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University Archives: Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books | Total Sales (USD) | 1,065,742.30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Date | May 06, 2026 - May 06, 2026 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) | 921,700.00 |
| Sale Number | #50626 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) | 0.00 |
| Total Lots | 430 | ||
| Sold Lots | 425.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) | 951,700.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 98.84% | High Estimate of All Lots (USD) | 0.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 5 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | Inf% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 216 | Joseph Smith (1805-1844) | The Book of Mormon |
ca. 1830 | USD 220,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 168,750.00 |
| 212 | Frederick Douglass (ca. 1818-1895) | Frederick Douglass Letter on Slavery |
1893 | USD 50,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 68,750.00 |
| 247 | Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan Handwritten Lyrics For "Wiggle Wiggle" |
ca. 1990 | USD 35,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 31,250.00 |
| 227 | Samuel Holten (1738-1816) | Samuel Holten Archive of Correspondence and Other Materials |
ca. 1741-1815 | USD 3,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 22,500.00 |
| 427 | Daniel Boone | Survey and Plat Map for Gaddis Winstone |
1784 | USD 20,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 22,500.00 |
| 244 | Paul McCartney; John Lennon; George Harrison; Ringo Starr | The Beatles Photo Signed on 1st Trip to "Ed Sullivan Show" |
ca. 1963 | USD 15,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 20,000.00 |
| 447 | Albert Einstein (1879-1955) | Albert Einstein Unified Field Theory Manuscript |
n.d. but ca. 1940s | USD 30,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 20,000.00 |
| 214 | Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) | Martin Luther King Jr. Letter |
1963 | USD 18,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 18,750.00 |
| 105 | George Washington (1732-1799) | George Washington Free Frank Signature to Colonel Stephen Moylan |
1780 | USD 15,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 16,250.00 |
| 424 | J.D. Salinger (1919 2010) | Raise High The Roofbeams, Carpenters |
1962 | USD 15,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 15,000.00 |
| 45 | Abraham Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln Check |
1861 | USD 12,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 13,750.00 |
| 233 | July 4, 1776 Receipt for Troop Provisions |
1776 | USD 4,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 13,750.00 | |
| 34 | Thomas Jefferson | Autograph Letter Signed on Agriculture and Literature |
1816 | USD 12,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 12,500.00 |
| 107 | Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) | Woodrow Wilson Signed Letters to Edward N. Hurley |
ca. 1917-1918 | USD 4,500.00 - 0.00 | USD 12,500.00 |
| 196 | Howard Hughes (1905-1976); Howard Hawks (1896-1977) | Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks Caddo Company Contract |
1932 | USD 3,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 12,500.00 |
| 260 | Prince | Prince Handwritten Lyrics For "You're All I Want" |
ca. 1980s | USD 8,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 11,250.00 |
| 303 | James A. Garfield | James A. Garfield Signed CDV w/ Rank of Major General by C.D. Fredericks |
ca. 1863 | USD 3,500.00 - 0.00 | USD 11,250.00 |
| 72 | George Bush; Ronald Reagan; Jimmy Carter; Gerald R. Ford; Richard Nixon | Five Presidents Signed Photograph, Retained and Loved By Jimmy Carter One of a Few From His Estate |
1991 | USD 8,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 10,000.00 |
| 215 | Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) | Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story |
n.d. | USD 4,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 10,000.00 |
| 115 | Salvador Dali (1904-1989) | Salvador Dali Original Signed Artwork in "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali" |
ca. 1943 | USD 1,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 9,600.00 |
| 1 | John Adams (1735-1826) | John Adams Full Clipped Signature Display |
n.d. | USD 3,500.00 - 0.00 | USD 9,375.00 |
| 15 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Dwight D. Eisenhower D-Day Orders |
1944 | USD 5,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 8,960.00 |
| 39 | Inga Arvad | Typed Letter Signed from Inga Arvad to John F. Kennedy |
1943 | USD 4,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 8,750.00 |
| 46 | Abraham Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln Military Commission for Thomas P. Haviland |
1864 | USD 9,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 8,750.00 |
| 333 | Robert E. Lee | Robert E. Lee Signed Farewell Address |
ca. 1865 | USD 10,000.00 - 0.00 | USD 8,750.00 |
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Sotheby’s
Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
25 June – July 7Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000. -
Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000 -
Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.