RR Auction: Fine Autograph and Artifact Auction Featuring Presidents

Auction Details

In honor of Washington's Birthday, RR Auction's February Fine Autograph and Artifact sale opens with a remarkable assortment of nearly 200 presidential autographs, highlighted by an excessively rare William Henry Harrison document as president, an autograph letter by LBJ to the Speaker of the House, and a significant selection of free franks. Other top lots include an extraordinary signed portrait of James Joyce, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's personal ledger, an Einstein letter on a childhood game, and Warren Buffett's personal set of golf clubs. The Beatles, Apollo 11 astronauts, Charles Schulz, Marilyn Monroe, and Babe Ruth round out our pop culture offerings. RR Auction is a globally recognized and trusted auction house specializing in historical autographs and artifacts. Join us as we make history selling history in February 2019.
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
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Cecil Day-Lewis506Cecil Day-Lewis
RR Auction
Irish poet (1904–1972) who was the British Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death. Handwritten poem by Cecil Day-Lewis entitled "Where are the...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Walter de la Mare507Walter de la Mare
RR Auction
English poet, short story writer and novelist (1873–1956) who is best remembered for his works for children, the poem The Listeners, and for subtle ps
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Hannah Flagg Gould508Hannah Flagg Gould
RR Auction
Massachusetts poet who is perhaps best known for her poem entitled 'A Name in the Sand.' Scarce handwritten poem by Hannah Flagg Gould entit...
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00
Bret Harte509Bret Harte
RR Auction
Four lines of verse by esteemed writer and poet Bret Harte, penned in purple ink on an off-white 5.5 x 8.25 sheet. The poem, in full: "And on t...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr510Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
RR Auction
ALS signed “O. W. Holmes,” two pages both sides, 4.5 x 7, January 15, 1864. In part: "When I wrote 'To Canaan' I sent it to Fields, who...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Julia Ward Howe511Julia Ward Howe
RR Auction
Handsome 7.5 x 9.5 print of John Elliott's 1901 chalk portrait of Howe, signed below in black ink, "Julia Ward Howe, March. 1902." Mou...
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00
John Irving512John Irving
RR Auction
Signed book: The World According to Garp. First edition, first printing. NY: E. P. Dutton, 1978. Hardcover with dust jacket, 6.75 x 9.5, 437 pages. Si
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Washington Irving513Washington Irving
RR Auction
ALS signed “W. Irving,” one page, 4.5 x 6.75, February 21, 1820. Letter to Thomas S. Norgate, in full: "I am preparing for an excursion into th...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Washington Irving: Charles Dudley Warner514Washington Irving: Charles Dudley Warner
RR Auction
American essayist, novelist, and friend of Mark Twain (1829–1900). AMS signed "Chas. Dudley Warner," five pages, 5.5 x 9, comprising his e...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
James Jones515James Jones
RR Auction
American novelist (1921–1977) who won the 1952 National Book Award for his first published novel, From Here to Eternity. Two items signed by Jones: a
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Harper Lee516Harper Lee
RR Auction
ALS signed “Harper,” one page both sides, 5.25 x 7.5, personal letterhead, March 28, 2009. Letter to her friend Felice Itzkoff, in full: "You &...
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00
Sinclair Lewis517Sinclair Lewis
RR Auction
TLS, one page, 8.5 x 11, May 5, 1941. Letter to Atwood H. Townsend, chairman of the Committee on College Reading at New York University. In full: &q...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Jack London518Jack London
RR Auction
Bank of Hawaii check, 6.5 x 2.75, filled out and signed by London, payable to Hawaiian Gazette Co. for $1.00, June 25, 1915. Encapsulated in a plastic
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Thomas Mann519Thomas Mann
RR Auction
ALS in German, one page both sides, 8.5 x 10.5, personal letterhead, July 9, 1936. Letter to a fellow doctor, in part (translated): "The desire...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Thomas Mann520Thomas Mann
RR Auction
TLS in German, one page, 8.5 x 11, November 7, 1954. Letter to Alice K. Orlan, in part (translated): "Obviously, you have read The Deceived in ...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
John Masefield521John Masefield
RR Auction
Typed poem by John Masefield entitled in his own hand, "Seaman's Prayer," one page, 8 x 10.25, signed at the conclusion by Masefield. ...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
W. Somerset Maugham522W. Somerset Maugham
RR Auction
Two TQSs, signed "W. Somerset Maugham," on individual off-white sheets. In the first, he comments on "Modern Poets," in full: &q...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
W. Somerset Maugham523W. Somerset Maugham
RR Auction
Souvenir typescript, one page, 8.5 x 11, signed at the bottom in fountain pen, "W. Somerset Maugham." An excerpt from A Writer's Noteb...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
James Michener524James Michener
RR Auction
American author of frequent bestsellers (1907–1997) best known for Tales of the South Pacific, Hawaii, The Drifters, The Fires of Spring, Alaska, and
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Robin Moore525Robin Moore
RR Auction
Signed book: The French Connection. First edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969. Hardcover with dust jacket, 5.75 x 8.5, 309 pages. Signed
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Sean O'Casey526Sean O'Casey
RR Auction
ALS signed “Sean,” one page both sides of a light blue 7.75 x 9.5 aerogramme, September 10, 1956. Letter to Mr. Jo Young at the Kansas State Teachers
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Eugene O'Neill527Eugene O'Neill
RR Auction
Signed book: The Emperor Jones. First edition, limited issue, numbered 614/775. NY: Boni & Liveright, 1928. Hardcover, 7.75 x 10.25, 90 pages. S...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Eugene O'Neill and Theodore Dreiser528Eugene O'Neill and Theodore Dreiser
RR Auction
First issue of The American Spectator: A Literary Newspaper from November 1932, four pages, 17.5 x 22.5, signed in fountain pen by its five editors an
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
James Whitcomb Riley529James Whitcomb Riley
RR Auction
Four lines of verse penned by James Whitcomb Riley on an off-white 6 x 3 sheet, signed and dated below, "J. W. Riley, New York, Nov. 26, —1887—...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Edwin Arlington Robinson530Edwin Arlington Robinson
RR Auction
AQS on a vellum 7 x 9 sheet, signed at the conclusion, "Edwin Arlington Robinson, July 1, 1930." Robinson quotes from his Pulitzer Prize–w...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Carl Sandburg531Carl Sandburg
RR Auction
TLS, one page, 8.5 x 5.5, The Chicago Daily News, Editorial Rooms letterhead, January 14, 1922. Letter to poet and Smith College professor Grace Hazar
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Arthur Schnitzler532Arthur Schnitzler
RR Auction
Austrian writer (1862–1931) best known for his sexually charged plays and stories. His 1926 novella Traumnovelle served as the basis for Eyes Wide Shu
Estimate : 800.00 - 1,000.00
Maurice Sendak533Maurice Sendak
RR Auction
Signed book: The Bat-Poet. Later printing. New York and London: Macmillan, 1964. Hardcover with dust jacket, 6.5 x 9.25, 43 pages. Signed on the first
Estimate : 300.00 - 500.00
Maurice Sendak534Maurice Sendak
RR Auction
Color 18.5 x 24 poster featuring a Wild Thing made for the tenth anniversary of the New York Book Fair in 1988, signed and inscribed in blue felt tip,
Estimate : 300.00 - 500.00
Maurice Sendak535Maurice Sendak
RR Auction
Signed book: Where the Wild Things Are. 25th Anniversary Edition. NY: HarperCollins, 1984. Hardcover with dust jacket, 10.25 x 9.25. Signed on the hal
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Ernest H. Shepard536Ernest H. Shepard
RR Auction
Christmas card apparently originally sent by the Dumas family featuring a printed Christmas tree scene, 7.25 x 3.5, signed at the top in black ballpoi
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Edith Sitwell537Edith Sitwell
RR Auction
Uncommon handwritten poem by Edith Sitwell entitled "A Young Girl's Song," one page both sides, 8 x 13, signed in the upper right corn...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Betty Smith538Betty Smith
RR Auction
American author (1896–1972) remembered for her classic 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. AQS on an off-white 5 x 5.5 album page, signed below in bl
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Robert Penn Warren539Robert Penn Warren
RR Auction
ALS, one page, 8.5 x 10.5, March 20, 1954. Letter to Harry Ford of Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, in part: "I'm distressed to be so late in wr...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
John Greenleaf Whittier540John Greenleaf Whittier
RR Auction
Handwritten poem by John Greenleaf Whittier on an off-white 4 x 3 sheet, signed and dated at the conclusion, "John G. Whittier, 12th 6 Jne, 186...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Laura Ingalls Wilder541Laura Ingalls Wilder
RR Auction
Unsigned first edition book: These Happy Golden Years. First edition. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1943. Hardcover with dust jacket, 5.75 x 8.25, 299 ...
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Thornton Wilder542Thornton Wilder
RR Auction
ALS, one page on a 3.5 x 5.5 photo postcard depicting the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza, March 11, [no year]. Letter to critic and arts theorist
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Thornton Wilder and Rockwell Kent543Thornton Wilder and Rockwell Kent
RR Auction
Colophon from the 1929 limited edition of The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one page, 8 x 11, signed in fountain pen by author Thornton Wilder and illustrat
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Tennessee Williams544Tennessee Williams
RR Auction
Souvenir typescript from the production notes for The Glass Menagerie, one page, 8.25 x 8.75, signed at the conclusion in blue ballpoint by Williams.
Estimate : 200.00 - 400.00
Samuel Barber545Samuel Barber
RR Auction
Composer (1910–1981) whose Adagio for Strings is widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music. AMQS on a beige 5.25 x 3.25 gilt-edged car
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00
Hector Berlioz546Hector Berlioz
RR Auction
ALS in French, one page, 4.5 x 7, December 3, 1836. In full (translated): "I am enclosing herewith, sir, the ticket for a box seat with my sinc...
Estimate : 800.00 - 1,200.00
Georges Enesco547Georges Enesco
RR Auction
Noted Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, and teacher (1881–1955). AMQS on an off-white 5 x 3.25 card, signed and dated below in fountai
Estimate : 300.00 - 500.00
Charles Gounod548Charles Gounod
RR Auction
French composer (1818–1893) best remembered for his composition of 'Ave Maria.' Desirable handwritten musical manuscript in pencil, one page...
Estimate : 300.00 - 500.00
Alan Hovhaness549Alan Hovhaness
RR Auction
Armenian-American composer (1911–2000) who ranks among the most prolific of the 20th century. Fantastic full-page AMQS on an off-white 7.75 x 10.5 mus
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00
Pietro Mascagni550Pietro Mascagni
RR Auction
Very appealing AMQS on an off-white 10.5 x 6 sheet, signed below in fountain pen, "P. Mascagni, Chicago 21 Decemb. 1902," who pens four ba...
Estimate : 300.00 - 500.00
Jacques Offenbach551Jacques Offenbach
RR Auction
French composer (1819–1880) best known for his popular stage works, most notably Orpheus in the Underworld (including the famous 'Can-Can') ...
Estimate : 300.00 - 500.00
Giacomo Puccini552Giacomo Puccini
RR Auction
Wonderful AMQS on an off-white 5.75 x 3.5 Italian autograph postcard, signed below in fountain pen, "Giacomo Puccini, 1917," who adds four...
Estimate : 2,000.00 - 3,000.00
Sergei Rachmaninoff553Sergei Rachmaninoff
RR Auction
Exceptional vintage pearl-finish 7.25 x 9.25 portrait of Rachmaninoff by the Kubey–Rembrandt Studios of Philadelphia, signed and inscribed in white in
Estimate : 1,000.00 - 1,500.00
Sergei Rachmaninoff554Sergei Rachmaninoff
RR Auction
Program for an "International Celebrity Subscription Concert" presented by Harold Holt in the 1937–38 season, 6.5 x 8.25, signed inside in...
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00
Camille Saint-Saens555Camille Saint-Saens
RR Auction
Lovely AMQS on an off-white 7.25 x 9 sheet, signed and inscribed in French in black ink, "C. Saint-Saens, Geneva, Juillet 1892," who adds ...
Estimate : 400.00 - 600.00