Search Results: Titles starting with B from Stuart Lutz Historic Documents, Inc.

Signed Stock Certificate. 10 ½” x 6 ¾”. May 16, 1879. Baltimore. A Baltimore and Ohio stock certificate signed by company president “J W Garrett” and the treasurer. The certificate is for 20 shares issued to Frank Rosenburg. There is an attractive railroad lithograph at the top and allegorical women in the upper corners. It is punch cancelled, including one through the Garrett signature, and there is light soiling.

PHINEAS T. BARNUM (1810-1891). Barnum was the most famous showman of his time. He presented attractions which were enormously popular in their time, such as General Tom Thumb Jenny Lind’s concert tour of America, the Feejee mermaid and Jumbo the elephant. He co-founded Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus. ALS. 1pg. 4 ½” x 7”. October 18, 1886. Bridgeport, Connecticut. An autograph letter signed “P.T. Barnum” on the letterhead of his mansion Waldemere in Bridgeport. He wrote to the Editor of the Albany Evening Journal: “Dear Sir, In reply to yours of the 6th inst, I enclose a note from my principal Wild Animal Keeper – by which you will see that the Tiger has two single and two double teeth between the tusks in its upper jaw. Truly yours P.T. Barnum”. It is accompanied by a letter from Hyatt Frost, who was one of Barnum’s employees and worked as an animal importer: “Savannah Ga Oct 16/86 P.T. Barnum Esq – Dear Sir Yours of the 8th received to day and in reply will… Read More

BASIL RATHBONE (1892-1967). A legendary actor, Rathbone is best remembered as Sherlock Holmes and the Sheriff of Nottingham. PS. 10” x 8”. No date. No place. A sepia toned photograph signed “Sincerely Basil Rathbone” in blue fountainpen. It shows a staged shot from the 1939 movie Rio, and it shows Rathbone in the middle, wearing a pith helmet; there is film information on the lower margin. It is in fine condition.

JULIA WARD HOWE (1819-1910). An American writer and activist for abolitionism and women’s rights, Howe is best-known for writing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. ALS. 1pg. March 17, 1910. 241 Beacon Street [Boston]. An autograph letter signed “Julia Ward Howe” and addressed to “Mr. Latimer”: “Many thanks, my dear Mr. Latimer, for this beautiful azalea plant. May your window garden blossom delightfully. Your’s sincerely Julia Ward Howe”. Latimer is likely a relative of Howe’s friend, the writer Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer (1822-1904), possibly her son Ralph Randolph Latimer (1862-1931). The letter is in fine condition.

QUEEN ALEXANDRA (1844-1925). Alexandra of Denmark was the Queen Consort of the United Kingdom due to her marriage to King Edward VII. She was consort from 1901 until the death of her husband in 1910. PS. 8 ½” x 11”. No date [circa 1910]. No place [likely England]. A photograph inscribed on the lower margin “Edward VII & Alexandra our last opening of Parliament 1910”. Alexandra wrote the entire inscription, not the King. The portrait shows the King and Queen formally dressed. The Downey photograph is matted in dark red and framed in wood to an overall size of 15 ½” x 18”.

WILLIAM F. “BUFFALO BILL” CODY (1846-1917). Cody was a legendary Western scout and showman, as well as the originator of the “Wild West Show”. Following the Civil War, Cody was employed by the Goddard Brothers, food contractors to the Kansas Pacific Railway construction camps, to furnish buffalo meat; this is where his nickname came. From 1868 to 1872, Cody scouted for the Army, eventually becoming chief of scouts for the Fifth Cavalry. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry in action on the Platte River in 1872, but this was revoked by Congress in 1917 because Cody was not a member of the military at the time. In 1872 he began his long career as a showman, appearing in numerous “Wild West Shows” in the theatre, at least one with “Wild Bill” Hickok. The formation of his famed “Wild West Show” in 1883 that toured America and Europe has made the name “Buffalo Bill” legendary. PS. 12” x 14”. No place. November 23, 1914. A spectacular and oversized… Read More

PS. Bailey, an African American entertainer, made her Broadway debut in 1946's St. Louis Woman and went on to win the prestigious Tony Award for the titular role in Hello, Dolly!. PS. 1pg. 8" x 10". No Date. No Place. An early photograph signed "To You My Best Pearl" in blue ink. There is a small tear in the lower right margin, but it is in fine condition

BENJAMIN HARRISON (1833-1901). Harrison was the Twenty-Third President. CAROLINE HARRISON (1832-1892). Caroline, the wife of Benjamin Harrison, was First Lady from 1889 until her death. She was never in good health, but she helped renovate the White House and founded the Daughters of the American Revolution. DS. 1pg. 7 ¾” x 2 ¾”. November 4, 1879. Indianapolis. A check signed “Benj Harrison” and completely filled out by him to “Mrs B Harrison” for $100. It is endorsed “Mrs. B. Harrison” on the back by First Lady Caroline Harrison. The Autograph Collectors Checklist rates Caroline Harrison’s autograph as very rare. The check is in very fine condition.

D. 1pg. 8 ½” x 5 ½”. October 2005. No place. A printed trading slip from Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities showing that trades were made in a client’s name in October 2005. This was mailed to the client to show how his or her money was being utilized. I do not know if these were real trades or fictitious ones. The victim’s name has been crossed out to protect his or her confidentiality. This was bought from the victim, who was wiped out. It is hard to imagine the greed and wickedness behind this modest piece of paper. I have never seen one of these before, and I suspect there are few in existence, since victims probably either destroyed them when the fraud was revealed, or they were turned in to the government to aid in prosecution, and the hopes that monies could be recovered. It is in perfect condition.

TLS. 1pg. 6 ¼” x 9 ½”. September 11, 1974. The White House. A typed letter signed “Betty Ford” as First Lady on White House letterhead. She wrote to Mrs. Perkins McGuire: “How sweet of you to send us the magazine from Spain. Little did I ever think that the Fords would have pictures in a foreign magazine. We were quite lucky that my assistant’s husband is a Spanish professor and he was able to read the article for us. Many thanks again for being so thoughtful, and Jerry joins me in sending our warm regards.” McGuire, whom the letter is addressed to, served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Eisenhower, and was later appointed by President Nixon to be Chairman of the Commission on Government Procurement. The letter has two mailing folds and is in fine condition; it is accompanied by the original mailing envelope.

GIFFORD PINCHOT (1865-1946). Pinchot was an American forester and politician. He was the first Head of the United States Forest Service and a two-time Governor of Pennsylvania. TLS. 2pgs. October 18, 1928. Milford Pike County, Pennsylvania. A typed letter signed “Gifford Pinchot”. On his personal letterhead, Pinchot wrote to the manager of the Easton Car & Construction Company, trying to persuade him to vote in favor of a proposed Pennsylvania bond issue for the purchase of forest lands: “…As a businessman you undoubtedly realize that no industry can be carried on without wood…We Pennsylvanians are in genuine danger of having this essential resource fail us. As a nation we are using five or six times as much wood as we are growing. As a State we put more timber yearly into the anthracite mines alone that the whole of Pennsylvania produces. It is costing us in Pennsylvania more than one hundred million dollars a year to buy from other States the wood that we could grow and ought to grow… Read More

SB. 1000pg. No date. No place. My Life signed by President Bill Clinton on a bookplate attached to the first endpage. The bookplate was produced by Knopf and has the initials "WJC" and a golden border. This is a second printing and the book is in very fine condition.

WILLIAM TRENHOLM (1836-1901). Trenholm was a banker and Comptroller of the Currency from 1886 to 1889. DS. 1pg. January 1, 1868. Charleston, South Carolina. A printed bond document signed “WL Trenholm” and “Theodore D Wagner” five times each: “Know all Men by these Presents, That We, Theodore D. Wagner and William L. Trenholm, of Charleston, in the State of South Carolina, Merchants, are held and firmly bound unto James Robb and Charles T. Lowndes, Trustees, under an agreement made between us, the said Theodore D. Wagner and William L. Trenholm, in behalf of John Fraser and Company and Fraser, Trenholm and Company, and certain creditors of said Copartnerships, and bearing date November twenty-fifth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the sum of Four Hundred Dollars, lawful money of the United States of America, to be paid to the said James Robb and Charles T. Lowndes, Trustees…”. Theodore Wagner was a Charleston-based businessman associated with John Fraser and Company.… Read More

HERBERT HOOVER (1874-1964). Hoover was the Thirty-first President. SB. 45pg. 1930. No place [presumably Connecticut]. A book, Our President Herbert Hoover, signed by the eleven year old author William Marsh, Jr. and his younger brother Charles. The Marsh brothers inscribed on the copyright page, in their youthful handwriting, “Best wishes to Mr. Paul E. Tanner, from the author William J. Marsh Jr. July 11, 1930 Helper Charles Marsh August 28, 1930”. This may be the Presidential biography with the youngest authors. Some contemporary newspaper articles note that the President is anxiously awaiting his copy. It is in the original gray dustjacket, though the jacket’s spine in missing. There is some minor staining on the inside. A great Presidential artifact.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950). Shaw was an influential Irish playwright and social critic, best known for Pygmalion. He was the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature. ANS. 1pg. June 6, 1940. 4 Whitehall Court, London. A brief note signed “GBS”. On a note card printed “With Bernard Shaw’s compliments”, he wrote: “I am afraid this will take 20 minutes. But I have not experimented with it.”. The context of this cryptic comment is unknown. The note is handsomely matter and framed with a photograph of Shaw. It is in fine condition.

AM. 1pg. 8 ½” x 11”. No date. No place. A partial autograph manuscript in the handwriting of William Cobbett concerning legal reforms there: “to be found against any person for administering, tendering or taking such oath or engagement, to set out the words of such oath or engagement, and that it shall be sufficient to set forth therein the purport or object of such oath or engagement. VII. And whereas, in several instances, persons who have given information against persons accused of crimes in Ireland, have been murdered before trial of person accused, in order to prevent their giving evidence, and to effect the acquittal ‘of the accused’, be it declared and enacted That is any person who hath given or shall give information or examination upon oath against any person or persons for any offense against the laws, hath been or shall be, before the trial or trials of the person or persons respectively against whom such information or examination was given…violently put to death, or so… Read More

MILES CORBET (1595-1662). Corbet was an English politician who sided with the Roundheads in the English Civil War. He was one of the fifty-nine men who signed King Charles I’s death warrant. After the Restoration, Corbet fled to the Netherlands, where he thought he would be safe. The English ambassador has him arrested, returned to England and charged. He was found guilty and hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn with two other regicides. DS. 1pg. 7 ¾” x 12”. August 22, 1648. No place [likely England]. A document signed “Miles Corbet”, as well as “Giles Greene”, “Wm Earl”, “Wm Edwards” and “Geo Snellinge”. The document, written during the English Civil War, states: “Commissioners Navy It is ordered that sd Commrs of the Navy do give present order for ye ships Tyger & Providence now at ye…”. It is docketed “22 Aug 1648 C N [Commissioner Navy] for…the Tyger & Providence at Harwich”. The HMS Tyger was a Royal Navy frigate, built by Peter Pett II at… Read More

SIR FRANCIS BARING (1740-1810). Baring was an English banker and baronet. LS. 1pg. October 21, 1802. London. A letter signed “F Baring”. Baring wrote in French to Parisian banker Jacques Récamier (1751-1830), husband of the more famous Juliette Récamier, regarding a substantial payment to French diplomat Louis-André Pichon (1771-1854). In translation, it reads in part: “I have received today a letter from the United States dated September 9. Our friends there receive an order that my house sent them, paying one million livre tournois to Mr. Pichon. They add that the money is ready, except for Mr. Pichon is then at the Washington government residents, and that he was waiting two days. … I [am] happy, Sir, to take this occasion to offer you my sincere thanks for all the attentions and marks of friendship that I feel for your Lady, you and your son during my stay in Paris…F Baring”. The international business requiring this large transaction, about which Baring requests Récamier’s… Read More

GOVERNOR GEORGE JOHNSTONE (1730-1787). Johnstone was a Royal Navy officer who served during the American Revolution. He was a director of the East India Company and was the first Governor of West Florida from 1763 to 1767. FREDERICK NORTH, LORD NORTH (1732-1792). North was the British Prime Minister during the American Revolution. Two letters related to the post-Revolutionary War claims to compensate American loyalists who lost money and property during the conflict. The Americans, per the Treaty of Paris in 1783, were supposed to restore the property of British subjects, namely the Tories. When it was apparent that this was not going to happen, the British appointed commissioners to inquire into losses and award compensation. a) ALS. 3pg. 7 ¼” x 9”. June 9, 1786. London. An autograph letter signed “Jno Patterson” to Governor Johnstone about payment for his negotiations with the new United States: “I am very sorry to be under the necessity of giving you any trouble at present, but… Read More

JOHN CAMPBELL (1720-1790). Campbell was a British naval officer rising to the rank of Rear Admiral, navigational expert, and colonial governor of Newfoundland. LS. 2 pg. 7” x 10”. July 28, 1783. Leicester fields. A letter signed “Jn: Campbell” to “Right Honble Lord North”: “My Lord Having been informed by Mr. William Newman a Principal Merchant trading to Newfoundland that an American vessel arrived at St. John’s from Boston in May last, laden with Rice and Flour And that the Customhouse had refused to admit her to an Entry and come to a resolution of detaining her until the Governor’s arrival; I think it my Duty to communicate to your Lordship this information and to request that your Lordship will be pleased to furnish me with Instructions how to Act in this Affair”. This letter from John Campbell, the Governor of Newfoundland, to Frederick North, British Home Secretary, reflects the continued distrust and disagreement between Britain and the United States as the American… Read More