University Archives – Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Sports Memorabilia Auction
Bidding is Now Open – Closes October 18 11am EDT
www.universityarchives.com
203-454-0111

WILTON, CONN. — Two items signed by renowned physicist Albert Einstein (a typed letter signed and a signed photograph), a four-page autograph letter from 1794 signed by First Lady Martha Washington mentioning her husband as “the President” and a first edition copy of Black slave and poet Phillis Wheatley’s 1773 book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, are just a few of the many items up for bid in University Archives’ online-only auction planned for Wednesday, October 18.

“Our October auction offers an outstanding opportunity to acquire the exact historical item you are looking for,” said John Reznikoff, president and owner of University Archives. “We have it all, from historical documents, autographed material, rare books, photographs and artwork, to ephemera, relics and sports memorabilia. The sale is particularly strong in US presidential and first families, early America and science.”

Reznikoff added, “We created a subgrouping within the science category inspired by Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, including numerous items related to physics, World War II and the Atomic Age. Items are signed by Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman and Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project.”

A one-page typed letter in English is signed by Albert Einstein dated November 3, 1942, discussing the influence of Johannes Kepler on Einstein’s research into his Special and General Theories of Relativity. Einstein’s hypothesis that light and space curve was based on Kepler’s observations that planetary orbits were elliptical. The letter should command $25/35,000.

A photograph of Albert Einstein taken by Herman Landshoff and later used for the 15-cent US stamp commemorating Einstein’s 100th birthday in 1979 is boldly signed by Einstein ($20/30,000).

Offered will be a double-sided scientific manuscript in the hand of Richard Feynman, illustrating how a computer program can approximate a solution to a differential equation using Runge-Kutta methods ($9/10,000).

First Ladies Martha Washington, Rachel Jackson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan are highlighted in the October sale. A four-page autograph letter signed by First Lady Martha Washington written on February 15, 1794 in Philadelphia, refers to her husband three times, as the “President.” Martha Washington letters are especially rare in the private sector ($20/30,000).

A first edition copy (Stoddard’s Edition 1) of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral is from the personal collection of John C. Shields, a college professor and Wheatley scholar ($20/30,000).

Estimated $20/30,000 is a Dutch land grant signed by Director-General Peter Stuyvesant on April 16, 1654, granting a freehold in what is today’s Manhattan Financial District, just steps away from Wall Street. The land grant, to Cornelis van Ruijven, corresponded to part of a sheep pasture located near the Broad Canal, or “Heere Gracht,” an important trade route and waterway built by free and enslaved Dutch and African laborers in today’s heart of Lower Manhattan.

A check signed by Polish Jewish émigré Haym Salomon, one of the most elusive of all the Founding Fathers, considered by some even more uncommon than Button Gwinnett. Salomon, along with other Patriot financiers, helped fund the Continental Army; he signed this Revolutionary War-dated check promising him 656 livres tournois ($18/20,000).

Right in time for Halloween is a first edition, second issue of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co., 1897), signed and dated by the author as “Bram Stoker / 15 Decr. 1899” on the front loose endpaper ($15/20,000). The literature category also features F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Boris Pasternak, Eugene O’Neill, Charles Dickens and others.

A group of more than 15 documents belonging to Russian diplomat Egor Constantinovich Mussury, circa 1891-1914, includes four diplomatic appointments signed by Czar Nicholas II and two diplomatic appointments signed by King Carlos I of Portugal. The collection, in five languages, charts Mussury’s career in the Russian Imperial foreign service ($7,5/10,000).

The rare autographs, manuscripts, books and sports memorabilia auction will start at 11 am Eastern time. All 430 lots in the catalog are up for viewing and bidding on the University Archives website: www.universityarchives.com, as well as on Invaluable.com, Auctionzip.com and LiveAuctioneers.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted.

For information, 203-454-0111.

Lot 88, Abraham Lincoln Signed Civil War-Dated Endorsement
Lot 396, Albert Einstein Signed “Postage Stamp” Landshoff Portrait
Lot 371, Bram Stoker Signed 1st Ed. Dracula
Lot 212, Phillis Wheatley, 1st Ed. Poems