The first half of this deaccessioned material was sold at Christie’s in a sale called The Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents, Part One last March 27, 2002, which sold an astounding 99.5% of the lots offered and brought in several record prices on various lots. Broken records include:2
- $3,086,000 – The world record for any American handwritten document -- paid by an anonymous buyer for the autograph manuscript of Abraham Lincoln’s last address as President, delivered in Washington D.C. from the window of the White House on the evening of 11 April 1865;
- $2,096,000 – The world auction record for any letter – paid by an anonymous buyer for a typed letter signed (“A. Einstein”) to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt warning of the potential for “the construction of extremely powerful bombs” through nuclear fission; and
- $424,000 – The world auction record for a Lincoln artifact – paid by an anonymous buyer for the pair of brass opera-glasses carried by the President at Ford’s Theatre at the performance of Our American Cousin on 14 April 1865, the night Lincoln was shot.
The second half of the sale, officially titled The Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents, Part Two, is due to take place on October 9, 2002, also at Christie’s New York. Its contents – digitized photographs of some of which illustrate this article – are stunning, filled with one-of-a-kind material so rare and important as to make this literally one of the most significant Americana sales of our lifetime. This sale, like the first one, consists of a virtual hit-list of unique and previously unobtainable manuscripts and books reflecting high points in American history, most often written in the hand of the authors of that history themselves. And this sale, like the last one, runs the gamut of American Presidents and historical figures from Washington to Bush on down. Even the ably written and fastidiously researched catalogue alone makes for fascinating reading as an American history text.3
2 All figures regarding the prices realized and records broken in The Forbes Collection of Americana Historical Documents, Part One come from Chelsea Scott and Bendetta Roux at the Press Relations Department of Chirstie’s New York. All images of documents used in this article also are used with Christie’s permission and were forwarded to AE Monthly by Ms. Scott. AE Monthly would like to thank Ms. Scott and Ms. Roux for their cooperation in the preparation of this article.
3 The full contents of The Forbes Collection of Americana Historical Documents, Part Two are available on AE’s website in summary for all members and in detail, categorized by subject, for AE’s paid members. In addition, readers can view the sale’s contents by logging onto Christie’s website at www.christies.com. The catalogue was written by Christie’s Manuscript Division and in particular by Chris Coover and Andy Keiser, who deserve credit for their careful work.
