400.00
Unsold Lots 257 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 54.98%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
368 Karl Donitz

Reich President Karl Donitz Signed German Surrender Negotiation Document Presented to the Allies by Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl (May 6, 1945)

1945 USD 100,000.00 - 200,000.00 USD 166,333.00
367 Alfred Jodl

Alfred Jodl Signed Manuscript Radiotelegram Drafts to Reich President Karl Donitz, on German Surrender Negotiations with Eisenhower: "I see no alternativeaEU"chaos or signature" (May 6, 1945)

1945 USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 75,000.00
704 Stephen King

Stephen King's Personal Notebook from 1985-1986, with (80+) Handwritten Pages of Story Drafts and Early Chapters for The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

1986 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 42,660.00
363 Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower Signed 'Top Secret' SHAEF Message, Announcing Allied Victory in Europe (May 7, 1945)

1945 USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 41,023.00
362 Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower Historic WWII-Dated Typed Letter Signed on D-Day Success, Looking Forward to the "destruction of the Nazi military machine" (June 13, 1944)

1944 USD 20,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 37,809.00
703 F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald Autograph Letter Signed and Handwritten Poem: "She could phone to any Princeton Club / And get a dancing, if alcoholic sub"

1920 USD 20,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD 26,488.00
374

Allied 'Instrument of Surrender' Document to the Japanese at Java (1942), Retained by the Commander of the Texas 'Lost Battalion'

1942 USD 20,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 24,994.00
375

Japan 'Instrument of Surrender' Document Ceding Hong Kong to the British, Signed by Cecil Harcourt and Japanese Military Representatives (September 16, 1945)

1945 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 24,865.00
940 Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and 1931 NY Yankees Signatures in Autograph Album

1931 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 23,544.00
208 Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein Handwritten Scientific Calculations

no date but circa 1950 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 19,899.00
411 Lt. Gen. Thomas Hickey's

Lt. Gen. Thomas Hickey's 20th Century War Archive: WWI, WWII, and Korea, with Typed Letters Signed by Patton (2), Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Nixon (2)

1945 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 19,899.00
369 Erwin Rommel

Erwin Rommel Autograph Letter Signed, One Day After D-Day: "Situation not very encouraging...the superiority in aeroplanes, tanks and ships, is massive" (June 7, 1944)

1944 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 18,761.00
17 James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield Document Signed as President

1881 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 16,251.00
398 Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Hess Nuremberg Trial Document Signed, Summoning a Witness for His Defense Against Charges of "Persecution of Jews," Documenting His Flight to Scotland

1946 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 14,949.00
213 Gilbert

Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory - 'The Most Dangerous Toy in History'

USD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 14,196.00
3 Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson Signed American Philosophical Society Certificate

1792 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 13,753.00
2 John Adams

John Adams Document Signed as President - Ship's Pass for the Brig Thomas

1798 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 12,974.00
782 Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe Signed Photograph by Frank Powolny, Presented to London Shoe Designers Anello & Davide

USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 12,501.00
938 Nile Kinnick

Nile Kinnick Rare Signed Menu - Heisman Trophy Winner and Naval Aviator

1940 USD 2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD 11,891.00
410 Henry J. Renzi's

World War II: Henry J. Renzi's Photographic Archive (700+) as a Coast Guard Cameraman During the European and Pacific Campaigns

1943 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 11,526.00
364

World War II Book Message: Eisenhower's SHAEF Forward Total Ceasefire Order (May 7, 1945): "All offensive operations by Allied Expeditionary Force will cease"

1945 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 10,980.00
701 Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle Signed Photograph from the Oscar Slater Trial - "The final round of a long fight. Justice versus the Powers of Darkness"

1928 USD 8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 10,139.00
715 Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde Autograph Quotation Signed - 'The Garden of Eros'

1882 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 9,983.00
378 Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain World War II-Dated Autograph Letter Signed to Lord Beaverbrook, Four Days Before His Resignation (May 6, 1940): "So many are sounding the defeatist note over a minor set back"

1940 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 9,390.00
784 Monty Python

Monty Python Signed Photograph

USD 2,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 8,659.00
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Ian Fleming. Casino Royale, London, 1953. First edition, first printing. $58,610.
    Sotheby’s: A.A. Milne, Ernest Howard Shepard. Winnie The Pooh, United Kingdom, 1926. First UK edition. $17,580.
    Sotheby’s: Ernest Hemingway. Three Stories And Ten Poems, [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, 1900. First edition. $27,500.
    Sotheby’s: Man Ray. Photographs By Man Ray 1920 Paris 1934, Hartford, 1934. $7,860.
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Pennant. Zoologia Britannica, Augsburg, 1771. $49,125.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!