Alfred Van Loen, New York / Germany, (1924-1994) untitled contour line nude studies, ink on paper signed and dated lower right. Bio from 1st Dibs: This set is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. It speaks to the horrors of slavery and the joys of freedom. it was created during the civil rights movement and while his personal history was of the horrors of World War II, I believe this might also reference the African American experience. Alfred Van Loen was a prolific artist whose career spanned a half century. He was born in 1924 in Oberhausen-Osterfeld, Germany and sent to Holland to be educated. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Amsterdam. He immigrated to the United States following World War II and taught art at Vassar, Hunter College and Columbia University. He taught at C.W. Post for over 20 years. His work is characterized by a spiritual connection to nature. Van Loen's reputation is built on his works as a direct carver a sculptor who carves into stone or marble without preliminary blueprints, models or drawings. Van Loen is a man in love with the materials. He is an artist who is part scientist, part architect, part explorer and part inventor. Van Loen further isolated himself from the cultural capital and "the sickness of the art world in New York City." Since then, Van Loen has become a bigger star in a smaller galaxy, with a devoted following of patrons and students. Whether casting medals, drawing in unbroken lines (similar to those of Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder), painting in watercolors or carving stones and wood, Van Loen is the quintessential craftsman. The real Van Loen is in all of his work. He finds endless lines of continuity and form in the trees and birds and plants that surround him. His two lives. One begins in Germany, where he was born in 1924. The other picks up in 1947 when he arrived in New York. At age six, he says, his wealthy, Jewish parents Karl and Hedwig Lowenthal, owners of a sporting good store sent him to school at a Dominican cloister in Venlo, Holland. In 1938, forced to flee Nazi persecution in Germany, the family moved to Amsterdam, where Alfred joined them. A small carved crucifix which he produced caught the eye of a sponsor who enrolled him in the Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam in 1941. Surrounded by the cruelty and destruction of war, the young artist became involved in the underground, spying and distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets. Betrayed by his best friend, he was arrested by the Nazi Gestapo and spent 16 months in Auschwitz. When he got out, he says, he had only 72 pounds distributed on his 6-foot, 2-inch frame. He did not expect to live after his recovery, he changed his family name, Lowenthal, to Van Loen and returned to the Royal Academy to finish the formal and classical training in anatomy, architectural drawing, pottery, carpentry and casting. By the time he graduated, the war was over, and he decided to come to the United States. When Van Loen talks about this part of his background, the details are sketchy, sometimes contradictory. He does not dwell on that period of his life, and he will not be pressed for specifics. "People should never forget the atrocities of that war," he says. "But they should not continue, living with the memories of it." There are happier memories of his life in the United States, which began April 4, 1947, when a rebuilt troop transport brought 800 emigrants, including the 22-year-old Van Loen, to New York. If there are any gaps in Van Loen's life as a U.S. citizen, they come in the early-1950s when he abandoned the Bohemian life of a young, promising New York artist and traveled to Mexico and briefly to Europe. In 1958, he married Helen Roberts (his second marriage ended in divorce and his first marriage, in pre-war Europe, is shrouded in mystery). Alfred VAN LOEN (1924-1994) German/Dutch/American Birth place: Oberhausen-Osterfeld, Germany Profession: Sculptor, educator Studied: Royal Acad. Art, Amsterdam, Holland, 1941-46. Exhibited: PAFA Ann., 1950, 1954, 1960; NAD, 1964; WMAA,1957, 1967; Emil Walters Gal., NYC, 1968; Stony Brook Mus., 1968; Heckshere Mus., Huntington, NY, 1971; Harbor Gal., Cold Spring Harbor, NY, 1970s. Awards: first prize, Village AC, 1949; Louisa Robbins Award, Silvermine Guild Artists, 1956; first prize sculpture, Am. Soc. Contemporary Artists, 1964. Member: AEA; Am. Soc. Contemp Artists; Am. Crafts Council; Long Island Univ. Pioneer Club; Huntington Artists Group. Work: MMA; MoMA; Brooklyn Mus., NY; Nat. Mus., Jerusalem, Israel. Commissions: brass fountain, James White Community Center, Salt Lake City, UT, 1958; Peace Window, Community Church, New York, 1963; Crescendo, State Univ. NY Agric. & Tech. College Farmingdale, 1969; Jacob's Dream (brass), Little Neck Jewish Center, NY, 1970; bronze & acrylic portrait of Guy Lombardo, Hall of Fame, Stony Brook, NY, 1972. Preferred media: stone, acrylic. Publications: "Simple Methods of Sculpture," Channel Press, 1958; "Instructions to Sculpture," C.W. Post College, 1966; "Origin of Structure and Design," Hamilton Press, 1967; "Drawings by Alfred Van Loen," Harbor Gallery Press, 1969. Teaching: instructor, Hunter College, 1953-54 instructor, North Shore Community ACr., NY, 1955-61; asst. professor sculpture, C.W. Post College, Long Island Univ., 1962-. ink on paper 13 5/8" x 10 5/8", 14 1/2" x 11 1/2" (frame)
Alfred Van Loen, New York / Germany, (1924-1994) Liberty vs. Slavery, ca 1960, 32 bronze Modernist chess figural sculptures and wood chess board signed on back of each King figure. Chess board made from white birdseye maple and green stained american walnut Dimensions: a) Joy-Tenderness H. 6 3/16 in. b) Play-Security H. 5 5/8 in. c) The Scholar H. 7 5/8 in. d) The United Family H. 10 7/8 in. e) Peace-Freedom H. 9 3/4 in. f) Laborer H. 7 5/8 in. g) Game-Confidence H. 5 3/4 in. h) Pride-Protection H. 6 in. i) Drummer H. 4 1/16 in. j) Clarinetist H. 5 3/4 in. k) Cellist H. 4 3/4 in. l) Accordionist H. 4 1/2 in. m) Cymbal Player H. 4 1/2 in. n) Guitarist H. 4 11/16 in. o) Harpist H. 4 in. p) Violinist H. 4 5/16 in. aa) Bondage H. 5 5/16 in. bb) Strangulation H. 5 7/8 in. cc) Hurt Helpless H. 7 in. dd) Prisoner-Imprisoned H. 10 1/4 in. ee) Nurse-Pity H. 8 5/8 in. ff) Hopeless-Damaged H. 7 in. gg) Brutality-Cruelty H. 6 1/4 in. hh) Chained H. 5 in. ii) Wounded H. 4 1/4 in. jj) Sick H. 4 9/16 in. kk) Crushed H. 4 3/8 in. ll) Hopeless H. 4 7/16 in. mm) Beggar H. 3 15/16 in. nn) Despair H. 4 5/16 in. oo) Cripple H. 4 9/16 in. pp) Blind H. 4 5/16 in. Bio from 1st Dibs: This set is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. It speaks to the horrors of slavery and the joys of freedom. it was created during the civil rights movement and while his personal history was of the horrors of World War II, I believe this might also reference the African American experience. Alfred Van Loen was a prolific artist whose career spanned a half century. He was born in 1924 in Oberhausen-Osterfeld, Germany and sent to Holland to be educated. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Amsterdam. He immigrated to the United States following World War II and taught art at Vassar, Hunter College and Columbia University. He taught at C.W. Post for over 20 years. His work is characterized by a spiritual connection to nature. Van Loen's reputation is built on his works as a direct carver a sculptor who carves into stone or marble without preliminary blueprints, models or drawings. Van Loen is a man in love with the materials. He is an artist who is part scientist, part architect, part explorer and part inventor. Van Loen further isolated himself from the cultural capital and "the sickness of the art world in New York City." Since then, Van Loen has become a bigger star in a smaller galaxy, with a devoted following of patrons and students. Whether casting medals, drawing in unbroken lines (similar to those of Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder), painting in watercolors or carving stones and wood, Van Loen is the quintessential craftsman. The real Van Loen is in all of his work. He finds endless lines of continuity and form in the trees and birds and plants that surround him. His two lives. One begins in Germany, where he was born in 1924. The other picks up in 1947 when he arrived in New York. At age six, he says, his wealthy, Jewish parents Karl and Hedwig Lowenthal, owners of a sporting good store sent him to school at a Dominican cloister in Venlo, Holland. In 1938, forced to flee Nazi persecution in Germany, the family moved to Amsterdam, where Alfred joined them. A small carved crucifix which he produced caught the eye of a sponsor who enrolled him in the Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam in 1941. Surrounded by the cruelty and destruction of war, the young artist became involved in the underground, spying and distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets. Betrayed by his best friend, he was arrested by the Nazi Gestapo and spent 16 months in Auschwitz. When he got out, he says, he had only 72 pounds distributed on his 6-foot, 2-inch frame. He did not expect to live after his recovery, he changed his family name, Lowenthal, to Van Loen and returned to the Royal Academy to finish the formal and classical training in anatomy, architectural drawing, pottery, carpentry and casting. By the time he graduated, the war was over, and he decided to come to the United States. When Van Loen talks about this part of his background, the details are sketchy, sometimes contradictory. He does not dwell on that period of his life, and he will not be pressed for specifics. "People should never forget the atrocities of that war," he says. "But they should not continue, living with the memories of it." There are happier memories of his life in the United States, which began April 4, 1947, when a rebuilt troop transport brought 800 emigrants, including the 22-year-old Van Loen, to New York. If there are any gaps in Van Loen's life as a U.S. citizen, they come in the early-1950s when he abandoned the Bohemian life of a young, promising New York artist and traveled to Mexico and briefly to Europe. In 1958, he married Helen Roberts (his second marriage ended in divorce and his first marriage, in pre-war Europe, is shrouded in mystery). Alfred VAN LOEN (1924-1994) German/Dutch/American Birth place: Oberhausen-Osterfeld, Germany Profession: Sculptor, educator Studied: Royal Acad. Art, Amsterdam, Holland, 1941-46. Exhibited: PAFA Ann., 1950, 1954, 1960; NAD, 1964; WMAA,1957, 1967; Emil Walters Gal., NYC, 1968; Stony Brook Mus., 1968; Heckshere Mus., Huntington, NY, 1971; Harbor Gal., Cold Spring Harbor, NY, 1970s. Awards: first prize, Village AC, 1949; Louisa Robbins Award, Silvermine Guild Artists, 1956; first prize sculpture, Am. Soc. Contemporary Artists, 1964. Member: AEA; Am. Soc. Contemp Artists; Am. Crafts Council; Long Island Univ. Pioneer Club; Huntington Artists Group. Work: MMA; MoMA; Brooklyn Mus., NY; Nat. Mus., Jerusalem, Israel. Commissions: brass fountain, James White Community Center, Salt Lake City, UT, 1958; Peace Window, Community Church, New York, 1963; Crescendo, State Univ. NY Agric. & Tech. College Farmingdale, 1969; Jacob's Dream (brass), Little Neck Jewish Center, NY, 1970; bronze & acrylic portrait of Guy Lombardo, Hall of Fame, Stony Brook, NY, 1972. Preferred media: stone, acrylic. Publications: "Simple Methods of Sculpture," Channel Press, 1958; "Instructions to Sculpture," C.W. Post College, 1966; "Origin of Structure and Design," Hamilton Press, 1967; "Drawings by Alfred Van Loen," Harbor Gallery Press, 1969. Teaching: instructor, Hunter College, 1953-54 instructor, North Shore Community ACr., NY, 1955-61; asst. professor sculpture, C.W. Post College, Long Island Univ., 1962-. 32 bronze Modernist chess figural sculptures and wood chess board Largest: 10 1/4" (Prisoner-Imprisoned H.), 31" x 31" (chess board)
TEN 19TH CENTURY LETTERS OF LOVE, FAMILY: 1873 INFANTRY SON'S LETTER TO MOTHER, FT. BUFORD, AZ; 1852 "MY MIND OFTEN REVERTS TO THE NIGHT I SO AGREEABLY SPENT SPENT WITH YOUR INTERESTING DAUGHTER." 9 7/8"H X 7 7/8"W...Ten 19th century letters of love, family: 1873 infantry son's letter to mother, Ft. Buford, AZ; 1852 "my mind often reverts to the night I so agreeably spent spent with your interesting daughter." Also includes a tragic 1867 long and sad letter from Azor Howlet Nickerson, stationed at Fort Boise Idaho Territory upon learning of his young wife's death. The letter is a plea to his mother stating "You have your grief, but oh do not forget mine. All I have to live for and all I have in the world to love me and be loved by me, all gone. Alone. -- eight thousand miles from her dearest friends, with this overwhelming grief." Nickerson was commissioned a second lieutenant of the 8th Ohio Infantry in 1861 and ended the Civil War a captain with a brevet for gallantry at Antietam and Gettysburg." It includes a transcript and article about Nickerson. In addition, collection includes an1856 farmland poem letter to his girlfriend; 1886 love letter written at the McCammon House in Sullivan, Indiana; 1876 hand printed letter to Judge Mason from young daughter, Ethel; 1856 letter home to mother; 1849 new Orleans stampless cover and letter about "The threatening aspect of matters and things in Europe" with doodles and designs; 1833 stampless over and bill to Carlisle, KY from Lexington outlining the cost of goods; 1852 letter from family in Iowa with folder letter cover and 5 1/2 cent rate; 9 7/8"H x 7 7/8"W (letter) Dimensions: 9 7/8"H x 7 7/8"W (letter)
STEINBECK, John.An autograph manuscript, an incomplete early draft of an article "My Short Novels" [N.p. but ?New York: 1953]. 6 pp. (verso only of 6 ll.), folio (315 x 200 mm.) in pencil on lined paper. Condition: paper brittle, small tears with occasional slight loss. early draft of steinbeck’s own review and background of some of his most important works. Viking Press had published a volume called The Short Novels of John Steinbeck earlier in the year. In it were collected six titles: The Red Pony, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, The Moon Is Down, Cannery Row and The Pearl. The final essay, perhaps originally intended as the introduction, was published separately as a sort of addendum to the book. Steinbeck starts with general thoughts about writing "You see a book even a little book is a kind of person … During the time of a books writing, the Author is his book - not one or another of the characters but the whole book, the whole person". He goes on to admit that the article marks a new departure for him: "I have never gone back over books long finished until now". The genesis of the article was a question from his editor the six novellas "What were the circumstances of their writing. Set down some anecdotes, why did you write them." He goes on to give details about the six titles: The Red Pony"was set down in a welter of pain. My Mother was dying and her death was the first break in the family"; Tortilla Flat was influenced by the fact that Steinbeck "had been reading extensively concerning the Arthurian cycle … And then as an exercise I wrote Tortilla Flat using the people and the stories currently told in Monterey but trying to set them in a moral tissue like the Gesta Romanorum. It was a kind of satiric attempt to write folk lore". Of Mice and Men "was another experiment. I thought it might be possible to write a play in novel form." Steinbeck notes that he had finished about two thirds of the novel when he went out for the evening and returned to find that his dog Toby (a setter prone to brooding) had torn the manuscript "to confetti" ("Perhaps his critical sense took charge"). Nothing was salvageable and Steinbeck had to start again from scratch. The Moon Is Down, written during the Second World War, "was a kind of declaration of faith in the strength and survival of free and democratic men over dictatorship. The book got me into lots of trouble … And I had thought of it only as a parable. I set it in a mythical country. And I still believe what it says". Steinbeck gives two slightly differing versions of his reasons for writing Cannery Row "…written on my return from Europe and Africa where I served as a War Correspondent. It was written as a nostalgic thing to forget the bitterness and horror…", which alters slightly to: it was written "for a group of soldiers who has said "Write something funny that isn't about the war."" In any case and despite the critics, many copies were sold. "In Mexico I heard a story and made a long jump back to the Tortilla Flat time. I tried to write as folk lore - to give it that set aside and raised up feeling that all folk stories have. I called it "The Pearl. It didn't do so well at first either but it seems to be gathering some friends or at least acquaintances…”
DANIELS, JOHN T.
"First Flight, 120 Feet in 12 Seconds, 10:35 AM, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina." Silver print with retouching, 7 3/4x9 1/2 inches (19.7x24.1 cm.), with a Mayfield Photos, Inc. hand stamp on mount verso. 1903
The Photograph and the American Dream 1840-1940, 68.
This photograph shows Orville Wright at the controls of the plane, with Wilbur Wright running alongside. This was the first powered, controlled and sustained flight.
John T. Daniels photographed all 4 flights made that day, which are considered to be the first and only photographs taken by Daniels in his lifetime. Orville preset the camera and Daniels snapped the now famous image, almost forgetting to squeeze the shutter since he was overcome by excitement seeing the plane lift off the ground.
This image is sometimes attributed to William Mayfield, who was a Dayton-based photographer and close friend of the Wright Brothers.
Letter from ANDREW WYETH (American, 1917-2009) to Alice Moore: Letter from ANDREW WYETH (American, 1917-2009) to Alice Moore. Sunday, March 20, 1938; mailed Monday, March 21, 1938. Dearest Alice:. What a shock it was. It's hard for me to believe that you are in the hospital. I certainly hope that you are feeling better and don't you do any worrying now do you understand, I mean it, you take it easy. I am glad that you are in a hospital because I know that they will make you rest, and another thing, don't you do any writing. When I come to New York again I am going to try and come out and see you. Well I can't tell you how impressive Maine is in the winter time but God! It's lovely as hell. Port Clyde seems deserted when you walk down its streets or I should say street. The wind whistling through the buildings makes it all the more stark and you never see a person and when you do it's only for a minute as you see them dart across the street and disappear into a house. But if you want to find the fisherman, just go in a store [sketch of four figures seated around a stove] and you will find them all. In fact, I think they spend most of their time there talking. . The weather was beautifully clear while we were in Port Clyde. They have really had a very open winter, very little snow, only six inches, which is strange for Maine. It was pretty cold while we were there. I made several water colors form the car which I may do something with. Some times also made drawings. It's very interesting how different the place looks in the winter, what a deep blue and green the sea is and the rock weed turns very black, which is very effective. I must certainly spend some winters up there and paint some of these things. It never has been touched by an artist that I can recall. Stopped in Boston on the way home and saw the man that runs the art gallery of Doll and Richards. My show is all arranged for there next fall so I guess I will be pretty busy this summer. Also got a book to illustrate from Houghton Mifflin & Co. , which I will do before I leave for Maine. Our visit with Kenneth Roberts was a grand one. The place he is living in this winter is a scream. It's in Kennebunkport. The house, or I should say hotel, is owned by a friend of his who let him use it for the winter. It's the most God awful thing I have ever looked at. Roberts himself thinks it terrible. [Sketch of aforementioned building] He took us all over it and made some of the best remarks I have ever heard. I have never laughed as much as I did there. I thought of a very good drawing I'm going to send to the New Yorker of two old ladies standing in front of his house holding a copy of "Northwest Passage" and saying, (So this is Maine) don't you think that would be good. I will tell you more about this visit when I see you. . When I arrived home I found a letter from Mr. Macbeth enclosing a letter from the president of the Museum at Atlanta, the Museum that bought one of my water colors, asking me if I would do a painting for his office of some palm trees blowing in the wind, which ought to be swell to do. I finished the sketch for it Saturday and sent it on for his approval. [Sketch of aforementioned painting] I think I am going to do it in Egg Tempera. I want to get a great deal of color in it. I will write again soon and don't forget that I am thinking about you always. I am hoping that you are feeling better so that you will be able to see me when I come up. One thing in your being in the hospital is that you won't be going on any binges. But I really hope that you don't outgrow them altogether, please don't. Good night my sweet dearest, my darling. Andy . This letter smells bad to me so hold your nose
Chapbooks
The little keepsake or easy lessons in one syllable. London, [c.1830]. 32mo; Juvenile stories. c.1837, 32mo; Watts, Isaac Divine songs for the use of children. London: J. Babcock and Son, and S. Babcock and Co., 1824; Museum of foreign animals or history of beasts. 1840, browned, title inscribed upon, top edge cut through; Mary Richmond, a day in the life of a spoiled child, 1841; Pictures and stories for the young, or pleasing tales in poetry and prose. 1841; The gift of friendship. 1841; The little picture bible. 1841; Select and amusing anecdotes of animals, [c.1841]; Instruction and amusement for the young, [c.1841]; The little forget me not, a token of love, [c.1841]; The canine race, a brief history of the dog, [c.1841], 12mo; The two friends or a visit to the seaside edited by Thomas Teller, 16mo, [previous owner's inscription dated 1845]; Life and adventures of Robinson Crusoe, edited by Thomas Teller. [c.1845], 16mo; The blackbird's nest and other stories. 1850, and 4 others, woodcut illustrations, soiled and browned, the second and last but one lacking wrappers, the remainder in original wrappers, worn, loose upper wrapper only of the sixth present, some backstrips restitched, New Haven, S. Babcock, various sizes (19)
[WORLD WAR I]. Archive of letters written between 1913 and 1921 from Captain Paul Perigord of the French Army to Duchess de Rich: [WORLD WAR I]. An archive of letters written between 1913 and 1921 from Captain Paul Perigord (1882-1959) of the French Army to Duchess de Richelieu (1886-1972). . . Approximately 60 autograph letters signed ("Paul, ", "Paul Perigord") to the Duchess de Richelieu and occasionally to she and her husband the Duc de Richelieu("My dear friend", "My very dear friend"), written between 1913 and 1921, and sent from various locations in France and America. . . Captain Paul Perigord enlisted as a private in the French infantry and rose to the rank of captain. He as twice wounded at Verdun, and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d'Honneur. He was sent to the United States in 1917, and eventually served as a professor at the California Institute of Technology, the University of California Los Angeles, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. At President Woodrow Wilson's request, he spoke often on behalf of the League of Nations. The Duchess de Richelieu (formerly Elinor Douglas Wise) married Duke Armand (great-great-nephew of the famous Cardinal) in 1913. At the outset of World War II, she renounced her title and resumed her United States Citizenship. . . A FINE ARCHIVE OF CORRESPONDENCE FROM A SOLDIER TO HIS FRIEND . . Of his experiences during the war, on 25 April 1914, Perigord writes: "Within a few days, I shall be in the midst of another great battle: may the Lord protect me or rather may he give me the strength to accept anything that must come. " On 15 May 1917, he describes a battle he has just survived: "I hope you are not charging my long silence to indifference or forgetfulness. If you knew the hours I have lived you would forgive me immediately. We have just gone nine weeks of the hardest and bloodiest fighting I have ever seen. too many have fallen. The Lord has kept me for other tasks. No doubt, the love and prayers of my good friends are a shield that defies…bullets and shells. " He sends support for the Duchess as well: "I see in it your enthusiastic and your hopeful soul struggling to overcome the many difficulties that spring up …as soon as you are free to accomplish anything…You like to struggle. You like to fight, to accomplish. If you were a man you too would be in the trenches. I admire and love your spirit. " . . . Estimate $400-600
WARTIME LETTER FROM GEN GEORGE MCCLELLAN TO MAJ GEN SEDGWICK AND PRINT, IN ONE FRAME. A Wartime Steel Engraving of McClellan seated in camp, writing orders, his aide in the background holding the reins of his horse. Along with an undated ALS letter from Meade to Sedgwick that reads "I can give him a note from Meade, but if you or Sykes want another good Staff Officer, I am sure this gentleman will prove a very tolerable one. I am most obliged to you for your kindness to Arthur, take care of the boy and make a good soldier out of him. My love to him & all my friends, not forgetting Sykes, Hust & McMahon. Ever your attached friend, Gen McClellan; Maj Gen Sedgwick, Cmdg 6th Inf. " Housed in silver molded stick frame, two-window slate grey mat, under glass, OS: 14 3/4" x 18 1/2", letter: 7 1/2" x 11 1/4"; print: 7" x 5 1/4", light edge toning.
Fine and Rare Lucius Bradley Watertown CT Shelf Clock Mahogany case with unusual flat carved pilasters carved crest with winged griffins and foliage and paw feet with nice deep rich patina. Extremely rare reverse painted tablet depicting Lafayette flags banners & drums; outstretched eagle with banner reading ''E. Pluribus Unum'' and another banner reading ''May the sons of Columbia never forget the friend of their fathers General Lafayette.'' Original signed and painted iron dial. 8 day time and strike brass movement. Nice clean Lucius B. Bradley Watertown CT label. This clock is believed to commemorate Lafayette's visit to the US in 1824-1825. Condition: Exhibited in 1963 in Newark NJ Museum in ⤽Classical Americana 1815-1845⤠item #214 & Fraunces Tavern Museum ⤽The Legacy of Lafayette October 1984 â¤" June 1985â¤. Pictured in Dimensions: Ht. 29 1/2''Provenance: Ex. Vincent Versage Collection. E
ADAMS, ANSEL (1902-1984)
"Aspens, Northern New Mexico." Silver print, 15 1/2x19 1/2 inches (39.4x49.5 cm.), on a Crescent board mount, with Adams's signature, in ink, on mount recto and his early Carmel hand stamp with the title and negative number, in ink, in Adams's hand, on mount verso. 1958; printed late 1960s
From the collection of Elsa Leightner; to photographer John Boland, who recounts how he met Adams and acquired lots 179, 180 199, and 200 in this sale:
"For about 10 years, from the early 60s to the early 70's, my friend John Clark and I did 'beaucoup' underwater photography in the Monterey, Carmel area, principally around Carmel Bay and Point Lobos – Ansel Adams Country. The local Camera Shop, Pete Sarber's in Montclair Village center in Oakland, had a framing shop run by Elsa Leightner. Every time I brought anything in to her to be framed, she would exclaim how special the work was, and that 'Ansel would be really interested in seeing them.' I commented, not sarcastically, but in passing, 'Right....', and went on home. A few years later I got a rather urgent call from Elsa telling me that she was in need of some funds. She asked me if I would be interested in buying seven signed Ansel Adams original prints. It took me about 10 milli-seconds to get down to the shop. I asked her how she came by the photos. She blew me away by telling me she was one of Ansel's first photographic assistants. I bought the prints on the spot, even offering her more than she was asking for them.
When I wasn't diving, I owned Hayward Engraving, a photo engraving plant. One of the photos I purchased from Elsa was "Moon Over Half Dome in Yosemite Park." The photo engraving process I used was done with Lith film, which sees only black or white. I made an identically-sized lith image and etched it quite deeply into zinc. I was very pleased with the result, and took it to Elsa to see what she thought. She was really excited, and enthusiastically told me how excited Ansel would be to see it. She suggested I bring some of my underwater color prints, many of which were taken near where he lived. This time I told her I would like to give the etching to Ansel.
About a week later, Elsa, my wife Barbara and, I, six or seven underwater photos, and the etching were en route to the Adams's home. We were greeted by his wife, Virginia. Ansel soon joined us and took me on a tour of his darkroom. Ansel had a wonderful sense of humor and there was much swapping of jokes and stories. Eventually Elsa insisted I get out the underwater photos.
Ansel was very interested in the photos, and complimented me on the images and subjects. In a non-deprecating manner he explained that he really didn't care for color photography. He thought the use of color was a gimmick. He much preferred black and white. Elsa kept nudging me to get out the etching. Again, I was looking for an excuse to give the 'Moon - Halfdome' etching to Ansel and Virginia. I held it up for him to see. His initial reaction was clearly one of interest and pleasure. Sadly, that was followed by a bit of a frown after I asked him if he liked it. He said, 'Actually no – it's not really valid.' He told me that if I had taken the original image, and I had envisioned the high-contrast etching as the end product, then it would be a valid work. To take an image that he envisioned ending as a photographic print, and take it several steps beyond the print stage was not valid.
Again, as my intention was to give it to them, I was bit disappointed. When it came time to get on the road back to the Bay Area, I packed up the underwater photos, leaving the etching until last, I picked it up again, and showed it a last time to Ansel. I asked him, "You really don't much care for this?' Ansel didn't even pause, but got this devilish grin and said, and I'll NEVER forget it. ''No. Actually it's kind of like doing the Mona Lisa in bottle-caps!' We all just roared! It was the greatest, and I have to say my most treasured, put-down of my life. I still have the etching!"
Ansel Adams at 100, 104-105; Grand Canyon and the Southwest, 85; Letters and Images 1914-1984, 314.
Eider Drake Mark S. McNair (b. 1950) Lots 157- 163 are part of The Barrie and Bernice Stavis Collection of Mark McNair Decoys
Barrie Stavis (1906-2007) was a distinguished American playwright who dedicated his career to addressing fundamental issues of the human condition. Stavis’s works, viewed by millions worldwide, have been translated into over 28 languages and produced by dozens of major theaters around the world as well as numerous universities. Bernice Coe, or BC Stavis, (1919-2001) also had a very accomplished career as a pioneering executive in the film and television industry. Barrie and Bernice shared many loves, including sailing on their treasured wooden sailboat which was moored in Long Island, a place they shared another love, the hunt for decoys.
“It started with a letter, which is appropriate enough for a man of letters. Barrie had discovered one of my pintails at a show on Long Island around 1977. His letter so intrigued me that I responded and thus began a relationship that lasted over thirty years. He was mentor, patron, antagonist, muse, pal, helper, counselor, but most of all friend in the truest sense of the word. For this I’ll always be grateful. He liked to close with, “Be well, do good work, and don’t forget to write.” –Mark McNair
Two important McNair-Stavis decoys currently reside at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
Eider Drake
Mark S. McNair (b. 1950)
Craddockville, VA, 1986
16 in. long
"BARRIE - THIS WAS A BIRD I KEPT FOR MYSELF. IT HAS GONE HUNTING, BUT HAS LIVED MOST OF ITS LIFE IN MY KITCHEN.
Mark 1994" is written on the underside.
Incised "McNAIR 1986."
Original paint with minor gunning wear.
Provenance: The Barrie and Bernice Stavis Collection
Original paint with minor gunning wear.
LETTER FROM ANDREW WYETH (AMERICAN, 1917-2009) TO ALICE MOORELetter from ANDREW WYETH (American, 1917-2009) to Alice Moore, Sunday, March 20, 1938; mailed Monday, March 21, 1938 Dearest Alice: What a shock it was. It's hard for me to believe that you are in the hospital. I certainly hope that you are feeling better and don't you do any worrying now do you understand, I mean it, you take it easy. I am glad that you are in a hospital because I know that they will make you rest, and another thing, don't you do any writing. When I come to New York again I am going to try and come out and see you. Well I can't tell you how impressive Maine is in the winter time but God! It's lovely as hell. Port Clyde seems deserted when you walk down its streets or I should say street. The wind whistling through the buildings makes it all the more stark and you never see a person and when you do it's only for a minute as you see them dart across the street and disappear into a house. But if you want to find the fisherman, just go in a store [sketch of four figures seated around a stove] and you will find them all. In fact, I think they spend most of their time there talking. The weather was beautifully clear while we were in Port Clyde. They have really had a very open winter, very little snow, only six inches, which is strange for Maine. It was pretty cold while we were there. I made several water colors form the car which I may do something with. Some times also made drawings. It's very interesting how different the place looks in the winter, what a deep blue and green the sea is and the rock weed turns very black, which is very effective. I must certainly spend some winters up there and paint some of these things. It never has been touched by an artist that I can recall. Stopped in Boston on the way home and saw the man that runs the art gallery of Doll and Richards. My show is all arranged for there next fall so I guess I will be pretty busy this summer. Also got a book to illustrate from Houghton Mifflin & Co., which I will do before I leave for Maine. Our visit with Kenneth Roberts was a grand one. The place he is living in this winter is a scream. It's in Kennebunkport. The house, or I should say hotel, is owned by a friend of his who let him use it for the winter. It's the most God awful thing I have ever looked at. Roberts himself thinks it terrible. [Sketch of aforementioned building] He took us all over it and made some of the best remarks I have ever heard. I have never laughed as much as I did there. I thought of a very good drawing I'm going to send to the New Yorker of two old ladies standing in front of his house holding a copy of "Northwest Passage" and saying, (So this is Maine) don't you think that would be good. I will tell you more about this visit when I see you. When I arrived home I found a letter from Mr. Macbeth enclosing a letter from the president of the Museum at Atlanta, the Museum that bought one of my water colors, asking me if I would do a painting for his office of some palm trees blowing in the wind, which ought to be swell to do. I finished the sketch for it Saturday and sent it on for his approval. [Sketch of aforementioned painting] I think I am going to do it in Egg Tempera. I want to get a great deal of color in it. I will write again soon and don't forget that I am thinking about you always. I am hoping that you are feeling better so that you will be able to see me when I come up. One thing in your being in the hospital is that you won't be going on any binges. But I really hope that you don't outgrow them altogether, please don't. Good night my sweet dearest, my darling. Andy This letter smells bad to me so hold your nose Condition:
Nathaniel D. Hackett Wisconsin 1st Heavy Artillery Civil War and Personal Archive 330 items dating from 1860-1947. While serving in the 1st Wisconsin Battery Light Artillery Davis Hackett kept in close correspondence with his family at home. An upstanding young man Hackett received 74 letters while in the service that provide a glimpse into how communities remained connected across the barriers of absence and military service as well as the adjustments made by family and friends on the home front. The letters are filled with familial concern news of soldiers coming home after their time had run out funerals and family and the daily events of life on the home front. In a typical letter Hackett??Ts sister wrote about a girlfriend of Davis??T (Leone Baldwin) whom she disapproved and whom she felt had wronged him by courting a number of soldiers: You can see as well as I how she has wronged you all this time. It is too much to bear peacefully. I would give a good deal if your letters were somewhere besides in her possession for I??Tll bet anything she will show them to everybody. She is just as true to you as she is to every one or as true as she would be if she were engaged to everyone. She expects and wishes all to worship at her footstool.... You desire a whole heart not one whose affections are scattered from the Potomac to the Rio Grande and you deserve it too -- but no one will ever receive such from her for she has no heart to bestow. I do not feel that I do her the least injustice when I say she is a heartless coquette... Hackett??Ts sister May wrote with some juicy local gossip: When Miss Maxwell came to our school she wrote it seems she left her Bible (on purpose I suppose) and today after Sabbath School commenced she came in after it and paraded the whole length of the house and out again so we all had a chance to see her which I dare say she considered a great privilege. I do not know as it is Christian like to slander ones neighbor in this manner but you know I do not wish to write the same things to you that the rest do so you must excuse me if I do say things sometimes which it were better not to say. Other letters offer similar flavor: Friends Marion Miles writes: You ask me not to ?forget the soldiers.? Know ye Dave there lives not one who has a more profound respect for the soldier than myself. I think they are fighting in the noblest cause for which a patriot ever unsheathed his sword; and we watch their course follow them with our best wishes glory in their achievements and are waiting patiently and hopefully for the time when we can welcome them home. I would be very glad if the last battle had already been fought if not another drop of loyal blood need be spilled if not another waiting heart at home need sent with anguish because of the death of a loved one; but How useless and vain the wish! For the horrid appetite of cruel remorseless war is not yet appeased. Many another noble life must be sacrificed ere this accursed rebellion is crushed. But now Lincoln is elected we hope to be safe again... From young brother Oscar: As to the use of Tobacco I did use it before you went away for I thought that it was nice and it was gentlemanly but I saw my error before it was to late but I thank you for your advice and I am very glad that you was s thoughtfull for my welfare. I have tried to help Father and Mother all that I could since you went away. I have stayed to home from school about a week to help Father get up some wood. I am learning t cipher considerably and Pa says that just as soon as you get bacl that that he is agoing to have me learn some trade for you know I do not like to work on a farm. I think that I shall learn the Blacksmiths trade for I like that the best any trade... Cousin Lizzie; I heard of the President??Ts death while I was in Farmington last Saturday afternoon. We got the intelligence about four in the afternoon and immediately the flag was seen flying at half mast. Bells were tolled and Stores and Houses draped in mourning. The evening before everyone seemed happy and all had a gay time. The stores on Main Street were illuminated also many private residences. Speeches were made by the clergymen and everyone was rejoicing over the recent good news... Marion Miles was just as deeply affected by the assassination: Seward??Ts loss too at any other time would be deeply felt and even now will be mourned sincerely but Lincoln was our Chieftain and it seems to me is just as necessary to us as a nation as was Washington in the Revolutionary War. Can the perpetrator of the awful deed ever be sufficiently punished for a crime too horrible for a just God to pardon? The only consolation is that Johnson will be likely (if he don??Tt get intoxicated) to deal with rebels and traitors as honestly as they deserve if possible. I don??Tt believe he would parole their Commander in Chief should be again be captured. I have just faith enough in Gen. Lee??Ts honor to believe he has gone to South Carolina to help ??~conquer??T Sherman and sent his army to the mountains to practice guerrilla warfare. I wish he and his whole command had been hung instead of paroled...The collection also includes a nice letter from Davis shortly after his arrival in Washington D.C. in Oct. 4 1864 describing the nation??Ts capitol at the height of the war: Here I am in the Capitol of the United States standing in the dome as you enter from the north side and turn to your right and there you see the picture of the landing of Columbus the size of which is about ten by fourteen feet. The next is the embarkation of the Pilgrims third George Washington resigning his commission to Congress fourth surrender of Lord Cornwallace fifth surrender of Gen Burgoyne.... We went through to the south side and got a drink of water at the fountain the basin of which is filled with fish and the park is a splendid thing and there is a fountain on either side of the wall coming north and south but the one of the west was not finished... After the war Hackett moved to the west settling in East Ashland Oregon by 1910 and then in Victor Montana where he died August 1929. As was true during his service his correspondence helped overcome the distance that separated him from his family. The collection also includes a thick sheaf of correspondence from relatives and friends written to Davis during the post-war period mostly during the 1860s through 1890s but continuing into the next generation as well. A solid typical domestic correspondence these letters discuss family illness aging parents dead dogs choking on bones and the usual ebb and flow of life in mid-Victorian Wisconsin (Baraboo Chippewa Falls). Among the most interesting series of letters are 14 from Davis to his wife Carrie written from Chippewa Falls Wisc. in 1889 describing his life there and a ?sensation? at the Stanley House hotel: They had a german girl doing laundry work that was not compos mentus & Ginns [an acquaintance] nephew has been a fool of her for some time & about the time Gonn died he got the negrow porter & 3 other fellows down in the cellar & they all took part in the fun each taking his turn. It finally got out & the authorities had 3 of them shut up & one skipped & one was not molested. Two were fined $100 each or 6 months in jail & the nephew $50. He & the negrow paid & the latter skipped as soon as he paid & the 3 one is in jail. The nephew was in school here but I heard Mr. Long was going to have him expelled. We little know what is going on right under our noses... Other items include a nice series of 33 letters from Florence Vrooman to her close friend Davis 1914-1917 discussing her life on a farm in Lakeville Wisc. and her efforts to cope with loneliness and hard winters; a series of letters to Millie Hackett from friends and relatives 1890s; and 45 letters to Davis??T daughter Edith 1890s-1940s including letters discussing life as a teacher and occasional mentions of the Second World War. Some general soiling and wear as expected many with envelopes. Condition: Some general soiling and wear as expected many with envelopes.
1979 Harley-Davidson 1979 Cone Shovel Jockey Shift CustomEngine no. 3630416H9
Thirty years has only added to the luster of this 1979 Cone Shovel based custom. Painted a passion purple/cream with matching acres of chrome, it sets the pace for Shovel Fans and anyone else for that matter thanks to a bevy of dress-up accessories and custom pieces. A swingarm frame and Wide Glide front end smooth out the miles and foster plenty of smiles as does the classic look and user-friendly inclusion of both kick and electric start. While there’s modern upgrades like the maintenance friendly wide belt-drive to the rear wheel, this bike’s got a surprise or two including the addition of a jockey shift for a real taste of vintage riding. Along with that feature are a ratchet lid and foot-clutch plus the added safety benefits of GMA brakes front and rear.
They say greatness is in the attention to details and this bike’s got several yards of that in the form of stainless steel lines-including oil and brake lines and even the throttle cable-adding both form and function. And check out the chromed swingarm and oil tank not to forget the elegant, and very functional, bank of fog lamps mounted up on the front end. People will definitely see you coming and going.
The officiating mechanic describes this bikes as "all dolled up." Anyway you look at it, it’s a beauty.
Without reserve
Marie Laurencin: (French, 1883-1956)Jeune Fille, signed upper right "Marie Laurencin", oil on canvas, Paris colorman stamp verso, 16-1/4 x 13 in. (40. 64 x 33. 02 cm. ); original painted and gilt wood frame, 26-1/2 x 23-1/4 in. ÿ - Note: Brunk Auctions would like to thank Daniel Marchesseau for confirming the authenticity of this lot. This lot is accompanied by Two memorial exhibition brochures from Galerie M. Benezi June 1 - July 1, 1963 and Paul Rocenberg & Co. , New York, December 3-29, 1956 and four letter of correspondence:Christmas Card, 1954, Nymphe et biche, 1929 reproduced, with envelope;Personal Letter, dated 5 November [1954]?Dear Young Friend-Dear Violette-ÿThank you for this fresh letter. /I started to feel cold, horrible trial won but without result, pursues me and tires me. La Fa Paise/ and in translation, a dead end/from Compton MacKensie and others of course/-Matisse is dead-/I knew him well/Derain too-/They were both highly educated - in everything. /Derain, musician and living in a kind of metaphysics/. visit to Andre Beucler's studio. He wrote a book on Leon-Paul Farque's extraordinary life. /It has just been translated in America. Here is an embrace for you two, VioletteYour, Marie LaurencinPersonal Letter on letterhead, dated & April 1956, with envelope and two photographs of the artist inscribed verso, the address of Marguerite Yourcenar and her partner, Grace Frick, Mt. Desert Island, Maine?Dear Violette, Thank you for your affectionate letter. /The big cold, although well heated, tired me. Even in my old age, I work-/See the last two photos taken by Geneva radio where I am surrounded by books. /Suzanne takes care of the home carefully. /About Marguerite Yourcenar/to which I sent the same photos we do not know but-/Pierre Caillou, publisher, Geneva must publish a book written by me when ??To your husband and youMarie Laurencin?7ÿrue Massereau Paris 7eant?Personal Letter on letterhead, dated & April 1956, with envelope and two photographs of the artist inscribed verso, the address of Marguerite Yourcenar and her partner, Grace Frick, Mt. Desert Island, Maine?Dear Violette, Thank you for your affectionate letter. /The big cold, although well heated, tired me. Even in my old age, I work-/See the last two photos taken by Geneva radio where I am surrounded by books. /Suzanne takes care of the home carefully. /About Marguerite Yourcenar/to which I sent the same photos we do not know but-/Pierre Caillou, publisher, Geneva must publish a book written by me when ??To your husband and youMarie Laurencin?Letter from the partner of Marie Laurencin, Suzanne Moreau, dated 3 January 1957, with envelope. ?Dear MadamThank you for remembering me. I am messed up and have been sad many days. /Know Madame is irreplaceable and gone so __ no one cares to think of such a brutal end. /For me, despite the friendship of friends, I feel wrinkles around me. /I do not resolve myself or think that I would never hear her pretty voice again, and I did not care to take care of her, life is sometimes too cruel. /Mr. Rosenberg and all his family have been true friends to me. /Believe dear Madame that I do not forget you and your husband, and send you my best wishes for 57. /If you come to France I would be happy to see you to talk to you about what is no longer. I send you my admiral remembrance. Suzanne Moreau? - Provenance: Galerie Benezit, Paris, France, purchased circa 1953; Private Collection, Charlottesville, Virginia Condition original strainer and tacking edge, canvas slightly slack; frame with some losses
Letter from ANDREW WYETH (American, 1917-2009) to Alice Moore, Sunday, March 20, 1938; mailed Monday, March 21, 1938 Dearest Alice: What a shock it was. It's hard for me to believe that you are in the hospital. I certainly hope that you are feeling better and don't you do any worrying now do you understand, I mean it, you take it easy. I am glad that you are in a hospital because I know that they will make you rest, and another thing, don't you do any writing. When I come to New York again I am going to try and come out and see you. Well I can't tell you how impressive Maine is in the winter time but God! It's lovely as hell. Port Clyde seems deserted when you walk down its streets or I should say street. The wind whistling through the buildings makes it all the more stark and you never see a person and when you do it's only for a minute as you see them dart across the street and disappear into a house. But if you want to find the fisherman, just go in a store [sketch of four figures seated around a stove] and you will find them all. In fact, I think they spend most of their time there talking. The weather was beautifully clear while we were in Port Clyde. They have really had a very open winter, very little snow, only six inches, which is strange for Maine. It was pretty cold while we were there. I made several water colors form the car which I may do something with. Some times also made drawings. It's very interesting how different the place looks in the winter, what a deep blue and green the sea is and the rock weed turns very black, which is very effective. I must certainly spend some winters up there and paint some of these things. It never has been touched by an artist that I can recall. Stopped in Boston on the way home and saw the man that runs the art gallery of Doll and Richards. My show is all arranged for there next fall so I guess I will be pretty busy this summer. Also got a book to illustrate from Houghton Mifflin & Co., which I will do before I leave for Maine. Our visit with Kenneth Roberts was a grand one. The place he is living in this winter is a scream. It's in Kennebunkport. The house, or I should say hotel, is owned by a friend of his who let him use it for the winter. It's the most God awful thing I have ever looked at. Roberts himself thinks it terrible. [Sketch of aforementioned building] He took us all over it and made some of the best remarks I have ever heard. I have never laughed as much as I did there. I thought of a very good drawing I'm going to send to the New Yorker of two old ladies standing in front of his house holding a copy of "Northwest Passage" and saying, (So this is Maine) don't you think that would be good. I will tell you more about this visit when I see you. When I arrived home I found a letter from Mr. Macbeth enclosing a letter from the president of the Museum at Atlanta, the Museum that bought one of my water colors, asking me if I would do a painting for his office of some palm trees blowing in the wind, which ought to be swell to do. I finished the sketch for it Saturday and sent it on for his approval. [Sketch of aforementioned painting] I think I am going to do it in Egg Tempera. I want to get a great deal of color in it. I will write again soon and don't forget that I am thinking about you always. I am hoping that you are feeling better so that you will be able to see me when I come up. One thing in your being in the hospital is that you won't be going on any binges. But I really hope that you don't outgrow them altogether, please don't. Good night my sweet dearest, my darling. Andy This letter smells bad to me so hold your nose Condition:
[PIOZZI, Hester Lynch Thrale (1741-1821)]. Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) and Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729).The Spectator. London: for Messrs. Payne, Rivington, Davis [etc.], 1789. 8 vols. 8vo (218 x 131 mm.). Contemporary sprinkled calf gilt, spines gilt with red morocco gilt title labels and circular black morocco gilt numeral labels (that for vol. 3 a replacement; that for vol. 8 detached but present). Spines of vols. 2 and 8 with central vertical cracks, a few other joints partly cracked, some old repairs to joints and corners. Flyleaves in first three vols. detached. In a red morocco flap-top box within a pull-off red morocco gilt case by The French Binders. Condition: some leaves spotted.hester lunch thrale piozzi's copy with extensive autograph manuscript ink marginalia on 786 pages for a total of over 6,300 lines of varying breadth. Signed "H:L: Piozzi 1794" on front flyleaf of vol. 1 (detached).Piozzi was clearly an admiring and devoted reader of The Spectator, moved at one place to exclaim "Immortal Spectator, praised by the wisest, the wittiest, & the best & never praised enough" (vol. 2, p. 216). Alongside many passages she has added brief encomiums such as "Charming," "That's exquisitely pretty," or simply "Beautiful." Clearly, her extensive and careful annotations attest to multiple readings of this treasured edition from her library. Many of the marginalia are dated by specific years: 1794, 1795, 1796, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809 and 1812. In several places she has added elaborative comments upon her own marginalia of earlier epochs. Every entry is completely intact and legible throughout although the extreme edges of a very few letters have been ever so slightly touched by the binder's knife, indicating that she probably commissioned the binding soon after 1812.Samuel Johnson is referenced eight times in the marginalia. No. 163 contains a letter signed "Leonora," causing Piozzi to comment "Dr. Johnson wd. have said 'Put Leonora into a small retail Shop, & give her a young Child to tend; & She will soon forget her Lover & her Passion. Those who work for their Living says he, know no Sorrow when they can get their Bread [underlined]. Dr. Johnson recommended going to Work [underlined]; & said ye: hard Labour would cure all Affliction for Distresses of Sentiment [underlined]." (vol. 2, pp. 466 and 467). In no. 189, as a riposte to the view of siding with parents in controversies with their children "Dr. Johnson profess'd the direct Contrary--his immediate Prejudice was always in favour of the Young against the Old" (vol. 3, p. 123). Piozzi recollects, in no. 445, "the Luctus et Gaudia published on George the 3: d's Accession, there was a copy of Verses--an Epigram the Writer called it, composed in the Phoenician language, & its meaning Dr. Johnson told me, was simply this. George the second is dead--Jupiter & Juno mourn; George the third lives & reigns, Jupiter & Juno rejoyce." (vol. 7, p. 286). A supernatural narrative in no. 611 prompts her recollection "This very Tale did I hear Mr. Wraxall [probably the author Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall] repeat as having witness'd [underlined] the Transaction: He told it at Mrs. Montague's Table & I asked Mrs. Scott if it was not in the Spectator? To be sure said she it is. Dr. Johnson sate so far off the Narrator he could not hear: but I thought it a shameless endeavour at Imposition, and very unlikely to succeed…it happened very many Years ago." (vol. 8, p. 292). At the end of the small-pox sufferer Monimia's letter concluding no. 613, Piozzi comments, "Johnson's Letters from Victoria in ye Rambler are much improved upon this. The Smallpox being nearly annihilated among us, has taken from our Pleasure in reading these Papers, but cannot take from their Merits." (vol. 8, p. 303).Among Piozzi's references to historical figures and events include humorous comments about the Prince of Wales. In no. 32 she notes that he "likes Corpulent Beauties best they say. So the Girls stuff themselves with Eggs & Chocolate in a Morning for Breakfast; Oysters before Dinner, & Porter to fatten them, in 1798, so that they may emulate lady ample who would have been our Prince's Favourite." (vol. 1, p. 184); in no. 45, she criticizes the unruly behavior of theater audiences in 1711 by exclaiming "all this Impertinence would not now be endur'd: I saw the prince of Wales hissed for chatting too Loud one night…it was at an Opera 1795 "(vol. 1, p. 261); and in no. 569, his tippling elicits the account: "There was a Gentleman in Anglesey who boasted that he had drank as much Liquor as would have floated a 74 Gun Ship. I suppose our Prince of Wales's Quantity would float the Royal George." (vol. 8, p. 72). The achievements of John, Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession are among the topics treated in no. 139, and she notes "The Idea [of glory] was meant to be realized in Churchill and was realized…no Hero ever gave more momentary Lustre to his Country or his Sovereign. This astonishing Little Island has however in these last days produc’d a Naval Hero [underlined] in Lord Nelson who realizes the Character again [underlined]; whilst our more than either of them Immortal Spectator, has given a Model here for future Exellence meaning only to record then present Perfection [underlined].” (vol. 2, p. 325).She remarks on the disappearance of sign-posts in no. 28: “Sign Posts [underlined] are no more, and Signs going apace; People begin to write - The Prince’s Head, or whatever ‘tis in Letters [underlined] …because more Persons can read now than in former Days. As for the Blue Boars & Black Swans, they were only Devices of Heraldry…” (vol. 1, p. 161); and makes fascinating observations about London in no. 251: “Since shops here have so increased in London, Cries have gone out…our Metropolis infinitely larger & more populous in 1801 than in 1711, is I believe much less noisy…I recollect an acquisition of Stillness to the Town nearly incredible during the half Century I have been acquainted with it.” (vol. 3, p. 478). No. 116 concerns hunting and triggers some impatient comments: “Beagles do not hunt Fox” (vol. 2, p. 192) and “It would be better if Writers would confine themselves to what they understand. These dear Spectators knew little of Rural Life, & Miss. Edgeworth knows nothing of School Books when She makes her Boy in the Tale called Barring: out lose his Livy - Livy is not a School book.” (vol. 2, p. 195).The many celebrated dramatic and literary figures that feature in her annotations include Addison, Cibber, Colman, Congreve, Dryden, Etheredge (in no. 65, about his ribald comedy The Shoemaker: “The upper Gallery in these days would not endure the Indecencies of this once favourite Comedy…I saw it once, when I was a Child, and recollect Mrs. Cibber who acted Loveit tearing her Fan with Passion, perhaps in 1755." Vol. 1, p. 384); Foote, Garrick, Hobbes, Metastasio, Hannah More, Otway, Psalmanazar, Richardson, Sale (in no. 238: “Sale’s Translation of the Koran is a very great work & I believe exquisitely done.” Vol. 3, p. 401); Shakespeare (in no. 44: “They have turn’d the Ghost of Banquo out now and Macbeth stares & bounces at an empty chair…I liked the old Way better. 1795.” Vol. 1, p. 251); Mrs. Siddons, Swift, Voltaire and Horace Walpole. When the text refers to Handel as “Mynheer” in no. 5, she writes “Handel was no Mynheer at all; he was a native of Saxony, & nearer to Orpheus than any one else ever was, at the worst. The Italians never called him Mynheer. Their Word to him was Caro Sassone, their admiration of him unbounded” (vol. 1, p. 32). In no. 405: “How would ye warm heart have glow’d at hearing Handel’s Oratorio called Messiah performed in Westminster Abbey by one Thousand Musicians at once as we heard it near the Close of the 18th Century” (vol. 6, p. 57). In no. 9, about clubs, she laments the burning of the Beef Steak Club together with Covent Garden Theatre in 1808 (vol. 1, p. 54). About art, in no. 416 “…I observed in myself yt. my Love of the Statuary Art kept on increasing while I staid in Italy…The Tribune of Florence exhibiting the Medician Statue of Venus & Titians figure of her Rival Beauty is the fairest Tryal. I was certainly most struck by the Picture but I learned at length to prefer the Work of Praxiteles” (vol. 6, p. 122).Concerning women authors, Piozzi asserts, in no. 11, “The women write enough now themselves but ‘tis never as I see in Vindication of our sex…That Nonsense of laying all Ladies’ follies to their Sex seems out of Date…We see Fools & Knaves too of every Sex, Age & Climate in 1800.” Beneath, she adds “Oh I forgot Mrs. Woolstoncraft…but so I suppose has everybody else.” (vol. 1, p. 64). At the end of no. 128 she comments on the change in women’s fasions: “The Ladies are shrunk to their mere natural Size & Shape now - scarce any covering at all; & no Hoops to keep as Richardson’s Lady G. says, the saucy Fellows at a Distance. Oh no, no. 1800” (vol. 2, p. 261).Almost at the end of The Spectator, in no. 632 [the work was completed by no. 635], as a response to Gregorio Leti’s claim that he was author of a book and father of a child for 20 years successively, Piozzi adds “My Great Grandfather who cracked a Peachstone wth. his Teeth on his 80th Birthday--for a frolic; said to his congratulating Friends, ‘Ay, Gentlemen! Time was when I could take a Journey to London every Year, get my Wife with Child every year, & save 1000 £ every year, but now God help me I can do none of the Three.” (vol. 8, p. 387).Provenance: 1. Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi. 2. “H.R.H. given to him by her Majesty Victoria,” ink inscription wirtten on front pastedown of vol. 8, before the addition of two covering bookplates.3. Thomas Hughes, mid 19th-century engraved armorial bookplate pasted over an earlier bookplate, in vols. 1-7. Whether these volumes bear the “H.R.H.” inscription of vol. 1 in not known.4. The Carl H. Pforzheimer Library, amongst a grouop of 18th-century English books acquired by Bernard Quaritch Ltd. and sold in April 1978 to:5. Dr. Gerald E. Slater, Deephaven, Minnesota (sale, Christie’s New York, 12 Februrary 1982, lot 127, $12,000, C.A. Stonehill). (8)
COLLECTION OF EIGHTEEN LETTERS WRITTEN BY GEN. PHILIP A. SHERIDAN TO CHARLES L. WILSON Together with two business cards and an invitation. Wilson, a Chicago newspaper owner, was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln's campaign and was close to both Sheridan and William Seward. Wilson was appointed U.S. Secretary to the legation sent to the Court of St. James by Lincoln, and he conducted a large correspondence with both Seward and Sheridan. Letters dated from Feb. 28, 1870 to June 27, 1880. Almost all have envelopes and cover a great range of topics, mostly personal. Sheridan's hand is in most cases very readable. 1) Feb 28, 1870: My Dear Wilson, Thanks for the slips enclosed in your note. I had been collecting today the items official combined with the Montana affair & can give them to you tomorrow. I could not get the collected [?] speech in shape today. We have not yet received Col. Butler's [?] report. He had to march back immediately from Fort Shaw to Ellis to get shelter for his horses & men. Could not make out his report until he reached Ellis. I will let you know all these facts when [sic] tomorrow. Yours truly, Sheridan" 2) Saturday 22nd. (no year): "My Wilson, I fear I cannot go down any week day but nice talking to you about it next time I see you. Yours truly, Sheridan". With business card. 3) March 2, 1870: "My Dear Wilson, I have unfortunately an engagement for tomorrow evening. I sincerely regret the pleasure it will deprive me of. Yours truly, Sheridan". 4) Jan 11, 1871: An envelope containing two of General Sheridan's business cards as Lieut. General. "P.H. Sheridan… begs Mrs. Wilson to accept the accompanying Turkish table cover with his regrets & esteem. Chicago Jan 1st, 1871. Another of the General's cards "Christmas for Little Ms. Wilson" (creased) 5) July 22, 1871: "My Dear Wilson, If it is not too much of a [?] for you or myself to fish tomorrow (Sunday) how would you like to go with in the a…[?] to Calumet. We could start early and come home in the evening. I can put four mules in the a[?] and they ought to take us down at a good gambit. What say you? Sheridan". Also contains his business card to Mr. Wilson. 6) Nov 15 1871: "My Dear Wilson, If you and Rucker will come up to my house we will take the starch out of Thurston and Rucker as a means of revenge for our defeat the other night. Yours truly, P. H. Sheridan" 7) Dec. 20th, 1871 (dated on envelope in pencil only): "My Dear Wilson, Come down tonight for a game. I have a little old Scotch which will not be bad to take the cold weather. If Farrar does not go to the Church party tonight bring him along. Yours truly, Sheridan". Jan. 20, 1871. 8) May 28, 1872: "My Dear Wilson, Gen. Fry would like to go with us tomorrow evening if you have no objection. He wants to get out of the office for a day also [?]. Yours truly, Sheridan". Envelope. 9) Nov. 20 1872, Headquarters Mil. Div. of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill: "My Dear Mr. Wilson, The General is going Friday night to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory by way of Saint-Louis and Fort Leott [sic]. And he desires me to assist you to go with him. We go all the way by rail and will take about a week to make the trip. There will probably [?] be much shooting on the march, but the country is much worth seeing. Gen. Rucker is going with us. Please let me know if you will go. The General went to Baytown last night and will return tomorrow night. Passes will be obtained for the party. Yours truly, Mr. Sheridan, Lt. Col." 10) Chicago, July 22, 1873: "My Dear Wilson, Thanks for the dispatch [?] which came this morning. I will write to Goodlow [?] acknowledging its receipt. Yours truly, Sheridan". 10A). Saturday May 29, 1973, The Euchre Club will meet at my house at 8:30 this p.m. Will Mr. & Mrs. Wilson have the kindness to attend? Very Respectfully, P. H. Sheridan. (envelope stained) 11) Chicago June 10, 1874: "Dear Wilson, Thanks for the discs they came in nice condition and were distributed among your friends. I cannot get info [?] for a fish [?] at present or account of official…which the…chargers of R…going or… of my self [?] glorious fish cup at North Lodge bringing home over one hundred and twenty pounds of black…eyed Bass. With kindest regards & the builders [?] Wing's [?] Wilsons. Sincerely Sheridan". 11A) Chicago July 2, 75: "Dear Wilson. Col. Lamar gave me your very friendly invitation to go up to Genesee for a fish before starting to California for which just Sheridan [?] myself make our kindest acknowledgements. [?] would have been delighted to have a day. I wish you luck. Mrs. Sheridan has not been very well and as we now expect to start for California about the 10th or as soon thereafter as possible we will not know [?] Mrs. [?] her loss to Mrs. Winslow and wish very keen [?] regards to the Madam and yourself. P. H. Sheridan". No envelope. 12) Winter 1875 (undated) handwritten wedding invitation: "Gen. and Mrs. Rucker invite you to be present at the marriage ceremony of their daughter Irene & Lieut. Genl. Sheridan which will take place on Thursday June the third at half past eight o'clock in the evening. 504 Michigan Avenue". On June 3, 1875 Sheridan married Irene Rucker, a daughter of Army Quartermaster General Daniel H. Rucker. She was 22 and he was 40 when the Washington wedding took place. Sheridan was promoted by Congress to full General just before he died in Nonquitt, Massachusetts in 1888 after a series of heart attacks. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 13) Chicago, Aug, 16, 1876: "My Dear Mr. Wilson, Your kind letter inviting Mrs. Sheridan & myself to your house at Seneca Lake for the boat race cruise… I accept the invitation for myself with great pleasure and will learn [?] if it is possible. Mrs. Sheridan is so wrapped up in the ministering of the baby that she begs to be excused. Mrs. Forsyth left the City with her children, and the result has been the serious illness of two and the doubtful recovery of one now at the point of death. This has created a panic in our house. Mrs. Sheridan cannot be induced to go. With kind regard to you and Mrs. Wilson, P. H. Sheridan", with post script about Lieut. Farrar & a trip of 1870. No envelope. 14) Monday, June 13, '77: "Dear Wilson, Thanks for the discs. They were delicious better than most. I hope you are well … for the summer and that Mrs. Wilson has commenced her charming drive over hills. (I will start on my [?] trip on the 25th and anticipate an exceedingly interesting [?] the very important official considerations [?] Mrs. Sheridan and the backers and will right the letters am begging to notice the young men.Yours [?], P. H. Sheridan". 15) Thursday (undated): "My dear Mrs. Wilson, would it be convenient for you and the balance of our Euchre party to come down to my house this evening… . P. H. Sheridan". Envelope. 16) Chicago June 27, 80: "Dear Farrar. Your letters & telegrams have been received but I have been absent from house almost all the time off & on since you left. I am sorry you have had such a tedious trip up the Missouri but hope your mountains trip will be so agreeable and successful that you will eventually forget the steam boat expense on the Missouri & Yellowstone, The Republican where old guard on board & democrats nominated as cook so that the race between the bullies & graceful may be considered close. I enclose herewith a telegram you left with me in hand 63 yrs. All your friends have been [?] busy. [?]. very much. Tell Clark I do not care about any examination. The clarity [?] on the other side of the Big Horn Mountains unless he especially deserves it. I wish I was with your party. The weather is hot. Stocks heavy. Wheat down, and the pockets of [?] of our friends here from New York pretty well depleted. With best regards. Very truly in haste. Sheridan". No envelope. Isaac Farrar, originally from Bangor, Maine, was the father-in-law of Charles L Wilson. 17) Saturday (undated): "My dear Farrar, the enclosed is a copy of a letter which I will send this day to Bobcsck[?] To be placed before the president if you can manage to [?] of gown[?] Guns. I will write [?] to the President on the S[?]." Provenance: Direct descent in the family from Charles L. Wilson to William Ware."ConditionOverall good condition with some roughage on edges of one letter; some envelopes torn (when opened). Not all envelopes cancelled. See full listing for other comments.
COLLECTION OF 17 DEPT. 56 SNOWBABIES, in original boxes: "Somewhere in Dreamland", "Starry Pines", "Icy Igloo", "Lift Me Higher, I Can Reach", "Bed Time Prayers", "When the Bough Breaks", "We Make a Great Pair", "What Shall We Do Today", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "Christmas Morning", "Joy", "To the Rescue", "That's What Friends", "You Didn't Forget Me", "Reach for the Moon", et. al.
GARBO GRETA. Autograph Letter Initialed (''H.B.'') 3 pp recto and verso 8vo (conjoining leaves) [Beverly Hills May 11 1949] to Allen Porter of the Museum of Modern Art with original autograph transmittal envelope leaves mildly toned envelope thumbed.''I am so glad that you don't forget me now that I stay away so long. I have a few things here that have to be looked after besides the becoming a member of U.S.A. (That is if I don't 'flunk'!) But as soon as all that is cleared up I shall head for Manhattan. / I have had a bad spell of tonsil troubles. It seems to me I get always some new bits and things wrong with me. And the sad part is that it isn't funny. I just whish that the Lord wont 'clamp' down on me any more. I would like to be strong and vital so as to be able to make friends and influence peopleisnt' it the title of some peculiar book?'' Garbo signs this letter with the initials of her pseudonym Harriet Brown.See illustration.
IMPORTANT SILVER KENTUCKY DERBY TROPHY. Covered handled cup sits atop a turned black marble base. Cup marked “Kentucky Derby Jockey Cup Churchill Downs May 6, 1961 Won By Carry Back Jockey John Sellers”. Footed cup has a horseshoe and the handles are hanging swags. Cover adorned with a cast horse and jockey. Cover marked “Sterling”. Carry Back was the little known Florida thoroughbred that in 1961 thrilled race fans in a run for the Turple Crown. Complete Rider introduces you to Carry Back. Born in 1958 at Ocala Stud Farm in Florida and named after a tax loophole, Carry Back was the son of Saggy. Saggy’s claim to fame was that he actually beat the great Citation. This race however was on an “off” day on an “off” track. His dame Joppy had good confirmation but was never really considered great. The 15.1 Carry Back, although determined, never demonstrated any real ability until October of 1960 in the Garden Stakes. This, at the time, was the world’s richest race and Carry Back earned $300,000. This stunning victory would set the stage for the little brown colt on the world’s best at the 87th running of the Kentucky Derby. Out of the gate, Carry Back would take his usual position, which was breaking next to last in the 11th. Jockey John Sellers and Carry Back wouldn’t start their move until well after the turn. Nearly 15 lengths behind this would come to be known as one of the greatest “come from behind” victories in racing history. Coming in first would make Carry Back only the 2nd Florida Bred thoroughbred to win the Kentucky Derby. At the Preakness, Sellers and Carry Back would again put on a race that fans would never forget. In their usual dramatic come from behind position, the team of Sellers and Carry Back would have the fans howling in anticipation. Once again, with a seemingly impossible come from behind position, they would take with wire to win the 2nd jewel of the Triple Crown. At the 1961 Belmont Stakes the atmosphere was electric. Now Carry Back was one face away from going down in history as the first Florida bred horse to win a Triple Crown. But winning the Triple Crown would unfortunately push Carry Back’s sizable racing achievements into an anecdote of racing history. He was, however, the first Florida bred millionaire. As a stud he sired 280 foals and 194 of them were winners who earned more the 5 million dollars. Carry Back dies in Florida at the ripe old age of 25. But, in a strange twist of fate, Carry Back’s status as a winning thoroughbred and his spectacular victory of the Kentucky Derby would again be re-lived by his fans and his Jockey John Sellers some 21 years later. It seems that Sellers’ prize Kentucky Derby trophy had been stolen in a home break-in. It was feared to have been melted down for the silver and never to be seen again. Until one day, over 20 years later, when a friend of Seller’s now 62, called to tell him he thought he’d seen his ’61 Derby trophy on the auction block in the well known internet side eBay. Brother and sister team Sue Novello and Martin Paul had bought it at a reputable auction house a few years earlier and were reselling it. After a visit from the authorities and a brief investigation it turned out to be legitimate. Sue and Martin were thrilled to be giving it back to it’s rightful owner at a special ceremony 21 years later in the winners circle at Churchill Downs where it was original won. With his Kentucky derby trophy recovered, all seemed to be put right and Carry Back could now rest easy as his standing as a legendary Florida thoroughbred had been regained.SIZE: Total is 11-1/4” h x 5” total w. Cup itself is 8-1/2” h. CONDITION: Very good. 9-71198 (18000-25000)
DOCUMENTS ON LEDOUX'S WORK AND POTENTIAL PUBLICITYDocuments regarding Louis Pierre Ledoux's fieldwork in New Guinea and its potential publicity.
There is a letter from November 10th 1936 from Giles Healey, explaining that he has not followed up on publicity he promised due to a review written by Masters in the "Public Relation Counsel Field" and includes an article "A Critic of our Mission" which mentions Ledoux expedition. The article says" After a cursory glance around him, the American Traveler cast severe aspersions in a most reckless way on a body of men of whom he knows nothing except that they have voluntarily renounced the comforts of civilization to lead the heathen to the Cross, forgetting, as a Sacred Heart Father reminded him, in a letter to the Brisbane press, that he was enabled to visit New Guinea precisely because the missionaries had proceeded him there and had helped to introduce the white man's law."
There is also a follow up letter from December 1st 1936 including a long promised "Public Relations Policy" as outlined by Mr. Harrison Reeve.
These Policies include a page of each of these topics: Headhunter Friendly, Missionaries, Breeding Methods, Food, Weather, In Law Relationship, Head Hunting, Economic Methods, Copyright on Songs.
There is also a copy of an article in "Science News Letter" from September 21, 1940 by Professor Albert Einstein entitled "Personal God Concept Causes Science-Religion Conflict.
Date: 1930's
Material: Paperwork
Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection
PIOZZI, Hester Lynch Thrale (1741-1821).Autograph letter signed "H: L: Piozzi" to Sir James Fellowes, beginning with a quotation from Pope: "How happy is the blameless Vestal's Lot / The World forgetting -- by the World Forgot!" Penzance: 12 August 1820. 4pp., folded sheet (225 x 180 mm). Additionally signed within the text. Condition: cellotape and other repairs, hole from opening patched, small hole affecting a few letters. Provenance: Swann Galleries, 3 June 1997, lot 182, $1600.81-year-old piozzi commenting to her friend, physician and literary executor about old age. Following the above verses, the letter continues: "…but any antiquated joke is better than too long and too seriously to lament, as I fear our dear-loved Doctor does, the common fate of humanity in poor Lord Gwydir. Whatever we lose in this world we cannot very long be sorrowing for. My Life, and that of your excellent Father, though drawn out to such uncommon Length, are but as Points imperceptible as this, in the Folio Page of Eternity, to which we are approaching like the second hand upon a stopwatch, that moves round while we look off & on again. 'Yea, but all this did I know before,' say you -- it would be better tell about Penzance…" The preceding paragraph quoted in Autobiography, Letters & Literary Remains.Sir James Fellowes (1771-1857) was born in Edinburgh, attended Cambridge, and served as a surgeon in the Navy 1794-1814. From 1814 he lived in Bath where he met Mrs Piozzi, and became good friends for the last 6 years of her life. He was appointed her literary executor.
Chinese elephant ivory 'forget-me-not' pendant late ming Of thick oval form, inscribed with seven characters of xingcao script, pierced to top. H: 2 1/2 in. PROVENANCE: NOTE: The poem on either side indicates that this disk would have been given during the parting of two friends or lovers. The poem on either side indicates that this disk would have been given during the parting of two friends or lovers. Moderate cracking and discoloration consistent with age and use. Very minor losses to edge, 1/8 in. brown imperfection to one side.
1783 Col. JOSEPH HART Letter Signed to John Nicholson Comptr General Philadelphia: American Revolution. Colonel JOSEPH HART Writes to John Nicholson Comptroller General at Philadelphia on Fiscal Accounting. June 24th, 1783-Dated Revolutionary War Autograph Letter Signed, "Joseph Hart L;B;C. " (Lieutenant of Bucks County), Buck's County, Pennsylvania, Letter Addressed to John Nicholson Comptroller General, at Philadelphia, Very Fine. A well written Letter in regard to various Accounting and reconciliation issues that Colonel Hart had been in charge of overseeing, and of the other two assistants who were also being paid for their work. This rather standard Letter content wise is 1 page (written), measuring 8" x 6. 5" on a double-sheet of laid period paper, fully measuring 16" x 8" open, then folded at center to four pages with an Integral Address Transmittal Cover boldly addressed to: "Mr. John Nicholson Comptrol(ler) General - Philadelphia. " Docket reads: "Letter from Col Hart Bucks County - June 24th. 1783". . John Nicholson was chosen one of three Commissioners of Accounts of Pennsylvania in 1781, and in the following year the legislature abolished the Commission and appointed Nicholson "Comptroller General" of the State with very broad powers. For the next twelve years Nicholson was the virtual "fiscal dictator" of Pennsylvania, and under his management the state was the first to be restored to financial stability after the turmoil of the Revolution. He later became Land business partners with Robert Morris, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, also know as the and later Land speculator. . Colonel Joseph Hart's (1716-1788) Battalion of the Flying Camp from Buck's County, Pennsylvania Militia was organized in 1776. (A Flying Camp was a military formation employed by the Continental Army in the second half of 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. In military strategy, a flying camp, or camp-volant, was a small but strong army of cavalry and dragoons, to which were sometimes added foot soldiers. Such an army was usually commanded by a lieutenant general, and was always in motion, both to cover the garrisons in possession, and to keep the adversary in continual alarm. ). . That Buck's County Battalion of the Continental Army was in the Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776. His inscription upon his Gravestone reads: "Revolutionary War Veteran; aged 72 years; "Here lieth the Remains of Joseph Hart, Esq, who departed this life the 25th of Feb 1788, Aged 72 Years, also the remains of Elizabeth his Wife, who departed this life the 19th of Feb 1788, aged 74 years. ". . Joseph Hart's Military Service joined on July 20, 1775, was elected Colonel of the Second Battalion Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1776 he was Commander of a regiment of the Bucks County Militia serving in New Jersey. On July 9th, 1774 appointed a committee to represent Bucks Co. , as well as was part of the committee to fight the American Revolution against Britain. . John Nicholson was a financier and land speculator who was elected Comptroller General of Pennsylvania from 1782 to 1794. He was impeached for mismanaging state funds for his own gain in 1793 but was found not guilty. On January 16, 1775, a Committee of Safety was organized in Bucks, Pennsylvania, of which Joseph Hart was (chosen/elected) Chairman, and John Chapman as Clerk, in which was reposed, for the time being, the legislative and executive authority of the county. During the Winter of 1775 that Committee of Safety collected 252. 19s. 18d. to relieve (and support) the people "of the town of Boston. ". . The "Society of Friends" were against the war from the beginning, because strife and bloodshed were opposed to their religious tenets, but the authority of the fathers could not restrain the sons. A number of their young men gave open sympathy to the cause of the colonies, and some entered the military service. Among the latter we find the well-known names of Janney, Brown, Linton, Shaw, Milnor, Hutchinson, Bunting, Stackhouse, Canby, Lacey, and others. . The meeting "dealt with" all who forsook the faith, and the elders of Richland were visited with ecclesiastical wrath for turning their backs upon King George. We must do the Society justice, however, to say that it was consistent in its action, and that the same censure was launched against the martial Quaker, whether he entered the ranks of the king or the colonies. Nevertheless, the society did not forget the needs of charity, and down to April 1776, they had already distributed 3, 900, principally in New England, and Falls monthly meeting authorized subscriptions for the suffering inhabitants of Philadelphia. . When Congress authorized an Army, John Lacey, an Orthodox Quaker of Buckingham, in January of 1776, raised a company of 64 men for Wayne's Regiment, whose first lieutenant was Samuel Smith, of Buckingham, Michael Ryan, the second, and John Bartley, and John Forbes, ensigns. About the same time, among those who entered the military service from this county, were Robert Sample, a scholarly man from Buckingham, a Captain in Hubeley's (sic) (Adam Hubley's) Tenth Pennsylvania regiment, a good officer who served to the end of the war, Augustus Willet, who had served with Montgomery in Canada, in 1775, a captain in Bull's regiment, Samuel Benezett, major in the Sixth Pennsylvania regiment, and Alexander Grayden (Graydon), of Bristol, a captain in Shee's regiment, who was made prisoner at Fort Washington. Colonel Robert Magaw, of the Sixth Pennsylvania regiment, recruited a number of his men in this county, and the roll of his killed and captured at Fort Washington gives many well-known names. (1) Adjutant Johnson, (2) of Buckingham, and Lieutenants Matthew Bennett and John Erwin, of this county, were among the captured at Fort Washington, and were kept prisoners several years. . Four militia regiments were organized in the county immediately after the (Revolutionary) war commenced, and in the Summer of 1776, Bucks sent a battalion of 400 men, under Colonel Joseph Hart, to the Flying camp near Amboy, whose adjutant was John Johnson, surgeon, Joseph Fenton, Jr. , quartermaster, Alexander Benstead, and Captains John Folwell, William Roberts, William Hart, Valentine Opp, and John Jamison.
HAINES WILLIAM. 1900-1973. 1. Autograph Letter Signed and Typed Letter Signed (''Willie Haines'' and ''Bill Haines'') 5 pp recto and verso 4to Los Angeles April 11 1972 and June 30 1948 to George Cukor and Elsa Schroeder typed letter on William Haines Inc. company letterhead very fine. Amusing correspondence from the screen star turned star interior designer: in the earlier letter he persuades Cukor's assistant to let his company redecorate Cukor's house while he is out of the country filming; in the later letter he gossips about their friends and gives a play-by-play review of the Academy Awards broadcast. In part: ''The whole evening was an entertaining farce swathed in forgetfulness and insincerity played in front of a background of Reynolds wrap long hair Beards & a few exposed wayward tits those of Miss R. Welch. She was the only beauty there besides Dick Chamberlain.''2. Photograph Signed (''William Haines'') and Inscribed 8 by 10 inch sepia-toned silver print profile shot of Haines with photographer's stamp (''Clarence Sinclair Bull'') to verso fine.3. Signed Portrait (''Best Wishes / William Haines'') 6 by 8 inch original pencil sketch artist signature illegible 1929 signed at lower right.
Capt. George Randolph Dyer AQM--Lincoln-Signed Commission and Pilot Knob Archive Comprising an early eagle mast head commission partially printed on vellum 12.25 x 15.75 in. matted framed and glazed 14.25 x 17.25 in. dated 21 February 1862 appointing George R. Dyer as Assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers with the rank of Captain. Signed by Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) as President and Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869) as Secretary of War (1862-1868) with a later conveyance letter from the Adjutant General??Ts Office; plus the earlier formal appointment letter to George R. Dyer signed by Secretary of War Simon Cameron (March 1861-January 1862). The archive portion consists of 31 file folders 24 of which contain primarily wartime personal correspondence coinciding with Captain Dyer??Ts assignment as Assistant US Quartermaster at the Pilot Knob Missouri post. The letters span January 1862 to July 1865 but are scant on details regarding the quartermaster operation at Pilot Knob (in fact Geo. Dallas Dyers??T letters are more illuminating). Additionally there are several pieces of interesting ephemera including Captain Dyer??Ts original 1885 GAR membership certificate from the Baxter Springs Kansas Post No.123 an 1864 dated military railroad pass original telegrams and two manuscript documents written and signed by noted abolitionist and educator General Clinton B. Fisk (1828-1890) a personal friend of George R. Dyer. Rounding out the lot are eleven civilian portraits (five are duplicates) of George Dyer taken between the late 1870s (a cdv) and 1892 (mostly cabinet cards) including one view of the regal old gentlemen wearing his MOLLUS medal. A file of 19th century manuscript Dyer biography and George??Ts printed 1895 MOLLUS ?In Memoriam? pamphlet complete the lot. George R. Dyer??Ts Pilot Knob letters contain no battle content and very little concerning the day-to-day operations of the quartermaster department at the post. There are large gaps in the letters and most consist of newsy correspondence between various friends and family members living back in Chicago Elgin and Plainfield Illinois. Even at the Pilot Knob post the presence of family is evident??"the captain??Ts son George Dallas Dyer worked as a clerk and died there in 1863 while Mrs. Dyer seems to have visited her husband with some regularity during the war. As the tempo of operations moved further south after 1862 Pilot Knob became something of a Missouri backwater albeit for sporadic guerrilla warfare that flared in a region dotted with Rebel sympathizers. The letters hint at legitimate business dealings as the buying and selling of ?contraband horses and mules? became a reoccurring theme. The quartermaster seems to have also speculated locally in food supplies and animal fodder systematically ?hauling it in teams? from a radius around the post. Captain Dyer who frequently complained of ill-heath was able to take leave on occasion and just happened to be absent ?in the North on sick leave? in September 1864 the one time Pilot Knob came under attack during Sterling Price??Ts ill-fated Missouri Invasion. After 1863 Captain Dyer hinted once or twice at pursuing loftier goals ??" a staff position with General Fisk ??" but remained at his post until his resignation from the army on May 15 1865. A few excerpts from the letter collection: September 10 1861 from Patience Huntington Dyer??Ts sister: Not all in Illinois were stirred by the prospect of war and buoyed by patriotism. George sister was terse in her feelings: ?I am about to employ all my powers of argument and persuasion to prevent you joining the army. Under other circumstances it might be your duty. Were your wife in vigorous health and your children (not so young) and your own health firm I would say no word to prevent it??|but our patriotism must not make us forgetful of the virtues we owe to those for whom none can be a substitute??|? Having reconciled his conscience with family responsibilities George Dyer enlisted on October 31 1861. The centerpiece of that decision is the Lincoln signed commission and accompanying War Department paperwork rarely found together after 150 years. January 8 1862 to his wife Elizabeth (Howell Kimball) a long letter: Already Captain Dyer confesses his loneliness writing that the pain of being separated from his children is ?harder than I thought it would be.? He hopes to return home ?some time next month? if he can get a leave of absence. George briefly describes his duties ?I have a vast amount to attend to? and tells Elizabeth that ?George (their eldest son George Dallas) arrived the 2nd day of this month and has done very well since he came??|? He offers some insight into business matters ?We sold 52 horses & mules that had been taken from the enemy I had to sell them. They brought 1300. They were very poor and small (and) sold rather low. Some were good but I did not buy for I thought I would rather send all the money home I could for you.? The letter includes a lengthy list of goods that Elizabeth should bring to Pilot Knob ??" ?towels butter tea a lamp or two? ??" as ?some items can??Tt be had in this country.? He will express his pay ?Only 156 dollars instead of the 200 as I expected but I hope to have George have 60 per month which will help pay for being scattered all over the world.? The family might have been experiencing some financial difficulties as Capt. Dyer then rationalizes the quartermaster job lamenting ?If I can stand it for one year it will help my family some and that is all I am at work for.? He gives some instructions relating to the livestock management at the Plainfield farm and concludes by asking Elizabeth to send ?my cane for it would help me to get through the mud which is very deep.? September 15 1862 to sister Patience: Young George Dallas Dyer has left his Pilot Knob clerkship and joined the army. A proud but fearful Captain Dyer writes ?My poor boy only 17 years old gone to defend his country. Sister he is a fine boy manly as most men of 25 years (see George??Ts military cdv) & capable of doing any kind of business??| He has gone & I hope he will do his duty. He is the youngest man in his company & is the captain. They all like him & I hope he will return the confidence of his company??|? November 2 1862 from Lt. W.F. Crain 5th Illinois Cavalry: A mundane request asking Captain Dyer for his help in locating and recovering ?a dozen lost or stolen horses? from the regiment. The animals were left at Pilot Knob and were due to be returned by cavalrymen convalescing in the hospital. A newspaper article dated January 8 1863 reported on an abundance of new from Pilot Knob giving scope to the quartermaster operation there as well as featuring the approbations of Captain Dyer??Ts peers who had presented him with a ?superb gold watch? on New Years Eve. The correspondent noted ?An air of unusual bustle and activity pervades this usually quiet town caused by the arrival of 300 wagons from General Davidson??Ts Division Army of Southeast Missouri. They are now loading with commissary stores for his army??|? destined for Little Rock. The article quoted the lengthy testimonial ?engraved on the case? and showered platitudes ?Our Government has been blessed and cursed with many faithful and unfaithful disbursing officers but few who stand so noble and deservingly high as Captain Dyer where is known and appreciated.? The author noted that Captain W. L. Banning was ?relieving him (Captain Dyer) of the duties of the Commissary Department from January 1st.? What follows in an extended gap in the letters. The next two letters written to Captain Dyer at Pilot Knob date to June 1863 from a Joliet friend named Willis Danforth formerly Captain Company F. 13th Illinois Cavalry. June 1 1863: Danforth writes at length conveying the conditions in Joliet and mentioning ?speculators and traitors.? He is spiteful of ?Vallandigham Copperheads? and complains that soldiers and those serving in the army get no respect. He mentions Colonel (Frederick A.) Bartleson of the 100th Illinois a local Joliet hero later killed at Kennesaw Mountain and finally asks Captain Dyer to intercede on his behalf with General Davidson as there are ?charges pending? against him ostensibly having to do with a forged signature for payment. Captain Danforth had resigned from the army on February 7. A prominent Chicago homeopathic doctor and medical instructor Danforth would be exonerated and restored as surgeon of the 134th Illinois. He later gained notoriety as one of the five physicians who gave testimony at Mary Todd Lincoln??Ts insanity trial in May 1875. Danforth??Ts testimony was said to be ?particularly damning? to Mary's cause ultimately forcing her into Bellevue Place a private mental institution in Batavia Illinois. In a follow-up letter dated June 9 1863 Danforth wrote of a little known incident in Chicago that fundamentally challenged the very basic First Amendment principle of free speech. The Democratic leaning Chicago Times newspaper had published articles supporting the controversial Clement Vallandigham who had been arrested and convicted by a military court of ?uttering disloyal sentiments.? District commander General Burnside ordered the paper suppressed and publication was suspended under armed Federal guard. Groups of armed citizens from rival political factions begin congregating and troops from nearby Camp Douglas patrolled the streets in the midst of rising tensions and vocal threats by angry Democrats to ?gut the Tribune office? (the Chicago Tribune the Republican mouthpiece). Chicago was a tinderbox and Danforth an eyewitness inferred that ?a single pistol shot fired by some disorderly drunkard would have exploded the whole machine & cost at least 900 lives??"fortunately the occasion passed without any accident.? Danforth added that ?W.B. Ogden (Chicago Mayor) and some few Republican friends joined the terrified Democrats in petitioning honest old Abe to revoke Burnsides order??"which was done the next day & freedom of the press restored and (indignantly) such freedom!? He ended the letter with the observation that ?Chicago is standing still no growth but money is plentiful ? adding that the city is in the midst of ?diphtheria? outbreak. September 19 1863: The long summer gap in Dyer??Ts letters is unexplained. However this original double-sided telegram exchange between Captain Dyer and General Clinton Fisk reinstated Captain Dyer to duty at Pilot Knob. Dyer requested that he be reassigned to the post and General Fisk quickly accommodated ?BG Allen/CQM/St. Louis Mo./ If agreeable to yourself I would be glad if you would relieve Capt. S.H. Moore AQM from duty at this post (Pilot Knob) & assign to the vacant place Capt. Geo. R. Dyer again./(signed) Clinton B. Fisk/BG.? On the same day son George writes his father from Pilot Knob with the news that the captain had been reinstated to duty and included a verbatim transcription of the earlier telegram from General Fisk to General Allen. Attached to the letter is a small 3.50 x 2.25 in. printed ?St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad Pass? filled out to ?Captain G.R. Dyer & family? good for 1864. Also a missive entitled ?4 Rules of Live.? October 20 1863: A extemporaneous tongue-in-cheek three stanza rhyme written on the front of a large envelope by General Fisk to Captain Dyer from ?Head Quarters D.S.E. Missouri/Pilot Knob.? One stanza will serve to convey some unknown but deliberate frivolity at play ?Respectfully returned to Captain D./Who smokes his pipe from dinner to tea/With information from General Fisk/ That playing with sick is attended with [risk].? The playful rhyme hints at some shared secret and underscores the bond between the two officers and friends. November 2 1863: A two-sided letter from brother Dr. Charles V. Dyer who writes from Geneva Switzerland with much travel news from the past several months indicating that he ?had been to Africa to establish my court.? Charles Dyer had been appointed by President Lincoln in 1863 ?as judge of the mixed court at Sierra Leone for the suppression of the slave trade.? November 17 1863: Young George Dallas Dyer died at Pilot Knob on November 13 of gastroenteritis. Captain Dyer was devastated by the loss of his son and this heartfelt letter from S.J. Kimball the husband of Dyer??Ts sister Patience offers sympathy and advice for finding solace ?Look to God for support for the Bible alone can direct us in time of affliction.? December 11 1863: To Capt. Dyer from Uncle Alonzo Huntington. Another condolence letter in the wake of George??Ts untimely death offering what else but more Biblical support. September 17 1864: After another long gap a parting letter from Clerk Charlie Price to Capt. Dyer as he leaves Pilot Knob traveling back to Plainfield on business or sick leave. Price relates an interesting bit of news saying ?the photographer Hunt at Ironton (was) arrested & put in the Guard House last night for feeding secreting & assisting Rebs.? There is no suggestion that Confederate General Sterling Price is poised to invade Missouri later in the month with his Trans-Mississippi Army. Captain Dyer missed the battle of Pilot Knob (September 27) where Price captured Fort Davidson while suffering crippling casualties that allowed the Union army to escape. September 19 1864: Another short letter from Clerk Charlie Price informing the absent Captain Dyer of the state of affairs at Pilot Knob. Price assures Dyer that everything is well and that he will update and keep him ?informed as necessary.? Still no hint of impending battle. September 20 1864: Another short communication letter from the ever efficient Charlie Price ?Everything running in pretty good shape. Rice still acting as Forage master and speculating in hay. We posted in shops this morning the following Order: -NOTICE-/It is hereby positively prohibited to manufacture or repair any other than Government Stores at this shop. Except by Special Order from this Office. All employees transgressing this rule will be discharged without pay and will be reported to the Commanding Officer for severe punishment./Geo. R. Dyer/Capt.AQM.? November 4 1864: A short note on ?Head Quarters St. Louis? letterhead from General Fisk acknowledging Capt. Dyer??Ts request for a letter of recommendation to be forwarded to Secretary Stanton ?in securing advancement for you.? Fisk adds ?I would be glad to see you promoted and trust that you may be signed Clinton B. Fisk/Brig. Gen?. March 8 1865: A full page manuscript letter from General Fisk answering Captain Dyer??Ts earlier inquiry regarding a position on Fisk??Ts staff. The general responds ?I would be much pleased to be able to confer upon you my former faithful staff officer any position of honor or trust within my gift ? but Fisk doubts that he will get another command and demurs without offering a firm answer. ?Colonel Beveridge and the officers of the 17th Illinois Cavalry? are mentioned in closing. Fisk had been brevetted and the letter is now signed as ?Maj. Genl.? The last letter from July 1866 illustrates Captain Dyer??Ts transition from military to civilian life. Captain Dyer resigned from the army on May 15 1865 and returned home to Joliet Illinois. George Randolph Dyer??Ts original hand written biography later edited and published in the 1878 History of Will County is included as is the MOLLUS ?In Memoriam? pamphlet printed at the time of his death in 1895. The first is by far the most comprehensive history of Dyer while the second ??" composed by committee ??" focuses necessarily on his military service and bears annotations in the hand of cousin Mabel E. Green. George Randolph Dyer was born in Clarendon Rutland Country Vermont on June 3 1813 from a lineage of illustrious ancestors going back to 13th century England. Among his early Colonial brethren were Roger Williams of Rhode Island and the unrepentant Quaker Mary Dyer martyred on Boston Common in 1660. Dyer??Ts father Daniel Dyer had served in Revolutionary War and George Randolph later inherited the commission signed by John Hancock. Educated at Rutland Academy in Vermont George trekked westward in 1834 to Chicago then little more than a small settlement and trading post on Lake Michigan followed by his older brother Dr. Charles V. Dyer who later served as post surgeon at Fort Dearborn. George then moved to Milwaukee and during that time aided in the organization of the territory of Wisconsin in 1838. George surveyed ?the Fox River with a view to using that stream as a feeder for the Illinois canal.? In 1841 he sold his Chicago holdings and relocated to Will County Illinois becoming one of the earliest settlers in the area. There he acquired farmland near present day Bolingbrook-Plainfield. For the next decade George and his wife Elizabeth H. Kimball of Elgin Illinois engaged in farming and stock-raising adding to their modest wealth while raising six children. The other characters in our story of our lots sons George Dallas Dyer and Daniel B. Dyer were both born on the Will County farm. Both boys helped to work the property as dark war clouds descended across the land. Sometime during the 1840s George Dyer befriended a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln who was then traveling the state as a circuit rider (1840-1847). There is reason to believe that Lincoln occasionally stayed at the Dyer farm during the decade thus the source of an undefined friendship that survived into the Civil War years. George and brother Charles Dyer became committed Abolitionists during the 1850s and fairly early on family story relates that the George Dyer??Ts Plainfield farm was surreptitiously used as a way station on the Underground Railroad. In 1856 George Dyer was elected Sheriff of Will County residing in Joliet the county seat where he became acquainted with like-minded politicians and influential power brokers of the anti-slavery Republican Party founded in 1854. By 1860 George and Charles could claim sufficient stature as party loyalists to be named electors in the Republican nominating convention where all energy was focused on launching the states??T favorite rustic son Abraham Lincoln ??" soon to be known as the ?Rail-Splitter? ??" on a course toward the Whitehouse. Captain Dyer??Ts war years as Assistant Quartermaster at Pilot Knob are well documented by the important Lincoln signed commission and the letter archive offered for sale here. Following the war Captain Dyer returned to Joliet and according to the History of Will County ?entered the hardware trade continuing in that until 1870 since which time he has not been engaged in active business.? Dyer??Ts earlier letters suggest lifelong health problems yet he lived until 1895. In retirement he must have spent long hours adding to the Dyer family genealogy and perfecting his Will County biography. In March 1880 his younger son Daniel B. Dyer then serving as Indian Agent at the Quapaw Agency saw fit to write and entice his father and mother with a government job teaching at the Indian school. Despite Daniel??Ts solid economic persuasiveness George Dyer apparently declined. By 1884 George and Elizabeth had relocated to Baxter Springs Kansas closer to Daniel where the captain became a charter member of the local GAR Post No.123 parenthetically once more listing his occupation as ?farmer.? George R. Dyer died at Excelsior Springs Missouri on July 13 1895 age 83. He was suitably memorialized by friends and fellow citizens for his ?loyal nature and esteemed service to country? and buried in Joliet Oakwood Cemetery. Descended Directly in the Dyer Family Condition: Lincoln commission is complete and intact without damage or noticeable fold lines. The ink is somewhat lighter than desirable but both Lincoln's and Stanton's signatures are strong enough to read without assistance. The blue seal is undamaged and vibrant. A hint of brown toning is noticeable around the edges. The commission was not removed from the frame for inspection. Except for expected fold lines all letters and documents are undamaged and completely readable. The photographs show varying degrees of wear else fine.
LAWRENCE, D.H. Autograph letter signed to publisher B.W. Huebsch. Mexico City: 21 April 1923. 1 page autograph letter signed "D.H. Lawrence" to "Dear Huebsch", 11 x 8 1/2 inches (28 x 21.5 cm), with original mailing envelope. Usual folds, small marginal indentation and rust stain from old paperclip. A scathing letter from Lawrence severing ties with his early American publisher B.W. Huebsch. In this terse letter Lawrence acuses Huebsch of calling him a liar through his friend Robert Mountsier, and returns $200 collected by Huebsch, writing it would have been kinder still if you had earned for me enough royalties not to leave me absolutely poor, for several years. Huebsch published new works by Lawrence until about 1920, when Lawrence began publishing in New York with Thomas Setzer. Adding insult, and threatening injury, Lawrence ends the letter quite aggresively: ... I shall be glad to have nothing more to do with you. But don't forget, in your turn, that I have a tongue in my head, and teeth too, that I can use upon occasion. C The Creekmore and Adele Fath Charitable Foundation Collectio
(3) 19th c children's motto cups to include 'A Present from a Friend", 2-5/8"H, souvenir 'A horse from the fair' 2-5/8"H and 'never forget an old friend', 2-1/4"H, chip to one at top