University Archives – Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Americana
Closing August 7 10am EDT
www.universityarchives.com 203-454-0111

WILTON, CONN. — A letter handwritten in German and signed by Albert Einstein from 1937, a two-page letter written and signed by Davy Crockett in 1834 while he was a US Congressman from Tennessee and a two-page letter written and signed by Lee Harvey Oswald to his brother from 1961 are just a few of the expected top performers in University Archives’ online-only rare autographs, manuscripts, books and Americana auction planned for Wednesday, August 7.

The auction will start promptly at 10 am Eastern time. All 572 lots in the catalog are up for viewing and bidding now — on the new and improved University Archives website — www.UniversityArchives.com — as well as Invaluable.com, Auctionzip.com and LiveAuctioneers.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be taken. Items signed by many of history’s brightest luminaries will come up for bid.

“The August 7 auction is bursting with exceptional items from every imaginable collecting category, from US presidential, science and Americana, to world leaders, literature and sports,” said John Reznikoff, president and owner of University Archives. “As in our June sale, our August sale will feature a grouping of unique historical pieces deaccessioned from the prestigious Forbes Collection, as well as a significant number of lots relating to Ronald Reagan.”

The Reagan items include signed and annotated speech drafts, correspondence and photos. Americana collectors will delight in the array of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century political ephemera.

The one-page autograph letter in German signed by Albert Einstein, dated October 9, 1937, and addressed to fellow physicist Cornelius Lanczos features about 100 words in Einstein’s hand as well as around six mathematical formulae. The letter investigating general relativity through tensor calculus has an estimate of $35/50,000.

The two-page autograph letter signed by Davy Crockett, dated April 9, 1834, is addressed to a Maine publisher. In the letter, Crockett is critical of President Andrew Jackson’s executive overreach, writing, “… Jackson shall wield both sword and purse. His will is to be the law of the land” ($18/24,000).

The two-page autograph letter, signed by Lee Harvey Oswald, is dated November 30, 1961. Less than two years before the Kennedy assassination, the letter was drafted while Oswald was self-exiled in the Soviet Union. In a moment of homesickness, Lee asks his older brother Robert to send him an American football and play diagrams so that his Russian friends can learn “a little bit of American sport” ($8/9,000).

A lengthy 19-page speech draft prepared by President Ronald Reagan comprises four pages of holograph notes and 15 pages of heavily corrected and annotated typed notes, circa July 3, 1981. In the draft, Reagan discusses the historical origins of the formation of the Grand Old Party in the 1850s, referencing Abraham Lincoln twice and slavery twice ($7/9,000).

A Schutz-Pass was issued by the “Swedish Schindler”, Royal Swedish Legation Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi concentration and death camps during World War II. The 1944 document extended honorary Swedish citizenship protections to an unmarried Hungarian Jewish girl ($7/8,000).

An album of postal covers and photographs signed by all 12 Enola Gay crew members, 12 of 13 Bockscar and numerous Manhattan Project administrators and scientists, was assembled on the 50th anniversary of the deployment of the atomic bomb ($5/7,000).

A rare albumen photograph of President James A. Garfield delivering his inaugural address at the US Capitol on March 4, 1881, is signed and inscribed by him on the original photo mat just one week after the event. Autographed items during Garfield’s presidency are extremely coveted because he was assassinated a mere six months into his brief term of office ($5/6,000).

A photograph of Babe Ruth with a US Marines one-star general is signed and dedicated by the slugger to the 4th Marine Regiment. The photo is probably World War II-dated and related to fundraising efforts. Ruth participated in various baseball charity events during the war. The 4th Marine Division mobilized in 1943 and fought in the Pacific Theatre ($5/6,000).

A printed military Special Order from New Orleans dated July 21, 1865, is signed by Major General George Armstrong Custer (as “GA Custer / Maj Genl”) ($3/4,000).

The catalog for the sale on the University Archives website: https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-catalog/Rare-Autographs,-Manuscripts,-Books-&-Americana_ZC3S226UO8/

For information, 203-454-0111, or www.universityarchives.com.

BIDDING IS NOW OPEN
Lot 541: Albert Einstein ALS Re: Theory of General Relativity & Rik=0
Lot 521: Davy Crockett ALS Criticizing Pres. Andrew Jackson
Lot 30: Pres. James Garfield Signed Inauguration Photo
Lot 82: Abraham Lincoln Lithograph, Charles Magnus