Cohasco Inc. – Traditional Mail-Phone Auction of Historical Documents & More
Closing Date: Sept. 17, 2024
http://cohascodpc.com 1-914-476-8500
Yonkers, NY

YONKERS, N.Y. — A document signed by Abraham Lincoln, just two weeks before the crucial 1864 election, will appear in Cohasco’s September 17 auction of manuscripts, Americana and collectibles.

Appointing Charles Adae as “Consul of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, at Cincinnati,” Lincoln hoped that he could replicate his 1860 presidential victory. Without German-American support, Lincoln would not likely have been nominated — and might not have won.

Adae was a key figure among German-Americans in Cincinnati, running a bank bearing his name, and a vital bridge between his compatriots and Lincoln. A modern historian observes, “Lincoln had found the Germans more enthusiastic than all other nationalities in the cause of freedom…That an immigrant population should be the decisive element in a national election was unprecedented…” (Frank Baron, University of Kansas) ($9,5/12,500).

Also appearing: a three-page letter of the teenage Francis Scott Key, telling a humorous story of his encounters with young ladies. “This is the way these pretty-innocent looking creatures talk when by themselves….” Some 14 years before “the rockets’ red glare,” Key implores the recipient to, “burn this letter…” ($900-$1,400).

The first 1776 Connecticut printing of the incendiary Common Sense is said to have paved the way for the Declaration of Independence that July. From the Norwich press of Spooner and Green, it followed the first Philadelphia advertisement for the pamphlet by about three weeks. Signed twice on the cover by a member of the prominent Gere family of Groton, Conn., the 14-million-item database of RareBookHub finds just two other copies of this first edition at auction in the last 150 years (Lacking last leaf) ($23/29,000).

A dramatic broadside for a “copper-colour” runaway enslaved person, 1855, links its stories to an illiterate colonel with 80 enslaved persons, Robert E. Lee — and a promise of freedom upon the 100th birthday of the United States, July 4th, 1876 ($8/11,000).

Among nearly 400 other lots of historical documents and collectibles across 34 categories are: a bond for financing the first nail factory in America, 1795, in Ramapo, N.Y. Signed by the inventor, as well as a former aide to Benedict Arnold — and then private secretary to George Washington ($950-$1,450); a cigar store advertising sign on cloth, “Ask for Union Made / Blue Label Cigars,” circa 1902-10 ($200/275); a long legal document showing the humanity of future Declaration of Independence signer, George Read. In the document, Read comments on the rights of a demised 10-year-old Quaker girl in Delaware ($1,4/1,800); a unique, complete set of five, 1777 Connecticut notes — all with matching number “34975” ($2,1/2,600); a seldom-seen signature of an officer of the Confederacy’s elite Polish Brigade. Fighting under the famed Louisiana Tigers, the brigade suffered heavy losses at Gettysburg ($220/270); and a real photo silver print postcard of the last Confederate officer to surrender, Colonel Walter Mann, holding out until June 5, 1865 ($80-$110).

Also on offer in this sale is a rare South Carolina pamphlet, 1804, taxing Indians who lease “negroes and other slaves…” ($550/750); an Antebellum advertising circular, 1850, of a New York merchant offering clothing for enslaved persons: “Negro Blankets of all Kinds…Negro Goods…Kentucky Jeans…Osnaburgs,” the latter a cheap brown linen worn on plantations ($175/275); an elusive orange card ticket to the 1870 Boston lecture series, including Frederick Douglass, abolitionist Wendell Phillips, writer Ralph Waldo Emerson and other luminaries ($700/950); an advertising “Hard Times” token of the “Manhattan Millerite,” cobbler Abraham Riker, who believed the world would end in October 1844 ($60/80); and an important Puritan minister’s prayers and anguish upon his confinement — in New Hampshire, 1684. Writing “from ye Prison,” Reverend Joshua Moodey may have been the very first clergyman imprisoned in early America for exercising freedom of religion. Moodey later attempted to protect a family of accused witches, dramatized in The Crucible. His autographic material is dauntingly rare ($22/32,000);

Bidders can also expect to see the first newspaper printing of official support for Jewish religious toleration in America, June 1790. This issue, containing George Washington’s eloquent letter to the Savannah congregation, is mentioned in the book Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress ($19/27,000); a Pennsylvania G.A.R. commander’s file of about 150 documents and printed items — plus his kepi. The wartime private was wounded at Gettysburg ($550/750); a collection of more than 50 printer’s samples of calling cards, 1875-95, some chromolitho or fancy ($140/190); an archive of more than 390 pieces vintage sheet music, majority 1920s-40s, some with eye-catching covers. Including songwriters from Arlen to “Fats” Waller, the collection includes Black, Southern, Ziegfield, Oriental, Irish and ethnic, patriotic and other themes ($400/700); a historic British signed patent license for carbonation, revolutionizing the beer and ale industry, 1914 ($160/220); and a 1939 baseball First Day cover signed vertically by Hall of Famers Honus Wagner — one of its original five inductees — plus future Pittsburgh members, Pie Traynor, Al Lopez and Al Simmons ($1,7/2,300).

Bids will be accepted up to September 17, 9 pm Eastern time. A 160-page printed catalog is available by mail while supplies last. For information, 914-476-8500 or www.cohascodpc.com.

Books. Collectibles & More! Nearly 400 lots in 34 fields Free 160-Page Catalogue
Detail of two-page 1684 letter “From ye Prison,” New Hampshire – perhaps the first clergyman imprisoned in America for exercising freedom of religion: Joshua Moodey
Plus First 1776 Connecticut printing of Common Sense • Lincoln’s signed 1864 “October surprise,” cultivating German-Americans in Ohio
Rare Frederick Douglass lecture ticket, Boston, 1870
Presidential college yearbooks, including 1938 Joe Kennedy, Jr., raised to be President, and 1940 JFK (below)
Thirteenth Series.
Something for all collecting interests & Budgets!
Closing Date: Sept. 17, 2024
COHASCO, INC.
Established 78 Years
P.O. DRAWER 821 • YONKERS, NY 10702
1-914-476-8500
info@cohascodpc.com • http://cohascodpc.com