Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2010 Issue
Documents Signed by Historic Personalities from The Raab Collection
Autograph album includes that of obscure Congressman A. Lincoln.
Item 26 is an 1883 letter from former President U.S. Grant to the current President, Chester Arthur. In it, Grant promotes Randolph Keim, who was a reporter during the Civil War who made a habit of speaking highly of Grant, for the position of Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Arthur might seem a logical candidate to be amenable to such an appeal. Grant had appointed him Collector of the Port of New York while he was president, and Arthur was something of a loyal political hack when rewarded with his party's nomination for vice-president in 1880. However, to Arthur's credit, he rose to his position when President Garfield was assassinated and he was elevated to the highest office in the land. Rather than being the epitome of the spoils system, as many assumed, he became a champion of civil service reform. Instead of acquiescing to Grant's request, Arthur appointed a long time employee of the Bureau to its top position instead of the political choice. $4,000.
Item 22 is a wonderful autograph album with the cover title Collection of Auto-Graphs. William R. Thomas. Thomas was a New Yorker who collected autographs in his hometown and in Washington. Most were signed in 1848 or within a short time of that year. He managed to get some of the best. He obtained the signature of the President, who at the time was James K. Polk. He also obtained that of the Secretary of State and future President James Buchanan. Even more significantly, though Thomas could hardly have appreciated it at the time, he got the signature of an obscure one-term congressman from Illinois, the future President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln has penned his customary "A. Lincoln" signature. From the Senate, he obtained the signatures of the three great debaters of the era, now near the ends of their careers, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun. Another giant of the times, Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri has signed, as has Texas' Sam Houston. The eccentric former Vice-President Richard Mentor Johnson has added his name, as has the nation's top general, Winfield Scott. Explorer John C. Fremont and notable Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story are also included. From New York, we find William Seward and Hamilton Fish, both of whom would later serve as Secretary of State, future Confederate General Braxton Bragg, and Manuel Dominguez, a governor of Southern California while it was still part of Mexico. There are many more signatures besides these. $13,000.
On December 14, 1954, Winston Churchill sent a memo to the Queen, recommending an appointment. Churchill has signed the memo, as has the Queen with the initials "E R" and a notation the request was approved. Churchill's request reads, "Sir Winston Churchill, with his humble duty to The Queen, respectfully recommends to Your Majesty that the Reverend John Harrison Duphoy Grinter, B.A., Vicar of Wellington with West Buckland, Vicar of Nynehead and Prebendary of Haselbere in Wells Cathedral, be appointed to the United Benefice of Newark with Coddington in the County of Nottingham and in the Diocese of Southwell on its vacation by the appointment of the Reverend Canon George William Clarkson, M.A., to the Suffragan Bishopric of Pontefract." Huh? What language do they speak in England? Item 36. $5,500.
You may reach The Raab Collection at 800-977-8333. Their website is www.raabcollection.com.
