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

VICTOR SAWDON PRITCHETT (1900-1997). Pritchett was a British writer. He wrote many short stories, which were published in collected volumes, several books including two memoirs, and essays on literary criticism. AM. 1pg. 4” x 7”. N.d. N.p. An autograph manuscript by V. S. Pritchett of a poem called “Fashion Show in Narssaq”. Pritchett wrote down three stanzas of the poem on a sheet of notebook paper in holograph ink “Fashion Show in Narssaq. Here in Greenland against a backdrop of icebergs, / On a platform set up by the bay of a fjord / Five mannequins parade in the latest summer attire / Flown in that day from Copenhagen. // One of the girls / Has a limp, and they all need training in deportment, / Frizzed or frizzled their otherwise lank hair. Half boldly, / Half shyly they show off before their parents as the whole / Population of Eskimo Narssaq assembled, while / An amplifier diffuses its music. / At the end of the show / They line up for applause, and are then presented – / By the… Read More

JEFFERSON DAVIS (1808-1889). Davis was a Senator from Mississippi, Secretary of War and President of the Confederate States of America. VARINA DAVIS (1826-1906). The wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Varina was a powerful partner for her husband. After the war, she helped him write his memoirs and, after his death, she carried on his memory. ALS. 3pg. 7” x 9”. September 2, 1882. Beauvoir. An autograph letter signed “Jefferson Davis” but completely in the handwriting of his wife, Varina. Davis wrote to an unnamed correspondent: “We have been an unusually long time without hearing from you, & that is not a case for the application of the maxim that no news is good news. Your friend Maggie has been very ill. Mrs. Davis went to Memphis to nurse her – after seven weeks she became better & is here now with her children the sea air has I think improved her & I hope she will soon be well again. Minnie is well & does not complain of our solitude though the change is… Read More

VARINA DAVIS (1826-1906). The wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Varina was a powerful partner and the First Lady of the Confederacy. She helped her husband write his memoirs and carried on his memory after his death. ALS. 4pg. 3” x 4”. March 18, 1904. Atlantic City, New Jersey. A lengthy autograph letter signed “Varina Jefferson Davis” to Mrs. Cappleman of Little Rock, Arkansas. Writing from Atlantic City, the First Lady of the Confederacy wrote in part: “Many affectionate thanks for your kind letter. I need no assurance of your kind feeling yet it is pleasant to have it from you. Of course I will trust your delicate sense of the fitness of things and give my consent to anythng you may desire to do in behalf of my good name among my own people. I should not value the treasures of Golconda if I felt my own people diapproved of me. I shall never drift away from them until I am laid to rest where nothing can vex me more, and where unfortunately I cannot serve them any… Read More

The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was one of the first railroads in America and the very first in the state of New York. It was began in 1826 and opened in 1831. ALS. 1pg. 8” x 10”. 1831. New York. An autograph letter signed “H. Beeckman” to Barrent Beeckman, the Treasurer of the Albany and Schenectady Turnpike. Beeckman wrote to an Albany man about investing in an early railroad. Originally known as the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, it was one of America’s first railroads, established only a few years after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Beeckman also mentions the Albany and Schenectady Turnpike Company, which had managed the road between those two towns since 1797. “Yesterday I recd a written notice from T. Van Vechten Esq. President of the Albany and Schenectady Turnpike d 20th ulto In conformity to said notice, I agree to become entrusted in the Rail Road contemplated to be made in the same numbers & shares I now hold in the Turnpike & Eighteen shares. I remain Yours respectfully H… Read More

GEORGE Q. CANNON (1827-1901) was an early member of the LDS Church. He served under four Presidents and was Utah’s territorial delegate to the United States Congress. In the early 1850s, he served for four years in Hawaii, FRANCIS ASBURY HAMMOND (1822-1900). Hammond went to Hawaii in 1850 and arrived the next year. He kept a valuable diary of his time there. JOHN E.B. WINCHESTER. Winchester, a friend of Francis Hammond, was a ship’s carpenter. He landed on Hawaii and was baptized into the LDS Church in November 1851 and ordained an elder in January 1852 (as this document attests); a month later, he was appointed presiding elder of the Makawao Branch. ADS. 1pg. 8” x 5 ½”. January 15, 1852. Makawao [Hawaii]. An autograph document signed “Geo Cannon” and “Francis A. Hammond”. The text states: “Makawao, Jan. 15th/1852 To All Whom It May Concern, This is to Certify that John E. B. Winchester has been regularly ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints,… Read More

(BOSTON – COLONIAL MASSACHUSETTS). ADS. 1pg. 7” x 4”. 1654. No place [Boston]. An autograph document signed “Jonath: Hayne Clerk”. The document states: “Att a meeting ye Sixteenth Day of ye eleventh month 1654 Captain Keayne, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Parker, and Mr. Stoddard being prsent Henry Messenger was fined ten shillings for affirming that he had corected his sonn John for playing in ye meeting house which appears to be a lye, to prvent the Commissioners of laying any punishment upon him, ye boy himself said he was corected by his mother...”. It is marked at the conclusion “This is a true copy of the record”. The Town Commissioners were chosen to adjudicate minor offenses; the first named is probably Robert Keayne, an English militia officer and early Boston official. Nathaniel Duncan, Richard Parker, and Anthony Stoddard are all listed as Commissioners. “Sonn John” was born in 1641; his younger brother Henry Messenger, Jr. became a joiner and a chairmaker of note. The… Read More

CADWALADER MORRIS (1741-1795). Morris was a Revolutionary War-era politician and merchant. ALS. 3pgs. April 30, 1784. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An autograph letter signed “C. Morris”. “My Very dear & Hond, Colleague Well may I call thee so, as We have both of Us so punctually attended in the Great Council of the Nation – Thy Friend indeed has taken some small Liberties, being very sensible His Shoulders were not of the structure sufficient for a thin part of thirteen United States, - Indeed they still ach [sic] with the work already done. I, being a American, thou cans’t not suppose a weight proper for an Hibernian would by any Means suit thy Friend –…Thou wil’t by this post receive another Long Letter, together with some newspapers, to which pray be referred by thy Affect. Friend C. Morris…”. This very patriotic letter is in fair condition, with a sizable tear on the first page and assorted spotting throughout.

THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743-1826). Jefferson was the Third President. DR. WILLIAM BACHE (1773-1814). Bache, the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and its medical school. In 1799, Bache moved his family to Virginia, but it was financially unsuccessful. In 1803, President Jefferson asked Bache to open a hospital for American sailors in New Orleans which he did. In 1804, he returned to his native Philadelphia and became a surveyor of the port. ALS. 2pg. September 20, 1799. Monticello. An autograph letter signed “Th:Jefferson” and free franked “Th:Jefferson” on the address panel. The Vice President wrote to William Bache: “We have been long in expectation of seeing you, but mr Trist’s return & information puts off that indefinitely. in the mean time your carpenters have gone on tolerably well. they will finish the ensuing week all their work except some small matters which will need further instructions from you, and which can be done in about a… Read More

GEORGE H. W. BUSH (1924-2018). Bush was the Forty-First President. TLS. 1pg. November 18, 1986. Washington. A typed letter signed “George Bush” on his Vice Presidential letterhead. He congratulated David Kranowitz on his Bar Mitzvah: “I am delighted to add my very best wishes and congratulations on your Bar Mitzvah. This is a very proud moment in your life, and especially so for your father – who has molded and guided you throughout your childhood years. The road thus far has been calm and protracted. Now the choices are yours. You have to set your own standards and limitations. I’m sure there will be challenges, but upon reflecting on your excellent upbringing, you will clearly see things through. Barbara joins me in wishing you a future filled with much happiness, success, and a strong commitment toward the well-being of others.” The letter has moderate foxing.

DON BUDGE (1915-2000). Budge was a successful tennis player who remains the only American man win all four major tournaments. ELLSWORTH VINES (1911-1994). Vines was a tennis pro and golf pro; he won four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. PS. 10” x 8”. No date. No place. A black and white photograph signed “Don Budge” and “Ellsworth Vines”. The image shows the two champs holding rackets and shaking hands. There are mounting remnants to the verso and it is in fine condition.

JOHN GLENN (1921-2016). Glenn, an astronaut, was the first American to fly around the Earth in space. He later served as a Senator from Ohio. Signed postcard. 5 ½” x 3 ½”. No date. No place. A postcard signed “Best regards to Marshall Bean – J H Glenn” on the back. The front has a photograph of the first three Mercury astronauts to fly; Shepard, Grissom and Glenn. It is in very fine condition.

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941). Woolf was a celebrated British modernist author and member of the avant-garde Bloomsbury Group. Her work is especially significant for its early feminist themes. SB. N.d. N.p. A limited edition copy of Virginia Woolf’s Beau Brumell, signed “Virginia Woolf” in her typical purple ink. Published by Rimington & Hooper of New York in 1930, it is number 329/500, has oversized board covers, and contains eight pages of embellishments by American book and type designer William Addison Dwiggins. Beau Brumell (1778-1840), the subject of Woolf’s short biography, was a Regency-era dandy and proto-fashion influencer.

AL. 4pgs. March 2, 1869. Fort Whipple, Arizona Territory. A lengthy-but-incomplete letter sent from Arizona Territory. Writing to parents back home, the author describes in detail the landscape, agriculture, and mining in the region. He mentions key rivers, architectural monuments, history, and gold mines. Arizona Territory was established in 1863, with Fort Whipple as its first capital, and became a state in 1913: “My Dear Father & Mother, We left Camp McDowell on the 19th of last month, and made about thirty miles to the settlements on the Salt River: this is the finest part of the country I have seen so far for agricultural purposes; it would do Shoddy good to see the immense stretches of country, as level as a floor and without a stone; the ploughing is generally done very superficially, all it requires being simply to put the seed in and it will come up. The entire country is just as fertile as these river bottoms, but the great drawback is the scarcity of water; even on these river bottoms… Read More