Back

Lion Heart Autographs: Hidden Away for Decades, Two Extraordinary Autograph Collections Are Now Back on the Market

Auction Reports

Auction Name Hidden Away for Decades, Two Extraordinary Autograph Collections Are Now Back on the Market Total Sales (USD) 443,066.25
Auction Date April 28, 2021 - April 28, 2021 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 202,950.00
Sale Number #42821 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 253,575.00
Total Lots 178
Sold Lots 137 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 281,400.00
% of Lots Sold 76.97% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 346,475.00
Unsold Lots 41 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 127.88%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
71 HAMILTON, ALEXANDER.

Unique 1790 Hamilton ALS to Madison Mentioning Jefferson: Only Letter Between the Two Ever to Appear at Auction, and Likely the Only One in Private Hands

 1790 USD 8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 113,850.00
66 FROST, ROBERT.

Frost Pens “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” one of America’s Favorite Poems

 N.d. USD 8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 35,650.00
5 ADAMS, JOHN.

VP John Adams and the War Between France and Britain “What shall I say of the affairs of the World? Silence I believe is wisdom. For heaven’s sake let us Americans be neutral. We can do nothing but mischief by intermeddling with any side”

 1795 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 26,450.00
64 FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN.

Benjamin Franklin Inscribed Flyleaf, Last sold in 1959, from "Constitutions des treize États-Unis de l’Amérique" Printed at his Passy Press

 1783] USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 14,375.00
122 MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN.

"Monty" Autograph Ms to Army After El Alamein Victory

 1942 USD 14,000.00 - 16,000.00 USD 14,375.00
39 CUSTER, GEORGE ARMSTRONG.

George A. Custer and 2X MOH Winning Brother, Thomas, Two Years Before Little Bighorn

 1874 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 13,800.00
34 CLARK, WILLIAM.

Wm. Clark of Lewis & Clark Expedition re: Scalping Knives for American Indians

 1810 USD 1,600.00 - 1,800.00 USD 12,650.00
67 GANDHI, MOHANDAS K.

One of Gandhi’s Most Famous Quotations on Faith “Faith is not a thing to grasp; it is a state to grow to”

 1935 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 11,500.00
172 WASHINGTON, GEORGE.

Washington Sells Land For Former Aide-de-Camp Mercer

 1774 USD 7,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD 10,925.00
49 DICKENS, CHARLES.

Dickens in US: “Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead,” from "The Olde Curiosity Shoppe:" Penned in Pittsburgh during his First U.S. Tour!

 1842 USD 8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 10,637.50
89 JEFFERSON, THOMAS.

Jefferson Invites Jared Sparks, Future Harvard Pres., to Dinner

 1820 USD 3,500.00 - 5,000.00 USD 7,187.50
96 LAFAYETTE, MARQUIS DE.

Lafayette Mourns Death of Pinckney & Monroe's “pecuniary circumstances” and poor health

 1828 USD 2,500.00 - 3,000.00 USD 5,060.00
41 DARWIN, CHARLES.

Unpublished Darwin ALS on Bee Specimens from Africa

 N.y. USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 4,945.00
158 STRASSMANN, FRITZ.

Strassmann, Co-Discoverer of Nuclear Fission, Describes its Detection and the Contributions of Fermi, Hahn, Meitner, Joliot-Curie, and Savi?

 1966 USD 3,200.00 - 3,800.00 USD 4,945.00
112 MAGRITTE, RENE.

Surrealist Rene Magritte Defines “the Art of Painting”

 N.d. USD 4,000.00 - 4,500.00 USD 4,830.00
56 EDISON, THOMAS A.

Edison ALS for “love and affection” Gives Wife Mina their home

 1891 USD 1,200.00 - 1,500.00 USD 4,715.00
60 FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

Extremely Early (1922) ALS from "Great Gatsby" Author F. Scott Fitzgerald Mentioning his First Novel

 1922 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 4,370.00
17 BEN-GURION, DAVID.

Ben-Gurion “right of free access to the Western Wall - the most historic, precious and sacred place for the Jewish people” to Prime Minister Moshe Sharett

 1955 USD 1,500.00 - 1,800.00 USD 4,255.00
90 JEFFERSON, THOMAS.

Signed by Pres. Jefferson and Sec. of State Madison

 1807 USD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 USD 4,025.00
73 HANCOCK, JOHN.

Hancock's Stunning “John Hancock” Signature on 1782 DS

 1785 USD 2,500.00 - 3,000.00 USD 3,910.00
26 BROWN, ROBERT.

Discoverer of “Brownian Motion” Writes to Darwin’s Mentor Recommending a Candidate for the First Curatorship of Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden

 1845 USD 1,300.00 - 1,500.00 USD 3,795.00
170 WAGNER, RICHARD.

Wagner Authorizes Italian "Tristan and Isolde" Publishing and Performance Rights

 1868 USD 3,500.00 - 4,000.00 USD 3,450.00
105 [LINDBERGH, CHARLES A.

Large Cloth Swatch from Lindbergh’s Plane “Spirit of St. Louis”

 1927 USD 2,700.00 - 3,000.00 USD 3,335.00
127 PASTEUR, LOUIS.

Pasteur Investigates Connection Between Malaria in Italy & Railroad Construction

 1889 USD 1,600.00 - 1,800.00 USD 3,335.00
104 LEE, ROBERT E.

R. E. Lee Orders Saddle Before Quelling Brown’s Insurrection

 1859 USD 3,000.00 - 3,500.00 USD 3,220.00
  • Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Piccolomini's De La Sfera del Mondo (The Sphere of the World), 1540.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Vellutello's Commentary on Petrarch, With Map, 1525.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Finely Bound Definitive, Illustrated Edition of I Promessi Sposi, 1840.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Rare First Edition of John Milton's Latin Correspondence, 1674.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Giolito's Edition of Boccaccio's The Decamerone, with Bedford Binding, 1542.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of the First Biography of Marie of the Incarnation, with Rare Portrait, 1677.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Aldine Edition of Volume One of Cicero's Orationes, 1540.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Bonanni's Illustrated Costume Catalogue, with Complete Plates, 1711.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: An Important Incunable, the First Italian Edition of Josephus's De Bello Judaico, 1480.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Jacques Philippe d'Orville's Illustrated Book of the Ruins of Sicily, 1764.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: An Incunable from 1487, The Contemplative Life, with Early Manuscript.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Ignatius of Loyola's Exercitia Spiritualia, 1563.
  • Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 546. Christoph Jacob Trew. Plantae selectae, 1750-1773.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 70. Thomas Murner. Die Narren beschwerung. 1558.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 621. Michael Bernhard Valentini. Museum Museorum, 1714.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 545. Sander Reichenbachia. Orchids illustrated and described, 1888-1894.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1018. Marinetti, Boccioni, Pratella Futurism - Comprehensive collection of 35 Futurist manifestos, some of them exceptionally rare. 1909-1933.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 634. August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof. 3 Original Drawings, around 1740.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 671. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1260. Mary Webb. Sarn. 1948. Lucie Weill Art Deco Binding.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 508. Felix Bonfils. 108 large-format photographs of Syria and Palestine.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 967. Dante Aligheri and Salvador Dali. Divina Commedia, 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1303. Regards sur Paris. Braque, Picasso, Masson, 1962.
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: McCarthy (Cormac). Cities of the Plain, N.Y., 1998, First Edn., signed on hf. title; together with Uncorrected Proof and Uncorrected Advance Reading Copies, both signed by the Author. €800 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Stanihurst (Richard). De Rebus in Hibernia Gestis, Libri Quattuor, sm. 4to Antwerp (Christi. Plantium) 1584. First Edn. €525 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Fleischer (Nat.) Jack Dempsey The Idol of Fistiana, An Intimate Narrative, N.Y., 1929, First Edn. Signed on f.e.p. by Rocky Marciano. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Smith - Classical Atlas, Lond., 1820. Bound with, Smiths New General Atlas .. Principal Empires, Kingdoms, & States throughout the World, Lond. 1822. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Rare Auction Catalogues – 1856: Bindon Blood, of Ennis, Co. Clare: Sotheby & Wilkinson. €320 to €450.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: [Mavor (Wm.)] A General Collection of Voyages and Travels from the Discovery of America to the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century, 28 vols. (complete) Lond., 1810. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Mc Carthy (Cormac). Outer Dark, N.Y. (Random House)1968, Signed by Mc Carthy. €250 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Three signed works by Ted Huges - Wodwo, 1967; Crow from the Life and Songs of the Crow, 1970; and Tales from Ovid, 1997. €200 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: The Garden. An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Horticulture in all its Branches, 7 vols. lg. 4to Lond. 1877-1880. With 127 colored plates. €200 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Procter (Richard A.) Saturn and its System: Containing Discussions of The Motion (Real and Apparent)…, Lond. 1865. First Edn. €160 to €220.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: [Ashe] St. George, Lord Bishop of Clogher, A Sermon Preached to the Protestants of Ireland, now in London,... Oct. 23, 1712, London 1712. Second Edn. €130 to €180.
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
Ask Questions