University Archives – Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Memorabilia
Closing December 11 10am EDT
www.universityarchives.com 203-454-0111

WILTON, CONN. — It isn’t often that John Dillinger, Marilyn Monroe, Babe Ruth and Abraham Lincoln all meet at the same place at the same time, but that’s exactly what will happen on December 11, when items signed by all four luminaries will come up for bid in University Archives’ Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books auction, at 10 am Eastern time.

A rare, autographed letter signed by America’s public enemy number one John Dillinger, a signed photograph of Albert Einstein, a check signed by Marilyn Monroe during the filming of the movie Some like It Hot, a Star baseball signed on the sweet spot by Babe Ruth in 1927 and an Abraham Lincoln signed Civil War draft call are just a few of the sale’s expected headliners.

“Our last auction of 2024 is perhaps our most impressive sale to date,” University Archives president and owner John Reznikoff said of Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books – Just in Time For The Holidays. He added, “The auction will be a great shopping opportunity. Need holiday gift ideas? Give your friends and loved ones unique historical gifts this holiday season.”

On offer is a two-page autograph letter signed by the outlaw John Dillinger, written from the Allen County Jail in Lima, Ohio on October 1, 1933, just a few days after he was arrested for armed robbery. The letter was addressed to his girlfriend, Mary Longnaker, urging her not to wait for him to get out of prison. Dillinger was busted out of his prison cell a few days later but was shot dead within the year. ($18/25,000).

Sure to be a home run is the Star baseball by Spaulding signed on the sweet spot by Babe Ruth on June 5, 1927, the day he got two hits and a home run in a game against the Detroit Tigers. Ruth dedicated the ball to vaudeville actress Maud Ryan, a fellow entertainer. Ruth supplemented his income in 1927 by starring as a vaudeville performer and silent film star ($10/12,000).

Also notable is a photograph of Albert Einstein wearing his beloved scruffy leather jacket, probably taken by Lotte Jacobi, and signed by him as “A. Einstein, 1947.” The portrait is quite modern in its sensibility, with Einstein staring boldly at the viewer. Einstein presented the signed photo to Derek J. de Solla Price, the noted British physicist and historian of science. ($6/8,000).

Collectors may like a check (#37) signed by Marilyn Monroe dated October 10, 1958, around the time of production of the classic film Some Like It Hot, co-starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. The check, showing Monroe’s large, bold signature, was drawn from the Colonial Trust Company, for $108.55, and made out to Dave Bernstein, “Caterer” ($3/4,000).

Many of the marquee items in the sale come from an exceptionally large and robust array of US Presidential memorabilia. Military commissions, circulars, ship’s passports, land grants, documents, autograph letters and typed letters from Washington to Biden — many of them signed as President — will be offered. There are over a dozen Lincoln lots in the sale.

There will be a draft call signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, requesting the first part of a conscription quota, a levy of 2,406 troops from the Eighteenth District of Pennsylvania. The draft call was one of the first signed by Lincoln and came just a week after the New York Draft Riots. The Union badly needed more soldiers following the Battle of Gettysburg ($15/20,000).

Also, a four-page handwritten autograph letter signed by Charles Dickens, dated May 1, 1855, and addressed to Reverend Whitwell Elwin. In it, Dickens refers to an annual fundraising dinner for the Literary Fund, at which major public and literary figures exhort guests to make generous donations, which is where much of the Fund’s money came from ($2/3,000).

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

Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books – Just In Time For The Holidays!
Lot 84: Abraham Lincoln Signed Draft Call 3 Weeks After Gettysburg
Lot 508: Babe Ruth Signed 1927 Star Spaulding Ball
Lot 466: Albert Einstein Signed Photo Dedicated to Fellow Physicist
Lot 71: JFK Extensively Edited Draft, Why England Slept