President Abraham Lincoln Seeks to Reward a Distinguished Soldier from the First Major Conflict of the Civil War, the Battle of Big Bethel, and Honor the Personal Request of His Mother
by Abraham Lincoln
08/08/1861. ""It is said that the young man named within was in the Great Bethel affair. His mother calls on me to ask a Lieutenancy for him"" We have never before a document on the market referencing Bethel by name or referring to the battle as great Part of a private collection assembled at Sesslers more than a half century agoThe Civil War formally began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12–13, 1861, but the first sustained clash between... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
President Abraham Lincoln Appoints a Cavalry Officer Who Would Soon Command a Regiment and Be Decorated For Heroism at Antietam
by Abraham Lincoln
29/03/1861. James E. Harrison, though born in Virginia, served the Union cause during the Civil War. He received his first appointment as a Second Lieutenant to the 2d U. S. Cavalry in June 1856, and was stationed in Texas and various forts in the West until December 1858, when he was assigned to scouting Indians. He returned East, and with the Civil War imminent he was promoted to First Lieutenant 2d U.S. Cavalry in March 1861 and then to... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
The Compassion of Abraham Lincoln: In a Letter to his Judge Advocate General, He Directly Intervenes to Reinstate an Officer Who Had Been Dismissed From the Army for Being Derelict of Duty and Breaching Arrest
by Abraham Lincoln
01/09/1863. A powerful letter showing Lincoln's direct involvement with the chief judicial military officer, showing the merciful Lincoln at work, and showing his prioritizing retaining experienced veterans in the serviceThe Judge Advocate General of the United States Army is the senior officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army. The position was abolished but then reinstated in 1849. In 1862, Lincoln appointed his first Judge Advocate General, Joseph Holt, only the second since 1783. He... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
President Abraham Lincoln Appoints a Signal Corps Officer Who Would Serve with Sherman on the March to the Sea
by Abraham Lincoln
15/07/1864. A real rarity, the first Lincoln appointment to the Signal Corps for an officer active in Sherman’s Georgia Campaign we have seenOn March 29, 1860, the United States House of Representatives approved the Army appropriations bill for fiscal year 1861, which included the following amendment: ""For the manufacture or purchase of apparatus and equipment for field signals, $2000; and that there be added to the staff of the Army one signal officer, with the rank, pay, and allowance... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Attorney Abraham Lincoln, Known for Representing Female Clients, Fights for Truth in His Forceful Representation of a Woman
by Abraham Lincoln
03/11/1853. The case is well known and illustrates Lincoln’s penchant for aiding women who had been unjustly treated""Said answers are untrue, uncertain and insufficient, that her Bill is true, certain and sufficient, and he [Lincoln] will so prove it to be"" During his 25-year legal career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was involved in a substantial number of cases involving women as litigants. He was known for seeking to represent women, and working to get justice for them, in an era... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
From the First Case from the Legendary Law Firm Lincoln & Herndon: an Unpublished Draft with Extensive Handwriting of Both Men
by Abraham Lincoln
30/03/1846. At the time Lincoln wrote this, he was running for CongressIt shows the relationship between perhaps the most famous senior and junior law partners https://vimeo.com/943731365?share=copy In his nearly 25 years as a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln had three partners. He joined John Todd Stuart as a junior partner, then started a new practice as a junior partner with Stephen T. Logan. In 1844 Lincoln and Logan took on William H. Herndon. In the fall of 1844, Lincoln was... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Attorney Abraham Lincoln Prepares a Pleading Informing the Court That His Client Has Already Been Acquitted of the Offense Alleged
by Abraham Lincoln
30/10/1857. John V. Drake and John C. Moses practiced law in Danville, Illinois. They worked on cases appearing before the Vermilion County Circuit Court. When Abraham Lincoln had a case appearing in that court, he would sometimes affiliate himself with Drake and Moses. Lincoln was before that court in October and November 1857.Hezekiah Ballah sued John Deck and Zachariah Deck in a case heard in the Vermilion County Circuit Court. This was an action of trespass for castrating seventeen... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
President Abraham Lincoln Allows a Key Kentucky Advisor to Cross the Lines into the Confederacy to Attend the Trial of His Son
by Abraham Lincoln
29/10/1864. Journalist George D. Prentice's son was a Confederate officer captured by Union forces, who would later be charged with murderGeorge D. Prentice was born in Connecticut on December 18, 1802, and graduated from Brown University in 1823. He came to Kentucky in 1830 to write a campaign biography entitled The Biography of Henry Clay and remained in this state until his death on January 22, 1870, in Louisville. Prentice became the editor of the Louisville Journal, the newspaper... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
President Abraham Lincoln Appoints an Officer to the Commissary Department Who Would Later Serve as Aide-de-camp to General James Barnes at Gettysburg
by Abraham Lincoln
28/02/1862. He was later promoted to Lt. Colonel for gallantry in action at the Battle of GrovetonDocument signed, with fine engravings of an eagle, flags and cannons, Washington, February 28, 1862, naming Percy B. Spear a Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers with the rank of Captain, effective November 30, 1861. The document is countersigned by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The appointment is listed in the U.S. Army Register.The Civil War Commissary Department was responsible for procuring, storing,... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Charles A. Lindbergh at the Dawn of His Career as a Professional Pilot
by Charles Lindbergh
30/04/1925. Acquired from the family and never before offered for saleIt also also relates to his other passion - his motorcycle, which started his interest in machines and transportation while he was a teenagerWhile barnstorming in southern Minnesota, Charles Lindbergh met a graduate of the Army Flying School who told him that cadets flew the most modern and powerful airplanes. Lindbergh enrolled right away and arrived in San Antonio, Texas, on March 15, 1924. Lindbergh was joined by 103... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Charles A. Lindbergh Photograph Signed to an Aviator/Hero of World War I
by Charles Lindbergh
1928. Before the U.S. got involved in World War I, Alan F. Winslow served with the legendary Lafayette Escadrille in France. In 1918, now an officer in the U.S. Army’s air service, he and Douglas Cambell shot down the first two German airplanes to fall victim to American aviators with General Pershing's expeditionary forces. On August 13, 1918, Winslow was shot down and reported killed in action over France. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. At war’s end,... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Charles Lindbergh Signed sheet of Panamanian Air Mail Stamps
by Charles Lindbergh
1/1/28. Charles A. Lindbergh was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and a great pioneer and promoter of Air Mail service.A mint sheet of 25 five centesimo air mail stamps of the Republic of Panama, boldly signed by Lindbergh on the bottom blank selvage. The stamps don’t say air mail but there is a plane shown flying over the Isthmus incorporated into the stamp, which speaks for itself.
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Beautiful Signed Portrait of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
01/01/1857. Uncommon framed portrait of Longfellow, the most noted American poet of his day, and author of such acclaimed works as “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Song of Hiawatha.” This is the first signed copy of this fine image that we have seen.
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
As His Son Enters School in Boston, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Pays a Bill From the School and Is Pleased With Reports That the Boy Is Doing Well
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
04/03/1857. After early education in Cambridge, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s sons Charles and Ernest attended Thomas Bradford School, a private boys school in Boston, in 1857. Their weekly reports were good, with one Latin note exclaiming “Quam optime Baeclare!” (How very bright!).The following letter clearly relates to the boys’ entry into the Bradford School and may be for the payment of tuition. In any case, Longfellow shows that he was proud that one of his sons (probably Charlie) was so... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Commander of the Haitian Slave Revolt Toussaint Louverture, Just After His Treaty with the British, Pays a Loyal Officer for His Command of the Northwest Coast
by Toussaint Louverture
24/05/1798. At the time of the outset of the French Revolution, Haiti was the French colony of Saint Domingue. The colony featured large slave plantations that generated the cash crops of sugar, coffee, and cotton. This was a very profitable colony to the French, owing largely to the sugar plantations. By the 1780s nearly two-thirds of French trade flowed through Saint Domingue, and the island supplied nearly half of Europe with sugar.The Haitian Revolution was a complex web of... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Cryptic 1885 Letter of Poet James Russell Lowell to an English Editor
by James Russell Lowell
13/05/1885. James Russell Lowell was an American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. Lowell had been U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James since 1880 but Grover Cleveland appointed someone else after he became president in March of 1885. Lowell’s term as ambassador officially ended just 6 days after this letter and he returned to the U.S. almost immediately. A lawyer by profession, he had gained notoriety in 1848 with the publication of A Fable for Critics, a book-length... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
James Madison Carries Out Thomas Jefferson’s Policy to Mollify Britain
by James Madison
19/10/1802. The need to keep the Royal Navy fully manned was never stronger than in the opening years of the 19th century, as the Napoleonic Wars resulted in a lack of qualified seamen just when it was necessary to launch many additional warships. This was exacerbated because privateers, the Navy, and the merchant marine all competed for the same small pool of ordinary and able seamen. The government’s solution: impressment (or forcing men into service). The practice of impressing... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Signed Check of James Madison as President, A Week Before His State of the Union Address
by James Madison
28/11/1813. Document signed, November 28, 1813, Office of Pay and Deposit of the Bank of Columbia check, approximately 7 x 2.5 inches, filled out and signed by Madison as president, ""James Madison,"" payable to Abram Eddins or order $650.One of Madison's business associates in Virginia, Eddins was a wealthy landowner. Two years after this check, Madison hired Eddins as overseer of his plantation.
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
A Sheet From James Madison’s Lost Revolutionary War Ledgers, Documenting Jewish Financier Haym Salomon
by James Madison
03/05/1783. https://vimeo.com/1009254738?share=copy When Madison entered the Continental Congress in March 1780 as a delegate from Virginia, he was its youngest member. The Congress had proposed the Articles of Confederation in 1777, and they took effect in 1781, so Madison found himself serving in the Congress under the Articles. His fellow Virginia delegates during his tenure there included Theodorick Bland (Continental Army colonel and later a member of the First United States Congress), Joseph Jones (a lawyer whose nephew was James... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
William H. Crawford’s Original Appointment as Secretary of War, Signed by James Madison as President and James Monroe as Secretary of State
by James Monroe|James Madison
01/08/1815. William H. Crawford was U.S. ambassador to France during the negotiations to end the War of 1812. During those negotiations, he was responsible for superintending the American consuls in Europe and keeping them informed of developments. He was also an important negotiator from a distance. He was called home and appointed Secretary of War by President James Madison on August 1, 1815, succeeding James Monroe. Crawford served in the post about a year, and was then named Secretary... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Thomas Mann, In Exile from Nazi Germany, On His Decision Not to Endorse the Communist Declaration of the First American Writers Congress: ""It is an act of good conscience, of what is my duty and what is not""
by Thomas Mann
22/04/1935. This letter was acquired from the family of the recipient and has never been offered for sale beforeIn 1900, at the age of 25, Thomas Mann wrote and in 1901 published Buddenbrooks, chronicling the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations. Mann drew deeply from the history of his own family, the Mann family of Lübeck, and their times. It was Mann’s first novel and it made him a major literary... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Thomas Mann Writes of Penning ""Buddenbrooks"" in Solitude and Reflects Philosophically on the Impact of his Work Worldwide
by Thomas Mann
16/04/1936. An incredibly rare and unpublished letter relating to his perhaps most famous work1936 was a momentous year for Mann. That year, his escalated attacks on the Nazi government led to his German citizenship being revoked. He traveled to Argentina, his maternal homeland, for a PEN International Conference, which was organized to bring peace and understanding between cultures using literature.In 1900, at the age of 25, Thomas Mann wrote and in 1901 published Buddenbrooks, chronicling the decline of a... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
John Marshall Collects His Pay As Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
by John Marshall
30/03/1813. The Compensation Act of 1789 set the salary of a chief justice of the Supreme Court at $4,000, and it remained that amount until 1819 when it was raised to $5,000. So John Marshall received $4,000 in his early years in that office, and the salary was paid in quarterly payments of $1,000 each.Autograph document signed, Washington, March 30, 1813, to William Whann, the Cashier of the Bank of Columbia, being a check or pay order to collect... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Chief Justice John Marshall Seeks Justice for a Merchant Who Had Provided Supplies to the Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War, But Never Been Paid
by John Marshall
16/02/1823. Philip Bush was a merchant in Winchester, Virginia, who also owned the noted Golden Buck Tavern in the town. He had known George Washington since the latter’s days as colonel of the Virginia Regiment in the 1750s, and George Washington had an account with him. Bush was on friendly terms with James Madison and John Marshall as well. Bush was a patriot who provided supplies for the Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War.Bush was willing to advance supplies... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC
Martin Luther King Jr. Is Deeply Grateful for the Invitation, Early in the Civil Rights Movement, to Speak at Alpha Phi Alpha, His Old Fraternity and the First Founded by African American Students
by Martin Luther King, Jr.
1/12/61. Although he is not able to attend due the ramping up of the Civil Rights movement, ""but for this I would be more than happy to serve you.” We are not aware of another letter having reached the market connecting him with this important African American institution, to which he is so closely tiedWhile the Civil Rights movement had been gaining momentum for several years prior, with key events like the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and the Greensboro... Read More
Offered by The Raab Collection, LLC