$60,000 Auction Estimate for Napoleon Letter Criticizing Tutor

A rare handwritten letter by Napoleon Bonaparte playfully criticizing his tutor's work is among 800 lots at RR Auction's Fine Autographs and Artifacts sale ending June 12.

The unsigned one-page letter in English - one of only three known - by Bonaparte is dated March 6, 1816 and addressed to French atlas-maker and author Emmanuel, comte de Las Cases, who accompanied Napoleon on his exile to Saint Helena. Addressed to "Sir Count Lascases," it humorously critiques Las Cases' celebrated atlas. The letter is accompanied by a hardcover edition of Las Cases' Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène in which the letter is referenced. It has an estimate of $60,000.

Other highlights include: 


* an unsigned one-page handwritten manuscript fragment by Isaac Newton, dating circa 1700, appears to be from an unpublished theological work (estimate: $10,000)

* Led Zeppelin II signed album, a rare UK vinyl pressing of the 1969 album signed by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, autographs obtained at Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland, on February 17, 1970 (estimate: $25,000)

* Bruce Lee signed membership card for his First Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute of Seattle, Washington. Signed boldly by Lee, the card is  graded by PSA/DNA as GEM MT 10 (estimate: $10,000)

*  a beautifully signed 1771 manuscript document by George Washington highlighting his role in land surveys, a significant part of his wealth accumulation (estimate: $8,000)

*  an 1864 presidential pardon warrant signed by Abraham Lincoln signed during the Civil War (estimate: $8,000)


*  a rare signed portrait of Albert Einstein, inscribed to Robert-Jean Longuet, the great-grandson of Karl Marx. The semi-glossy close-up photograph by Herman Landshoff has an estimate of $5,000

*  a presidential card signed by the Allied' Big Three', Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin