Auction Industry

Stunning collection of historical letters, autographs & manuscripts going up for auction

By Art Daily

Published on Jul 14, 20

A Henry VIII rare document signed as King of England, dated 12 July 1514, to Sir Robert Dymoke, Treasurer of the town of Tournay (Tournai). In the document, 23-year-old Henry VIII orders Sir Robert Dymoke, the "King Champion" at his coronation, to make payment on behalf of England and the occupied French town of Tournay (Tournai). — A Henry VIII rare document signed as King of England, dated 12 July 1514, to Sir Robert Dymoke, Treasurer of the town of Tournay (Tournai). In the document, 23-year-old Henry VIII orders Sir Robert Dymoke, the “King Champion” at his coronation, to make payment on behalf of England and the occupied French town of Tournay (Tournai).

LOS ANGELES, CA.-Profiles in History announced a stunning collection of historical letters, autographs and manuscripts will be going up for auction on July 23rd in Los Angeles.

Many are from the collection of multiple Emmy Award-winning writer and television producer William J. Bell.

Highlights include:

• A Vladimir Ilyich Lenin rare and important handwritten letter, dated 1 November 1911, written to the Czech Social-Democratic leader Anton Nemec in Prague. The letter concerns organizing the famous All-Russia Conference of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party in Prague — a milestone event in the development of Communism.

• A George Washington historic handwritten letter as Commander of the Continental Army, dated 28 January 1781, written “To The Officer Commandg. the Jersey Troops at Pompton”. Washington writes as Commander of the Continental Army: “…the Pennsylvania troops have crossed the Delaware.”

• A Joseph Stalin rare handwritten letter signed as Secretary-General of the Communist Party, dated 20 May 1931. Early in his massive push to industrialize Russia, Stalin writes influential Soviet propaganda author Marietta Sergeevna Shaginyan to say that, although he is much too busy to comment on her new novel, Hydrocentral, he can have publication sped up and hostile critics silenced.

• A Thomas Jefferson handwritten letter to future President and fellow Virginian James Monroe, dated 16 January 1811.

• An Abraham Lincoln handwritten endorsement as President, dated 7 March 1864. Lincoln directs Attorney General Edward Bates to draft a special pardon for Willard M. Randolph “an Attorney for the Rebel Government, but now taking the oath and going to work to carry the free-state Constitution…”

• A Henry VIII rare document signed as King of England, dated 12 July 1514, to Sir Robert Dymoke, Treasurer of the town of Tournay (Tournai). In the document, 23-year-old Henry VIII orders Sir Robert Dymoke, the “King Champion” at his coronation, to make payment on behalf of England and the occupied French town of Tournay (Tournai).

• A Franklin D. Roosevelt typed World War II-dated letter signed as President. Dated 20 January 1945, Roosevelt writes to “General Douglas MacArthur about meeting writer Robert Sherwood who will bring home to the American people and Allied Nations “the vital importance of the continuing operations in the war against Japan.”

• A Dwight D. Eisenhower typed signed letter as Supreme Allied Commander. Dated 8 June 1944 (just two days after D-Day), Eisenhower writes: “The United Nations have made a landing on the soil of France. This is the beginning of the next phase to liberate the peoples of Europe who have now suffered under Nazi oppression for nearly five years…”

• A Winston Churchill World War II-date typed letter signed as Prime Minister with accompanying signed portrait. Dated 10 December 1944, written to English portrait artist Frank O. Salisbury in which Churchill requests an image of the portrait Salisbury rendered of Churchill wearing his blue siren suit.

• A Benito Mussolini handwritten signed telegram, dated 29 December 1943, written to German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring asking that he “remove the Anglo Saxon enemy out of the sunlight of our country” and be the “defender and Savior of Rome”.

• A 26-page document signed 32 times by Empress Josephine, being the evaluation the estate of her first husband, General Alexandre de Beauharnais, who was guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Dated 7 March through 17 May 1796, Josephine married Napoleon Bonaparte two days after this evaluation began.

• Original Mercury spacecraft blueprint signed by Mercury Astronauts Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra and Gordon Cooper.

• A 51-page handwritten manuscript by Russian Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (first man to walk in space) of the Apollo-Soyuz Mission prepared for the book Soyuz-Apollo.

• Claude Monet handwritten letter postmarked March 1897, to art collector & dealer Maurice Joyant asking whether Gustave Geffroy, writer on Impressionism, is in Paris and whether the dinner will take place that evening.

• A World War II – Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal Japanese Flag and oversize photograph each signed by Japanese War Trial prisoners.