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

HERBERT GEORGE (H.G.) WELLS (1866-1946). Wells was a British author best known for his science fiction, especially The War of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau. DS. 3pgs. June 28, 1919. N.p. A typed document signed twice signed “HGW” and once signed “H. G. Wells”. It is the North American publishing contract for Wells’s work In the Days of the Comet with George H. Doran Company. Wells initialed each of the first two pages and signed on the last page. “MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made this 28th day of June 1919 on this and the following 2 folios of paper Between H. G. WELLS ESQ: of Easton Glebe, Dunmow, Essex (hereinafter called the Autor) of the one part and THE GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY, of 244, Madison Avenue, New York, in the United States of America (hereinafter called the Publishers) of the other part. WHEREBY it is mutually agreed as follows:- 1. That the Author hereby grants to the Publishers the exclusive right of printing and publishing ‘IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET’, a Work… Read More

HENRY LOUIS “H.L.” MENCKEN (1880-1956). Mencken was an American writer, journalist, and scholar who is sometimes called “The Sage of Baltimore”. TLS. 1pg. 8 ½” x 5 ½”. June 13 [no year]. Baltimore. A typed letter signed “H.L. Mencken”. Mencken turns away poetry submitted to one of the Baltimore newspapers he worked for throughout his career – The Baltimore Sun or one of its offshoots. “Dear Mr. Carmer:- I am sorry indeed, but at the moment I can’t take any verse. I am using very little, and there is a great deal in type. Have you any ideas for prose articles? If so, I’ll be delighted to hear them. My best thanks for the chance to see this very interesting stuff. Sincerely yours, H.L. Mencken”. The letter, on Mencken’s personal letterhead, is in good condition, though a bit wrinkled.

HENRY LOUIS “H.L.” MENCKEN (1880-1956). Mencken was an American writer, journalist, and scholar who is sometimes called “The Sage of Baltimore”. SB. 31pg. 1946. No place. A first edition of Christmas Story inscribed “Dr. Lay Martin with veneration H.L. Mencken”. The interior pages are illustrated in both color and black and white. The dust jacket is in fine condition with light faults, and the interior pages are in very good condition also. Dr. Martin was a Baltimore-area physician who attended Princeton University.

(THE HOWDY CLUB). The Howdy Club was a World War Two-era lesbian bar and entertainment venue in Manhattan. A commemorative, miniature hammer from New York lesbian nightclub The Howdy Club. The wooden handle reads “Howdy Revue / 47 West 3rd St Greenwich Village / Dining Dancing Revue”. The club operated in the 1930s and 1940s before its shows were shut down by police in 1944. Though the club admitted both men and women, and GIs sometimes hung out there during World War Two, the venue and its shows were known to cater to a lesbian audience at a time where women-only nightlife of any kind was rare. A scarce relic.

KING GEORGE V (1865-1936). King George V was King of Great Britain and the British Empire from 1910 to his death. ALS. 1 pg. 6” x 8”. March 9, 1895. Windsor Castle. An autograph letter signed “George” on “Windsor Castle” letterhead accepting an invitation from “Sir Frederick”: “I shall have much pleasure in coming to the Royal Academy dinner on Saturday 4th of May. I kept that night free as I thought it would be the night of your banquet…George”. At this time, George was second in the line of succession behind his grandmother Queen Victoria, who would reign until 1901, and his father King Edward VII, whose short reign would end in 1910 and see George crowned King George V. Sir Frederick refers to Lord Frederic Leighton, an artist and pioneer in the “New Sculpture” movement serving as President of the Royal Academy since 1878. This would be his final banquet, as he would die suddenly the next year. The letter is faded at the bottom, but this does not hinder comprehension… Read More

EDWARD R. BRADLEY (1859-1946). Bradley was a wealthy American businessman, horse breeder and philanthropist. His thoroughbreds won four Kentucky Derbies, three Preaknesses and two Belmont Stakes. PS. 9” x 12 ½”. No date. No place. An oversized studio portrait signed “Sincerely at all times E.R. Bradley” on the lower margin. It shows the famous businessman, finely dressed, gazing into the camera. It is in very fine condition. I could locate no other signed photographs selling.

ROGER BABSON (1875-1967). Babson was an American entrepreneur, economist, and business theorist who founded the Babson Institute, later Babson College, in 1919. ALS. 8” x 10”. Massachusetts. June 11, 1931. An autograph letter signed “Roger W. Babson” to “NW Miller”: “I thank you for your note. Don’t holler to thank me but do something for some other fellow when you have a chance”. The letter is in fine condition with mailing folds.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CUSTIS LEE (1832-1913). Lee was the oldest son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. He was an aide-de-camp to Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the Civil War and then succeeded his father as President of Washington & Lee University. FITZHUGH LEE (1835-1905). Lee was the son of Sydney Lee, a naval veteran, and nephew of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. After the war, he served as the 40th Governor of Virginia between 1886-1890. ALS. 7pg. 8” x 10”. February 11, 1896. Lexington, Virginia. A lengthy autograph letter signed “G.W.C. Lee”, the son of General Robert E. Lee, to his cousin Fitzhugh Lee. The letter discusses a recent court of inquiry into their father’s conduct during the Battle of Gettysburg: “I know nothing of the Court of Inquiry after the battle of Gettysburg, to which you refer, except what I have seen in the newspapers…in fact, I do not recollect to have every heard my father say anything about the battle of Gettysburg and its… Read More

HAROLD PINTER (1930-2008). Pinter was an influential British playwright and thespian. PS. 3 ½” x 5 ½”. N.d. n.p. A small, black-and-white photograph signed “Harold Pinter” in the bottom margin. The signature is strong and bold, and the photograph is in fine condition.

ALS. 1pg. 6" x 7 ½". July 20, 1818. Kensington [probably Connecticut]. An autograph letter signed "John Blake" as president of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, to Reverend Eliphalet Pearson (1752-1826), a Harvard professor who began the theological seminary at Andover Academy: "The committee in Kensington for travailing Ministerial affairs again hereby testify their grateful acknowledgements to you and to the Society over which you preside for favours recently received, and still solicit your further aid in supporting Mr. [Minister Samuel] Whiting as a preacher of the Gospel among us, the one hundred dollars already voted to the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, was with the sole view that Mr. Whiting might be continued among us, whose labors are very acceptable, and be assured that we on our part will endeavor to do as much as we can for his support." The Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge was a Scottish organization whose mission was to Christianize Native… Read More

ZEPHANIAH SWIFT SPALDING (1837-1927). Spalding, a Union Army Colonel, was a statesman and sugar magnate in Hawaii. ALS. 8pgs. April 22, 1916. Kealia, Kauai, [Hawaii]. An autograph letter signed “Z. S. Spalding”. The sugar magnate wrote to “Mr. Franklin”, a New Yorker, from Kealia, his plantation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. His lengthy letter concerns World War One, a topic on which Spalding obviously had strong opinions, as well as business, the shipping industry, personal news, and life in Hawaii. It also mentions Spalding’s service in the Civil War: “…You say the War has caused many radical changes in New York’s business conditions and methods which, in your opinion, have come to stay. I quite agree with you, because, for the first time in its history, the United States are really brought into association and in many ways into competition with Europe. We have for many years supplied Europe with cotton, flour and pork; but, when I was a boy my jack knife came from England, as… Read More

LOUIS-HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-1869). Berlioz was a French composer and conductor of the Romantic movement. ALS. 1pg. N.d. N.p. An autograph letter signed “H Berlioz”. Berlioz wrote a brief missive in French, asking the recipient to pass along a letter. “My dear Garcia Here is a letter addressed to…and that was addressed to me by accident. Will you be good enough to return it to his landlord whose address I don’t know. All to you H Berlioz”. It is matted and framed with a color engraving of Berlioz. In fine condition.

Henry A. S. Dearborn Is Invited To Give A Fourth Of July Oration

HENRY W. SLOCUM (1827-1894). Slocum was a Union Army General who saw action at First Manassas, Antietam and Chancellorsville, and then was a Representative from New York. LS. 3pgs. August 27, 1865. Headquarters, Department of Mississippi, Vicksburg. A letter signed “H W Slocum” as commander of the Department of the Mississippi in the early Reconstruction period. The letter primarily discusses Slocum’s unwillingness to get into politics soon after the Civil War’s end. “My dear Sir – Your favor of the 17 has just come to hand. I am sorry Jill was prevented from coming this way. Perhaps I shall take a trip to Selma next month. If so I will be able to get some information and will write you. I recd a letter last week from a friend in Syracuse proposing I should be a candidate for Sect of State & replied at once that I could not become a candidate for civil office while in my present position, and that I was under obligation to remain here for the present. I shall probably resign this fall,… Read More

HENRY W. SLOCUM (1827-1894). Slocum was a Union Army General who saw action at First Manassas, Antietam and Chancellorsville, and then was a Representative from New York. PS. N.d. N.p. A cabinet card signed “H. W. Slocum” on both the recto and verso. The image, by Brisbois of Chicago, depicts an older Slocum in half length, with his head turned to the side. It is in fine condition.

HERBERT HOOVER (1874-1964). Hoover was the Thirty-first President. SB. 390pg. 6” x 8 ½”. No date. No place. A book, Addresses Upon The American Road, inscribed “To my good friend Gertrude Lane from Herbert Hoover” on the first free end page. This first edition is in the original dustjacket, which has some nicks and tears. The signing page has some even toning, but the overall condition is fine. This is not one of the more commonly encountered Hoover signed books.

HERMAN WOUK (1915-2019). Wouk was a Pulitzer-Prize winning American writer, best known for The Caine Mutiny. PS. 3 ½” x 5”. N.d. N.p. A small, black-and-white photograph of Herman Wouk with his German shepherd, signed "Herman Wouk". In fine condition.

LS. 1pg. 8” x 10”. August 5, 1869. Washington, DC. A letter signed “Geo. T. Metcalf” to Benson J. Lossing: “I am instructed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter…and to inform you that it would afford the Secretary of the Interior pleasure to furnish you with a copy of Schoolcraft’s History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, if it were in his power to do so; But, there is no copy of that publication in the custody of this Department, excepting one which is kept for official use.” The letter is in fine condition on “Department of the Interior” letterhead.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (1809-1894). Trained as a physician, Holmes gained fame and position through both his medical and literary writings. He penned “Old Ironsides”, “The Chambered Nautilus,” and “The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table.” ALS. 1pg. 5” x 7”. January 24, 1861. Boston. An autograph letter signed “O.W. Holmes” to “My dear little Ladies”: “Joseph Miller’s jest book is known to most persons of a certain age which you fortunately have not reached, as a famous collection of stories and jokes. So well known is it that an old joke is often called a ‘Joe Miller’. As to poor Elsie, I can’t alter the facts of the case, you know. Very truly your friend O.W. Holmes”. Joe Miller was a popular English comic actor from 1709 until his death in 1738. A year after his passing, the publisher T. Read enlisted a down-and-out writer named John Mottley to compile a book of jokes, and stuck Miller’s name onto it. The letter has two mailing folds and is in fine condition.

HORACE GREELEY (1811-1872). Greeley was a prominent newspaper editor and a Presidential candidate in 1872. He is best remembered for the quote “Go West, young man”, and he signed Jefferson Davis’s bail bond in May 1867. ALS. 1pg. 5” x 8”. September 3, 1868. New York. An autograph letter signed “Horace Greeley” on his “Union League Club” letterhead. He scrawled to Charles Gould: “I am obliged to go out of town today, and want One Thousand dollars. In my father’s absence, I ask you to send it to me for thirty days on the note in care of W.O. Bartlett herewith presented.” The letter has light wrinkling in the top right, a drop of ink in the middle of the page and is in very good condition.