GATLING TELLS COLT PATENT FIRE ARMS THAT THE STATE OF NEW YORK "HAS SENT TWO GATLING GUNS HERE FOR REPAIRS"   RICHARD J. GATLING. TLS: "R.J. Gatling", 1p, 8½x11½. Hartford, Conn., 1885 April 14. As President, on stationery of The Gatling Gun Company. To Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, Hartford. In full: "The Chief of Ordnance, State of New York, advises us that he has sent two Gatling Guns here for repairs, and that if anything is needed in the way of appendages or spare parts, that he be furnished with a list of the same, before he gives the order for them. As soon as the guns are received, please put them in good working order, and furnish us with a list of the articles required as above." Exactly 20 years before this letter was written, John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln with a Derringer pistol. Twelve days later, U.S. Cavalry Sgt. Boston Corbett shot Booth with a Colt revolver. By the 1850s, Richard J. Gatling (1818-1903) had become wealthy from agricultural inventions such as machines for sowing rice and wheat.

HENRY DERINGER Rare handwritten note to his son saying "keep steady to your business and all will go right and straight" Autograph Note signed: "HD" and "H Deringer" in his hand as part of his son's name in the address, 2p, 7¼x9¾, front and verso. No place, no date, but circa 1833. Postscript written on verso of an address leaf addressed in his hand to his son: "John H Deringer Esq/Tioga Village/Tioga County/Penna". In full: "P.S. I am pleased to hear that you have commenced selling goods and that you are coming on so well, keep steady to your business and all will go right and straight." Ink note (unknown hand) on address side: "Henry Derringer [sic]/1833". Henry Deringer (1786-1868) invented the short barreled, heavy caliber pocket pistol that still bears his name. (The pistol type is spelled "Derringer"; only those of his manufacture are spelled with the single "r".) The popular weapon, easily concealable but packing a wallop, was "the weapon of choice of riverboat gamblers". John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln with an original Deringer. Deringer autographs are rare. Mailing fold at the "HD". Fragile.

GEORGE “BUGS” MORAN The Chicago mobster who waged a city-wide war with fellow mafioso Al Capone signed this petition. Extremely rare! Typed Document Signed: "George Moran", 1p, 8x3¾. No place, but probably Chicago, 1938 November 28. Co-signed: "Lillian E. Cohen" as Notary Public. In Full: "GEORGE MORAN being first duly sworn, states that he has read the above and foregoing petition, signed by him, and that the same is true except for those matters stated by him to be upon information and belief, and that as to those matters this affiant states that he believes them to be true." George "Bugs" Moran (1893-1957) had committed more than 20 known burglaries and was imprisoned three times before he was 21. He became the head of Dion O'Banion's North Side gang in Chicago in 1926. For three years, Moran's gang and Al Capone's gang were bloody adversaries. Their rivalry climaxed on February 14, 1929 in a Chicago garage when seven members of Moran's gang were machine gunned to death on orders from Capone in what became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

JOHN HANCOCK Hancock handwrote, dated and put his John Hancock on this letter to the "Gentlemen of the Senate & Gentlemen of the House of Representatives" in 1783, while he was Governor of Massachusetts. He wrote this letter to inform the recipients that he had received an "Application for Sundry Articles for the use of the Tribe" from the Penobscot, which offered their services to the colonies during the American Revolutionary War. This letter was written less than eight months before the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war between the colonies and England. Draft autograph letter signed "J.H." as Governor of Massachusetts. 1 page, 7¾x6¼. Council Chamber, Boston, Massachusetts, Feb. 7, 1783. Addressed to the "Gentlemen of the Senate & Gentlemen of the House of Representatives". In full: "I have this moment Rec'd a Letter from Colonel Lithgow, by Two Indians of the Penobscot Tribe, these Indians are come to make Application for Sundry Articles for the use of the Tribe. The Letter with the Commissions given one of these Indians by Brigr. Genl. Lovell, I have directed the Secretary [to] lay before you.

JOHN HANCOCK and JOHN AVERY, JR. As Massachusetts Governor and Secretary of State, both sign a manuscript document appointing Superior Court Justice David Sewall to the Commonwealth's Supreme Court (1781). Ornate Manuscript DS: "John Hancock" as Governor of Massachusetts, 1 page, 21¾x13. On vellum. Boston, 1781 February 20.Countersigned: "John Avery Secy". Appointment of David Sewall as Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. On verso, appears a short Manuscript DS: "John Hancock". In full: "In Council February 20th 1781. Hnble David Sewall Esqr appeared at the Council Chamber Subscribed the Declaration and the Several Oaths prescribed by the Constitution of the Commonwealth to qualify himself for the Office within mentioned." Born in York, Maine, SEWALL (1735-1825), Councillor for the Province of Maine (1766-1777), was Justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts (1777-1781) when he received this appointment to the State's Supreme Judicial Court. He served until 1789 when he was appointed Judge of the U.S. District Court of Maine (1789-1817).

THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS URGES THE PRESIDENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TO TAKE THE SAME STEPS AS MASSACHUSETTS HAD TAKEN IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE FISHING INDUSTRY ON THE MERRIMACK RIVER   JOHN HANCOCK. Autograph Letter, unsigned, 1p, 6¾x9. Boston, 1783 October 31.To "His Excellency Meshech Weare Esqr. President of the State of New Hampshire".Begins: "Sir". In full: "In compliance with the Request of the Two Branches of the General Court I inclose you Two Acts of this Government making provision to prevent the Destruction of Fish by Mill-Dams in Merrimack River & c - As the Design'd [illegible] of this Bill will much Depend upon the measures that shall be Adopted by the Legislature of your State, I am to Request that your Excellency will be pleas'd to lay those Acts before them, and cannot but flatter myself that they will Take such effectual Steps as will ensure the good Effects for which our Govt. Court had in View in passing the Bill - I am with Sentiments of [portion of word crossed out] Esteem, Sir, Your Excellency's Most Obedt & Humbl Servt." Hancock's retained copy of his letter to Weare. Docketed in unknown hand on verso.

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE One year before he sent his first telegraph message, Morse signs an autograph letter to Treasury Secretary Spencer, requesting $600 to cover the cost of his lab and office. Important ALS: "Saml F.B. Morse", 1 page, 8x10. New York, 1843 May 18. To Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer, who has penned: "Approved/J.C.S." on verso of the integral sheet. In full: "I have engaged eligible rooms for my laboratory and Office at the rate of Four hundred dollars pr annum from the 1st of May instant, which I have the honor to submit for the approbation of the Honorable the Secretary. The sum contemplated in my estimates of the 10th of March handed in to the Department is Six hundred dollars." On March 3, 1843, Congress granted Morse $30,000 to build a telegraph line on poles. The law provided the money "for testing the capacity and usefulness of the system of electro-magnetic telegraphs invented by Samuel F.B. Morse of New York" so any other funds, such as rent for his laboratory and office, had to be applied for by Morse.

ORVILLE WRIGHT. Photograph signed: "Orville Wright". B/w, 6¼x4½ overall, image 5x3¼ (one surface). Captioned at lower margin: "First Man-Flight, December 17, 1903/Kitty Hawk, N.C." Orville Wright (1871-1948) and his brother, Wilbur (1867-1912), made aviation history with their Flyer in Kitty Hawk, on North Carolina's Outer Banks, on December 17, 1903. While the Wrights had been testing their gliders on Kill Devil Hill for a number of years, this was their first test of their motorized, heavier-than-air flying machine. At 10:35 a.m., Orville Wright was at the controls of the 21-foot biplane with the 40.3-foot wingspan. The 605 pound craft, powered by a 12-horsepower engine that had four piston cylinders and revved to 1,090 rpm, left the ground, staying aloft for 12 seconds and covering 120 feet at an altitude of ten feet. Later that day, during one of their three test flights, Wilbur also manned the controls, traveling 852 feet in 59 seconds. In 1905, Wilbur and Orville decided to stop flying and tried to market their machine, first offering it to the U.S. government and then flying it in France.

THOMAS A. EDISONThe famous inventor penned a section of answers on this questionnaire! Printed Questionnaire filled out by an assistant who has signed: "Thomas A. Edison" at the conclusion, but with 11 words in Edison's hand, 1p, 7¾x10½. J.K. Macomber, Professor of Physics at the Physical Laboratory Agricultural College in Ames, Iowa, sent Edison and other authorities in the field, a printed questionnaire, dated September 27, 1879. Macomber message, in part: "The people of the Western States have been imposed upon by lightning-rod peddlers more, perhaps, than by any other class of swindlers. Among other rods being sold in Iowa is one known as the 'Chambers' rod, widely has been patented by the 'Chambers' National Lightning Protection Company,' of Cincinnati, Ohio. Briefly, this system consists on an Iron rod running along the ridge of the building with points at each end projecting upward…Many public buildings in thus State have been furnished with these rods…I beg leave to submit the following interrogations." Macomber lists seven questions for Edison to answer.