1945 draft of Japanese ‘Instrument of Surrender’ comprising WWII communications cables and auxiliary documents leads Quinn’s July 16 Rare Book Auction

Also featured: 1803 first edition ‘Reflections on the Cession of Louisiana to the United States,’ extolling benefits of Louisiana Purchase and suggesting the new territory be used as a colony for freed slaves

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – On July 16, Quinn’s Auction Galleries of northern Virginia will present 226 high-quality lots at their Summer Rare Book Auction with a selection that includes signed books, first editions, American manuscripts, fine bindings and much more. The top historical highlight is an August 31, 1945 dated draft of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, whose final iteration was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. 

The draft is essentially a collection of 23 raw cables, including several Japanese communiques, dated “Aug. 31, 1945” and stamped “1945 AUG 31 1 20.” The cumulative verbiage is approximately 85% compatible with the final surrender document that was signed by General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Chester Nimitz, British Admiral Bruce Fraser, General Philippe LeClerc of France, and other Allies; as well as Japanese Foreign Minister Maoru Shigemisu and General Yoshijiro Umezu. 

The cables were transmitted from the Pacific Front to the Communications Intelligence Organization and, upon receipt, were stamped in purple with the name of Charles A Jensen (1916-2007). A US Navy cryptographer who worked in Communications Intelligence during World War II, Jensen was tasked with receiving and working on incoming wires. 

Along with the cables, the draft includes additional documents that detail the progression of the surrender and the MacArthur delegation’s arrival preparations. One document, dated August 24, 1945, advises that the impending Tropical Storm Grace (noted as “Typhoon” in the communique) might delay the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers’ arrival to Tokyo from Manila. Another document, received and partially transposed from code, shows the agreement of the Government of Japan, using their delegates in Manila, to hand over information about POW camps.

After the war ended, Ensign Charles A Jensen (later promoted to lieutenant) rescued and retained the draft, which very likely would have been discarded and lost forever, had he not recognized its historical importance and taken the initiative to save it. No other examples of an early draft of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender are known to exist, either in institutional collections or the National Archives. The draft comes to auction at Quinn’s with provenance from Jensen’s descendants and is offered with a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-$4,000.

Another significant auction highlight is a first edition, first series octavo publication by Sylvestris (nom de plume of noted abolitionist St. George Tucker) titled Reflections on the Cession of Louisiana to the United States. Published in 1803 by Samuel Harrison Smith, Washington City, the 27-page pamphlet is dated “August 20, 1803” on its final text page. The essay extolls the benefits of the Louisiana Purchase, sympathetically suggesting the land be used as a colony for emancipated slaves, as the climate would be “favorable for the African constitution.” He goes on to caution that emigration to the new territory should be restricted, so as not to compromise the existing population of the eastern seaboard. The author also recommends, rather prophetically, that Congress acquire from Spain a portion of West Florida for settlement by Native Americans. Retaining its original wraps, Reflections on the Cession of Louisiana to the United States is expected to make $3,000-$5,000 at auction. 

One of the earliest natural history publications to incorporate hand-colored lithographic illustrations is William Swainson’s Zoological Illustrations or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals, Selected Chiefly from the classes of Ornithology, Entomoloby, and Conchology, and Arranged on the Principles of Cuvier and Other Modern Zoologists. Quinn’s is pleased to offer a first edition, first series octavo edition of the title, published 1820-23 by Baldwin, Cradock and Joy in London. Swainson, who embraced the then-revolutionary art of lithography at the suggestion of his friend William Leach, Head of Zoology at The British Museum, would eventually earn acclaim as one of the finest natural history artists of his time. The estimate for this lot is $400-$600

Two other first editions of special note are Walter Scott’s Waverley; or ’Tis Sixty Years Since, the “archetype of the historical novel” published in 1814 by Archibald Constable and Co., London; and E.E. Cummings’ W [Viva: Seventy New Poems], which is No. 46 of 95 copies and signed and inscribed to a theater critic by the author. It was published in 1931 by Horace Liveright, New York, has its original publisher’s boards and comes in its original slipcase. An individual estimate of $400-$600 applies to both the Scott and Cummings lots.

The nicely varied auction also includes a complete bound set of the 1853-54 Pacific Railroad Survey ($800-$1,200), an exceptional copy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in an early state ($2,000-$3,000), several Persian and Islamic illuminated leaves, several Civil War letters, and other ephemera of interest to Americana collectors. There are also several signed books (a cased trilogy by John Dos Passos, $300-$500; three titles by Robert Frost, and two copies of The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh, $400-$600 and $300-$500, respectively). Presidential signatures include a Herbert Hoover-signed 1934 first edition of The Challenge to Liberty, $100-$200; and three documents signed by Woodrow Wilson ($300-$500 each).
Quinn’s Friday, July 16, 2024 Summer Rare Book Auction will start at 12 noon EDT. Preview July 2-3 and 8-15 from 10:30-5pm. No appointment is needed. All bidding will be remote, either by phone, absentee online through Quinn’s website www.quinnsauction.com, or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers or Invaluable. For additional information about any item in the auction or to discuss a future consignment, call Andrew Shifler at Quinn’s, 703-532-5632 ext. 576; or email [email protected]. Visit Quinn’s online at www.quinnsauction.com.