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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 103
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1212
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1211
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Typed Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 1209
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Chaim Weizmann on the Assassination of Russian Pogrom Organizer Plehve: A Pity He Didn't Die Years Ago
August 4, 1904
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1585
Russian Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plehve, a notorious pogrom organizer and tormentor of the Jews, had been killed the week before by a bomb. Upon hearing of his death, Chaim Weizmann only wished it had happened sooner.
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Grover Cleveland Worries He Cannot Bring His Baby Into Recently Quarantined White House After His Inauguration
February 20, 1893
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1967
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1464
Nixon sends a letter of condolence to the parents of William Schroeder, who was killed at the Kent State anti-war demonstration in May of 1970.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2377
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1272
One of Roosevelt's many jabs at Wilson, whom he labelled a coward for failing to declare war on Germany in 1915 after the sinking of the Lusitania.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 646
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Homesick General Eisenhower Writes of a WWII Visit to Jerusalem and Levant at Christmas
December 26, 1943
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 708
Homesick Eisenhower writes to his wife to thank her for Christmas gifts and to express his longing to see her. He omits his recent promotion as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 716
President John F. Kennedy's infant son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born prematurely and lived for 39 hours. Five days later, the president thanks his sister-in-law and husband for their support during this difficult time.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 719
Jack London tells a fan and possible relative that London is a common Jewish surname and he has often been approached by Jewish people inquiring if he is related to the Jewish contingent.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 728
Twenty seven years after making history at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright sets the record straight about three questions surrounding the first flight.
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Einstein, Working to Save Jews from Hitler, Discusses "Brown Book of Hitler Terror" and Personal Risk
July 20, 1933
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 794
Einstein discusses the Brown Book, an expose documenting, amongst other things, the oppression of Jews. The growing momentum of speaking out against Nazism was encouraging for Einstein, but he thought that it would be more impactful if the criticism came from "only foreign non-Jews." Einstein understood that with his high profile, his public condemnation of Germany would have deadly consequences for German Jews.
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Andrew Jackson Predicts Martin van Buren Will Win with a Greater Majority Than Any Since Washington
October 4, 1836
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 944
Andrew Jackson incorrectly predicts that his Vice President and chosen successor Martin van Buren would win the upcoming election by a landslide. Van Buren emerged victorious, but it was a close race.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 954
President John Tyler, writing to his wife amidst a "political storm," tells her that the Presidency is a prison, from which he can only escape for minutes.
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Pierce on His Favorite Portrait of Himself, That of His Dead Son, and Those of the First Five Presidents
June 7, 1854
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 962
Franklin Pierce writes to Francis Bicknell Carpenter, a renowned painter who would go on to achieve even greater fame with his paintings of Lincoln, especially of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation. Here, Pierce expresses the great satisfaction he and Mrs. Pierce take in Carpenter’s portrait of his dead son – painted from a daguerreotype following the boy's tragic death in 1853.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 965
President Franklin Pierce invites the prominent Philadelphia cleric, Henry A. Boardman, to visit at the White House, "that we may make some time under this roof a period of enjoyment." The Pierces, who lost their last surviving child in a train crash two years earlier, were still in mourning, and Pierce hoped Boardman's visit might bring some comfort to them.
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President Franklin Pierce Warmly Endorses the Kansas-Nebraska Act as "Demonstrably Right and Patriotic"
March 9, 1854
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 966
Pierce endorses the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed citizens of those states to decide if they wanted to retain slaves or not. This decision reversed the Missouri compromise of 1820 and sharply divided the nation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 979
Just seven months before this letter was penned, her beloved son and only surviving child, Bennie, was struck down before her eyes in a train wreck, in which he was the only fatality. Here she writes to her sister about family matters - but her tragic loss is never far from her thoughts.
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Typed Manuscript
30 pages
SMC 1012
The 1858 Senate report, which details the murder and rape of the Dickson family in their agricultural colony. The author, Jonathan Steinbeck was a descendent of members of the colony, and the "Outrages at Jaffa" is alluded to in his East of Eden. Herman Melville, inspired by the tragic events, wrote his epic poem Clarel.
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Account of Execution of Deserters at Beverly Ford Mentions Rabbi Praying With One of the Condemned Men
August 29, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 1026
Captain Jacob Winans writes to his father about the execution of deserters at Beverly Ford, mentioning the presence of a rabbi to pray with one of the convicted soldiers.
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Lincoln, Four Days After Son Willie's Death, Tells Sumner Mary Lincoln Needs His Help - "Can You Come?"
February 24, 1862
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1034
Four days after the death of his eleven year-old son Willie - and as his youngest son still lay seriously ill - a grieving Lincoln asks Mary Lincoln's close friend, Senator Charles Sumner, to call on his inconsolable wife.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1062
The railroad connecting the Atlantic to the Great Lakes was a cause for national celebration. It would extend the web of the railway network, contributing to the industrial boom in the United States, enlarging the markets while reducing shipping and production costs.
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Millard Fillmore Asks Lincoln for a Favor; On the Back of the Letter, Lincoln Takes Steps to Oblige Him
May 19, 1863
Autograph Endorsement Signed
1 page
SMC 1065
Former President Fillmore asks President Lincoln to intercede on behalf of his nephew, a disgraced lieutenant. On the verso of the letter, Lincoln takes steps to oblige Fillmore, but ultimately did not intervene in the case.
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Robert Todd Lincoln is Gratified That His Father's Name is Still Current and His Memory Respected
December 24, 1883
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1107
Robert Todd Lincoln is gratified to learn that a political club is named after his father. In this letter, he also declines to run for president.
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Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1108
When asked if Chester Arthur should be kept under heavy guard, Robert Todd Lincoln responds that if a deranged person wants to kill the president, "it is impossible to thoroughly guard against those classes of people."
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1124
Returning from Germany to the United States in the 1870s, General George McClellan speaks disparagingly of the Jewish people on board, and his success in distancing himself from the "children of Jacob."
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A Union Officer in the Field Describes the Reaction to News of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination
April 20, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1128
Here, an Ohio lieutenant, serving in Alabama, describes how the troops there received, and took, "news of the shocking murder of our president."
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On His Penultimate Day in Office, President Ulysses S. Grant Announces His Intention to Travel the Globe
March 2, 1877
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1142
Just before setting off on a two-year world tour, Grant arranges for bank dividends to be sent to his son and namesake, U.S. Grant, Jr. so that the latter can manage his affairs during the world tour.
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Lucretia Garfield On How Her Husband's Portents at Chicago Convention Foreshadowed His "Fateful Ending"
November 19, 1881
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1150
Lucretia Garfield, President Garfield's widow, writes two months to the day after his death, still in disbelief. She shares with her correspondent that "the spirit of prophecy fell upon" her late husband, with many of his utterances now coming back to her as eerily foreshadowing his own demise.
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About to Marry, President Grover Cleveland Longs to Live Away from the White House "Like Other People"
December 13, 1885
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1162
President Cleveland writes to his fiance Frances Folsom about many overwhelming social aspects of being in the White House, and longs to live away from it with her in a "small house" like normal people.
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Grover Cleveland, the Only President to Be Married in the White House, Writes His Bride About Wedding
May 23, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1164
Love letter from President Grover Cleveland to his secret fiance, Frances Folsom, outlining every detail of their upcoming nuptials in the White House.
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Secretary of Navy Long: President William McKinley, "Acute and Wise," Will Not Seek Third Term
June 11, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1186
In this private note to his daughter, in which he discusses, amongst other things, a birthday present for his daughter, Naval Secretary John Long reveals that President William McKinley will absolutely not be seeking a third term.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1276
Theodore Roosevelt expresses his admiration for Abraham Lincoln and wishes to emulate him in championing the cause of the common people.
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Signed Drawing
1 page
SMC 1452
Likely one of Kennedy's last watercolors, inscribed and gifted to Dot Tubridy, a close family friend of the Kennedys.
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Lyndon B. Johnson Writes to the Parents of Astronaut Gus Grissom, Killed in the Apollo I Fire
January 31, 1967
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1459
President Johnson loved the Space Program; loved the astronauts; loved awarding Gus Grissom NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, for being the first American to fly into space twice. Burying Grissom, and his comrades, was a bitter responsibility – which he followed, still, with personal letters of condolence.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1462
Though Harry Truman called Richard Nixon a lying bastard, Nixon writes to Truman's nephew (and namesake) and tells him their differences were not personal, and that he should be proud of his heritage.
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President Benjamin Harrison Discusses a Letter Written by his Grandfather, William Henry Harrison
May 25, 1892
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1235
President Benjamin Harrison thanks Curtis Guild, Sr., a collector, for sending him a copy of a letter written by his grandfather, William Henry Harrison. The President is pleased to have obtained a letter of "great family interest."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1238
President Benjamin Harrison writes to his aunt, and tells her that with not a soul in the White House but himself, it is "very lonesome."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1250
Roosevelt writes to his friend and family physician Dr. Alexander Lambert, whose father had recently passed away.
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Theodore Roosevelt Bitterly Regrets Being Forced to Sit Through WWI At Home "In Comfort and Safety"
August 14, 1918
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1253
Roosevelt has lost one son to the Great War, and two have been badly injured in it. He can't stand the idea that his sons have been put in harm's way, whilst he remains at home, and finds it terrible that the war takes the young. Roosevelt also finds it "more terrible, of course, if the young fear to face death in a great crisis for a great cause."
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William T. Sherman Recalls His Trip to the Levant, and Teases His Lady Friend About Harem Life
January 20, 1890
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1587
William T. Sherman writes to Mary Audenried, teasingly warning her that travelling in the Middle East is especially hazardous to women, and that she could find herself in a harem. Sherman insists that western women are treated more as equals than women in the Levant.
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Grover Cleveland Complains of an Avalanche of Unwelcome Invitations, As He Plans a Pleasure Trip Out of Town
August 18, 1887
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1622
Grover Cleveland expresses his exasperation for the niceties and public appearances necessitated by being the President of the United States, and says he's as "cross as a bear."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1740
President John F. Kennedy writes to eight-year-old Aine Tubridy to thank her for her picture of a painting he made of the Kennedy compound at Palm Beach, Florida.
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John Wild Bets the Black Hills Gold Rush - Set Off by Custer's Discovery of Gold There in 1864 - is a Bust
February 6, 1876
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1752
John Wild is willing to bet that those flocking to find fortune in the Black Hills "will be disappointed by going there."
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1759
Grant marvels at Egypt's antiquity, at "ruins that have been standing - as ruins - some of them, for many ages before the beginning of the Christian era." This causes Grant to find Egypt more interesting than any other place he has visited.
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First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Two Weeks After McKinley's Death: "Life Does Not Seem Very Simple Just Now"
September 27, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1778
Two weeks after President McKinley's death and Theodore Roosevelt's assumption of the presidency, First Lady Edith Roosevelt thanks a friend in Boston for her warm wishes, and confides in her that "Life does not seem very simple just now."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1782
Einstein declines an invitation to join Weltstaatliga (World State League), explaining that he can no longer participate in German public endeavors after the genocide of the Jews.
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Albert Einstein Renounces German Citizenship;"I Will Not Be Returning to Germany, Perhaps Never Again"
March 28, 1933
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1792
Albert Einstein writes to his son from aboard the Belgenland, where he has learned that Hitler had given orders to ransack not only his Berlin apartment, but also his summer cottage. He decides whilst onboard to renounce his German citizenship, and tells his son that he will likely never return to Germany again.
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President McKinley’s Secretary Cancels McKinley's Engagements "Owing to Mrs. McKinley's Serious Illness"
June 4, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1861
McKinley’s devoted secretary, George Cortelyou regrets to cancel President McKinley's appearance at Harvard University, "owing to Mrs. McKinley's serious illness."
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Titanic Postcard: Rare Postcard From the Titanic - Sent at Beginning of Voyage; Ship "A Peach," In NY "Next Tuesday"
April 11, 1912
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1893
Charlie Shorney writes to his father from the Titanic, telling him that the sea is calm, the ship is a "peach," and that he will be in New York next week. Charlie went down with the ship, and his body was never recovered.
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President James Garfield's Assassin, Charles Guiteau, Convicted and in Jail, Declares He is Not a Lunatic
April 11, 1882
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1907
Here the disagreeable, disputatious, and insane assassin of President Garfield, Charles Guiteau, declares he is not a lunatic, and that the woman, his sister who raised him, and the brother-in-law who acted as his lawyer at his trial, are nuisances, with whom he, a convicted assassin awaiting execution in jail, wants nothing to do.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1928
President William Henry Harrison's secretary, Henry Harrison, writes to his father, Benjamin Harrison, to inform him of the impending death of the President.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 113
Charles Gordon reveals that he will be going to Palestine. There, he will fulfill a cherished ambition, searching to establish authoritatively the locations of the site of the crucifixion, the line of division between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, the identification of Gibeon, and the whereabouts of Christ’s tomb.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 116
President McKinley's secretary, George Cortelyou thanks the Mayor of San Francisco on behalf of the McKinleys for all the help they received when Mrs. McKinley had taken ill out West.
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Custer: "Libbie Bacon is the Fortunate, or Unfortunate Person...Who Will Unite Her Destinies With Mine."
December 19, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 126
General Custer writes to his friend, Judge Christiancy, to share with him a secret: He will be returning to Monroe, Michigan in a few months to be married. Inadvertently foreshadowing his death and Libbie's misfortune, Custer jokingly tells Christiancy that Libbie, who would "unite her destinies" with Custer's, is "fortunate, or unfortunate."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 128
In Washington, President Woodrow Wilson, writing on the letterhead of his Cornish, N.H. estate at Harlakenden, reports to his daughters, whom he left behind in Cornish, that the White House is the most "empty and forlorn" house imaginable.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 131
President Lyndon B. Johnson's letter of condolence to the parents of Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut who died in the Apollo I fire.
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Former President William Howard Taft Rejoices in Averting Another Run: "I Have Served My Time"
November 19, 1919
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 134
William Howard Taft is relieved to finally be a private citizen and does not seek to be reelected to the office of the presidency.
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President Harry Truman Says "It Will Be a Relief to Get Out of Washington" At the End of His Term
January 9, 1953
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 154
As Truman winds down his time in the White House, he confides to the mother of one of his best staffers that "it will be a relief to get out of Washington."
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In Refusing a Parole, Lincoln Notes That Federal Prisoners Are Being "Frozen and Starved" in Libby Prison
March 3, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 162
Here, Lincoln replies to a request from his wife Mary’s cousin, Lyman Todd, that he cannot "enlarge on parole" a Colonel Smith. Such a thing would set a precedent, he says, upon which nearly all the prisoners held by the Union might act – and this, in the face of how the Confederacy was treating Federal prisoners, is completely unacceptable.
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Union Soldier After Gettysburg: "We Will Whip Lee's Army So That He Will Not be Fit to Do Anything More"
July 6, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 168
A letter from a Union soldier to his family after the battle of Gettysburg. He lists missing soldiers, and reports the numbers of dead, wounded, and missing.
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Three Days Before He is Assassinated, Abraham Lincoln Orders the Discharge of a Sickly Boy from the Army
April 11, 1865
Autograph Note Signed
4 pages
SMC 211
Three days before he will be shot and killed, Lincoln responds to a friend’s letter beseeching his help in arranging the discharge of a sickly boy from the army.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 229
Two months before Lincoln's assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln invites some of Washington's most famous socialites to Ford's Theatre to watch the brother-in-law of John Wilkes Booth perform.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 281
Samuel Clemens writes to his daughter Jean about the new house, "Innocence at Home," President Grover Cleveland's morality and abilities, and the doctor's orders for her epilepsy.
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Prime Minister Winston Churchill on Orde Wingate: A Man of Genius Who Might Have Become a Man of Destiny
September 10, 1944
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 293
On his way to the second Quebec conference, Winston Churchill remembers that a year ago, he, Orde, and Lorna Wingate were on their way to the first conference. Churchill offers his condolences to the newly-widowed Lorna.
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From Prison, a Defiant Alfred Dreyfus Writes to his Family Swearing to Clear His Name
January 14, 1895
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 295
Alfred Dreyfus writes to his family from prison, and attempts to lead his family by example by keeping his head held high and not weakening in the fight to clear his name from the stain of treason.
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Letter From Gettysburg Battlefield, July 4th, 1863: Union Soldier Hopes "This Battle Will End the War"
July 4, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 299
Writing to his mother on the fourth of July, Private Strouss tells his her that he is alive, unharmed, and although unsure who has won, he hopes that "this Battle will end the war" so that he may return home.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 341
Ahead of his trip to Ireland, President Kennedy reassures his close friend Dot Tubridy that she will be included in all presidential functions.
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President John F. Kennedy On His Historic Trip to Ireland: "It Couldn't Have Been Better. We Loved It."
July 9, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 342
John F. Kennedy writes to his close friend Dot Tubridy to tell her how much he enjoyed his trip to Ireland and seeing her.
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Abraham Lincoln's Famous Civil War Condolence Letter to Young Fanny McCullough About Loss and Memory
December 23, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 346
Written to Fanny McCullough on the loss of her father, Abraham Lincoln makes a very rare reference to his mother's death when he was a boy. Lincoln, too, was dealing with more recent grief, having buried his son earlier that year. This letter was written a week after the battle of Fredericksburg, which claimed the lives of over 1500 men, including Fanny's father.
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Zachary Taylor Invites Relatives to the White House, Where He Will Die of "Too Many Cherries & Too Much Cold Milk"
March 20, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 372
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Chaim Weizmann to Lorna Wingate on the Jewish Brigade: "There is No Shortcut to Jerusalem"
January 23, 1941
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 375
Chaim Weizmann tells Lorna Wingate that the Jewish Brigade, and future army, is a long game, and will come with hard work and fortitude.
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Chaim Weizmann in 1943: "Nothing Short of a Miracle if We Do Get Something Out of this War"
December 10, 1943
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 376
Writing during World War Two, Chaim Weizmann assures Lorna Wingate that her husband Orde is on the mend after a bout of typhoid. In the interim, he comments that many things are happening in Palestine that would provoke the British, though he hopes they will not allow themselves to be provoked. It would be "nothing short of a miracle if we do get something out of this war," he ruefully remarks.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 377
Chaim Weizmann writes to Orde Wingate's widow, Lorna, about the upcoming dates for a memorial service for her husband in the Great Synagogues in London and Jerusalem.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 378
Chaim Weizmann agrees to stand as Godfather to the son of Major General Orde Wingate, Orde Jonathan Wingate.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 379
Chaim Weizmann writes to Lorna Wingate, the widow of Major-General Orde Wingate, to tell her that the British government finally approved the creation of the Jewish Brigade. Weizmann's feelings are mixed, though, as Wingate - who died five months earlier - would have made this Brigade "a powerful force."
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Eisenhower's Trip to Ohrdruf Concentration Camp: "I Never Dreamed... It Was Horrible."
April 15, 1945
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 393
General Eisenhower writes to his wife, after seeing the Ohrdruf concentration camp, that he never dreamt that such cruelty could exist in this world. Poignantly, he mentions that many American soldiers do not seem to know what they are fighting for. Eisenhower ordered every unit not on the front lines to tour the camp, and writes here "now, at least, he will know what he is fighting against."
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Ulysses S. Grant Tries to Lose the Anti-Semite Label Engendered to Him by His Infamous “Jew Order”
August 14, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 394
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Harry Truman Looks at the Potsdam Conference 12 Years Later: An Astonishing Appraisal of What Went Wrong
April 8, 1957
Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 429
Knowing that his papers would be released for reporters to examine his version of the Potsdam Conference twelve years prior, Harry Truman paints a revisionist history of what happened and what went wrong.
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Abraham Lincoln's Check to His Son, Robert Lincoln, to Equip Him For Service Under Grant
February 20, 1865
Check Signed
1 page
SMC 456
Check from Abraham Lincoln to his son, Robert Todd Lincoln. The president had finally allowed his son to serve in the war, and made sure he was sent to General Grant. This check was to ensure that his son was properly kitted out for war.
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Mourning Daughter Susy, Mark Twain Describes His Family Life as Adrift, Indifferent, and Derelict
January 19, 1897
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 484
Mark Twain describes the listlessness of his family life since the sudden death of his daughter Susy. Whereas once they had a charted course, now they are adrift. And what is more, they are "derelict" and indifferent to their plight.
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Alfred Dreyfus Thanks Senator Leopold Thezard Who Challenged the Refusal to Allow His Wife to Join Him in Exile
November 9, 1905
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 512
Alfred Dreyfus thanks French Senator, Leopold Thezard, who was also a professor of law at Poitiers University, for his support. Thezard argued against the illegality of the French government to deny Lucie Dreyfus the right to join her husband in exile.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 518
President Andrew Jackson describes himself as"very lonesome" in the White House. Though he was surrounded by many family members, it his his wife, Rachel, whom Jackson desperately misses.
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Early John F. Kennedy Letter About the Death of His Brother Joe, Which Would Propel Him Into Politics
September 1, 1944
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 524
This letter thanking Miss Forbush for her condolences and prayers on the occasion of Joe Jr.'s death in World War II marks the beginning of John F. Kennedy's shouldering the mantle of his father's political aspirations.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 550
Writing a fortnight after the death of his favorite son, Quentin, Theodore Roosevelt admits his difficulty, and remarks that "the old should not live when the young die."
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The Day He Dies, Lincoln Writes a Pass to Richmond for Wife of the Doctor Who Would Attend His Death-Bed
April 14, 1865
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 575
Lincoln issues a pass for Mrs. Alice Stone to travel to Richmond; by that night her husband, the Lincoln family physician, would be attending at Lincoln’s deathbed.
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Franklin Pierce Describes Nathaniel Hawthorne's Last Night Alive on Their Trip to New England
May 19, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 583
Former President Pierce tells the story of his friend, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne's demise, detailing their last trip and the epic moment of Pierce’s discovery of his death.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 592
Responding to his son's request for a loan, former President Tyler tells his son that between medical bills, providing for his own growing family and supporting his own brother, he doesn't have much to give, but is prepared to help, should his son not be able to secure a loan from a friend.
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Signed Book
1 page
SMC 2384
A rare inscribed reprint of Innocents Abroad inscribed by Twain to his wife, Livy. In the past thirty years, only one other book transcribed by Twain to his wife has appeared. This double-volume edition is premium; bound in morocco and gilt.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2419
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Lincoln Asks General Grant as a Friend, for a Favor: Find a Place for His Son, Robert, on His Staff
January 19, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1548
In order to broker a compromise between his wife, who had already buried two sons, and Robert Todd, who desperately wished to experience the war, Lincoln writes to Grant, not as President, but as a friend, asking him to find a place on his staff for Robert to serve. Lincoln asks merely for his son to be given a nominal rank and that Lincoln himself, and not the public, would furnish his necessary means.
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Abraham Lincoln's Scarce Reference to Deaths of Mother and Sister, With Accompanying Poem About Memory
April 18, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1553
In all of Abraham Lincoln's surviving letters, he only mentions the death of his mother twice, and the loss of his sister once; both are mentioned here. Lincoln also includes a poem he wrote on the occasion of returning to his home state twenty years after he departed it.
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Grover Cleveland, Recovering From Secret Cancer Surgery, Reports He is "Getting to be Quite a Drunkard"
December 17, 1893
Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 1970
Recovering from his secret cancer surgery aboard a yacht a few months prior, Grover Cleveland reports to his physician and dear friend that he is having "a couple of drinks of whiskey a day, with very good results; and I smoke a cigar every day too."
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Former First Lady Frances Cleveland Reports Ailing Grover Cleveland is "Breaking Up Generally"
December 4, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 2018
Although Grover Cleveland seems to be on the mend, with his "temperature, pulse & respiration" now normal, Frances Cleveland is still a bit distraught over her husband's slow recovery. He still has "trouble with his gut" and is perturbed that he's not gaining strength. It appears he's "breaking up generally." Cleveland would live for another seven years.
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Theodore Roosevelt Lambasts Woodrow Wilson for Refusing to Let Him Lead a Division in World War I
June 11, 1917
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2022
Fifty-nine year old, arthritic, overweight Theodore Roosevelt lambasts President Woodrow Wilson for refusing to allow him to lead a division in World War I, calling it Wilson's inability to "rise above the cheapest kind of party politics."
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Mary Surratt's Daughter Petitions Andrew Johnson for the Return of Her Mother's Remains
February 5, 1869
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2033
Mary Surratt was hanged as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. She was also the first woman executed by the United States government. Here, her daughter, Anna, successfully petitions President Andrew Johnson for the return of her body.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 2038
Lincoln, who always liked to give his son Tad special gifts, asks here for two maps for his son.
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General Custer Wants Brother Who Would Die With Him at Little Bighorn Appointed a Second Lieutenant
March 14, 1872
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 2054
General Custer unsuccessfully requests that his youngest brother, Boston, be appointed second lieutenant in the Seventh Cavalry. Boston was not even admitted to the US army, due to his frail health. Custer ensured his brother was with him, and ultimately died with him, by appointing him as a scout.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 2076
The iconic photograph of Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated; inscribed to Cecil Stoughton, the photographer.
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Ephemera
2 pages
SMC 2077
This rare, early Directory, in which both Clemens and his brother Orion are listed, records for posterity those two months - beginning October 1, 1861 - when "Samuel Clemens" worked as a dollar-a-day clerk for his brother, during the long opening session of the Nevada Territorial Legislature.
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