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.
