Rare Book Monthly
Articles - February - 2004 Issue
An Amazing Collection of Autographs<br>And Letters from Steven Raab
Items from Ghandi, Truman, Eisenhower, Chester Arthur, and the 20th Maine.
Skipping ahead a century we find a letter from Dr. Martin Luther King to fellow clergyman Rev. Thomas Kilgore, Jr. This is a particularly interesting piece as it comes at a time when the Civil Rights movement was exploding in the national consciousness, 1961. In it, King talks about “the movement which I am seeking to lead.” Within two years, King would indeed become the unquestioned leader of this movement which would change the face of America. The letter also expresses the theological beliefs that led him to his activist role. He compliments Kilgore by stating “You have not limited your gospel to the realm of personal salvation, but you have extended it to the heights of social salvation, realizing that the gospel always deals with the whole man.” The same could most certainly be said for Dr. King. Item 39. $11,900.
King’s methods for effecting change were learned from the other pre-eminent voice for nonviolence of the 20th century, Mahatma Ghandi. In 1947, he would lead India to independence, but in 1937, when he wrote this letter to an English girl and follower named Shanta, this triumph was still many years off. Shanta had come to India to assist his cause, but now her mother wanted her to return to England. In the letter, Ghandi encourages her return, saying she can serve the cause by informing the British public about what was happening in India. The letter is signed “Bapu,” Hindi for “father,” a name Ghandi’s followers called him by. Item 24. $3,995.
A few of the autographs in this catalogue come from contemporary personalities. Item 4 is a 1987 letter from George H.W. Bush, thanking a supporter for his support and his financial contribution to the campaign. Such letters of gratitude for financial support are not common among political leaders of an earlier era, but sadly are a necessary part of today’s politics. $795. Item 21 is a letter of thanks from Hillary Rodham Clinton to the doctor who assisted in the birth the Clintons’ daughter. Here’s an item whose long-term value could skyrocket if Mrs. Clinton ever becomes president. Item 21. $895.
While most of these letters are from statesmen and political figures, there are a few exceptions. Here’s one from 1960s rock icon Janis Joplin. In this five-page 1965 letter to her boyfriend, the then unknown singer describes her life and dreams in detail. Living at home at the time, she describes testing her parents’ patience with her “wailing” style of singing blasting from her room. “I wish I had fans that thought I was as good as I do,” she laments. Soon enough she would, millions of them, but tragically drugs and her over-the-top lifestyle would lead to her death just five years later. Item 37. $11,900.
Among the other personalities whose autographs can be found in this catalogue are John Adams, Chester Arthur, Louis Brandeis, James Buchanan, Winston Churchill, Grover Cleveland, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Calvin Coolidge, Albert Einstein, John Eliot and John Winthrop, Dwight Eisenhower, Allen Ginsberg, Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison (the president), William Henry Harrison, Ernest Hemingway, Rutherford Hayes, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Johnson, Louis XVI, Chester Nimitz, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, George McClellan, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Harry Truman, Zachary Taylor, Martin Van Buren, Thornton Wilder, Woodrow Wilson, and George Washington.
Steven S. Raab Autographs can be located on the internet at www.RaabAutographs.com, or they may be contacted by telephone at 800-977-8333.
Rare Book Monthly
-
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.