Auctions | January 30, 2023

Washington, Lincoln, Adams & Jefferson Letters to Auction

RR Auction

Thomas Jefferson Autograph Document Signed on Public Arms

RR Auction's February Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction boasts over 850 rare and remarkable items and celebrates Presidents' Day with a special section featuring incredible presidential autographs, artifacts, and memorabilia.

Among these is a letter signed by Gen. George Washington four days before the Treaty of Paris. The Revolutionary War-dated one-page letter dated August 29, 1783. Letter to Lt. Col. Marinus Willett, sent from Rocky Hill (near Princeton), just before the signing of the Treaty of Paris, marked the formal end of the American Revolution. In it, Washington responds to the British refusal to surrender their Western posts. (Estimate: $50,000)

A handwritten letter by Mary Todd Lincoln implicating Andrew Johnson in her husband's assassination. The four-page handwritten note, March 15, 1866, to her friend Mrs. Sally Orne in Philadelphia, marked "Private," in part, "That miserable inebriate Johnson, had cognizance, of my husband's death."

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John Quincy Adams Autograph Letter Signed on Slave Trade

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Abraham Lincoln Autograph Endorsement Signed as President Promoting a Wounded Captain

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Mary Todd Lincoln Autograph Letter Signed on Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy

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George Washington Letter Signed (1783) on British Occupation

And important letters and documents signed by John Quincy Adams, that includes a one-page letter dated March 1, 1837. Handwritten note to abolitionist Benjamin Lundy in Philadelphia, publisher of The National Enquirer. Adams writes concerning "Slaves, Slavery and the Slave Trade" amidst international disputes with Great Britain.

Abraham Lincoln included an endorsement signed as President promoting a wounded Captain. The two-page historic autograph signed as president was originally penned on the reverse of a letter written to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and signed by more than 30 officers of the Pennsylvania Volunteers on June 24, 1864. President Lincoln endorses the promotion of a captain in the 82nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. (Estimate: $15,000+)

And Thomas Jefferson, in a one-page Revolutionary War-dated document as governor of Virginia, boldly penned and signed by Jefferson on October 31, 1780. Governor Jefferson calls upon the Virginia citizenry, intent on "recovering the public arms" for the local militia. (Estimate: $15,000+)

Other highlights in the sale include: a scarce Franz Kafka autograph letter; an ultra-rare 1765 Stamp Act blue-gray stamp; and several early and important Disney production drawings by acclaimed character animator Preston Blair.

The Fine Autograph and Artifacts Featuring Presidents sale from RR Auction will conclude February 8.