All nine members of the Vinson Court signed this 13x10 official photo. Photograph signed: "Fred M. Vinson, Jr." as Chief Justice and "Hugo L. Black", "Stanley Reed", "Felix Frankfurter", "William O. Douglas", "Robert H. Jackson", "Harold H. Burton", "Tom C. Clark" and "Sherman Minton" as Associate Justices. B/w, 13x10. Although every member of this Court was appointed by Democratic Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, intense personal animosities - especially involving Black, Frankfurter, Douglas and Jackson - disrupted the Court's harmony. FDR appointed Black (1937-1971), Reed (1938-1957), Frankfurter (1939-1962), Douglas (1939-1975) and Jackson (1941-1954). Truman appointed Burton (1945-1958), Clark (1949-1967) and Minton (1949-1956). Jackson and Black both expected to be elevated to Chief Justice in 1946 after the death of Harlan Fiske Stone, but the intense lobbying by their respective supporters prompted Truman to nominate Vinson instead. Vinson's death in 1953 was historically significant, since the Chief Justice had seemed ready to oppose what proved to be a unanimous school desegregation decision in Brown vs Board of Education (1954). Soiled at 2 signatures.

The first Jewish Supreme Court Justice signs a scarce handwritten 1920 letter: "Palestine needs redoubled efforts from all loyal Jews." Scarce ALS: "Louis D. Brandeis" as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 1 page, 5½x8½. On his Stoneleigh Court, Washington, D.C., stationery, 1920 April 7. To Mr. Isaac E. Feinstein, Supervisor. In full: "I am glad to learn from your letter of yesterday of the growth in Young Judea Center during the past five year (sic). Palestine needs redoubled efforts from all loyal Jews. I trust that before another five years - your sixteen clubs may have grown to One hundred and Sixty." Louis Dembitz Brandeis (1856-1941), who had been nicknamed the "people's lawyer", supported Woodrow Wilson's nomination for the Presidency in 1912. In 1916, he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Wilson, becoming the first Jewish Associate Justice. He worked behind the scenes to influence President Wilson to support the Zionist cause, and later brought Zionist matters to the attention of FDR. Brandeis, who served for 23 years on the Court until his retirement in 1939, was a progressive who was known for his anti-monopolist views.

Signing in the text of this handwritten 1777 letter, he discusses his corrections to proofs of a legal address he delivered before the Society of Antiquaries Third-Person Autograph Letter Signed: "Sir William Blackstone" and "Sir Wm" in text, 1 page, 7½x4½. Wallingford, 1777 April 17, Monday morning. In full: "Sir William Blackstone returns to Mess. Bowzer and Nichols the Proof Sheets of his letter to Mr. Barrington & with them the MS. Copy. [Items not included.] Had he known the Society intended to have printed it immediately, he would have corrected it for the Press before it was sent to the Compositor, but believes the few Emendations he has made will not occasion any considerable Trouble. Sir Wm would have returned it sooner, but did not receive it till Saturday Afternoon."  English jurist and writer SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE (1723-1780) is referring to the publishing of his letter to Judge Daines Barrington, which he had read in 1775 before the Society of Antiquaries. Blackstone, as a Fellow of the Society since 1761, addressed a paper to the Vice President, Barrington (1727-1800), regarding the use of seals by those with ecclesiastical jurisdiction as specified by a law passed in 1547, during the first year of Edward VI's reign.

9x11 black and white publicity photograph of Clarence Darrow wearing a suit and tie. Photograph inscribed and signed: "Clarence Darrow/Warmest wishes to/Gifford Ernest/Chicago Feb'y 2, 1936". B/w, 9x11 overall, image 7½x9¼ (one surface). Attorney Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), who specialized in corporate law, shot to fame in 1894, when he defended American Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs, President of the American Railroad Union, arrested on a federal contempt of court charge arising from a strike at the Chicago Pullman Palace Car Company. Although Darrow lost the case, he won a national reputation as a champion of radical causes. A brilliant orator and a master of reforming the law, framing pleas and eliciting evidence, he became one of America's most renowned defense lawyers, and he used his position to campaign against capital punishment. In his sixties, Darrow successfully defended Leopold and Loeb (1924) in getting life imprisonment instead of death for kidnapping and killing a 13-year-old boy. In 1925, he defended John T. Scopes, accused of violating a Tennessee law by teaching evolution, in the "Scopes Monkey Trial". Darrow's autobiography, The Story of My Life, was published in 1932. Blank areas are lightly soiled. Lightly creased.

This extraordinary typed manuscript for Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital about Western lawman Bat Masterson, with a total of four handwritten corrections by him, including his very rare full signature. It was written by Robert M. Wright, former mayor of Dodge City, Kansas, and sent to Masterson, a former deputy in Dodge City, for his review. Annotated typed manuscript signed "William Barclay (Bat) Masterson". Black ink and lead pencil notations in unknown hand. 6 pages, 8½x11, bound with a needle at top edge. There are a total of four corrections on the first page. The first is Masterson's signature, correcting the title "W.B. Masterson (Bat)". He also corrected the initials "W.B." in the first sentence with "William Barclay". The other two corrections pertain to his candidacy for sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, which included Dodge City. He crossed out the "6" in "1876" and corrected it with "7".  This extraordinary document is a short biography of Masterson written by Robert M. Wright for his book Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital (1913). Wright, a former mayor of Dodge City, Kansas sent this manuscript to Masterson, a former deputy in Dodge City, for his review.

The Supreme Court Justice signs an extraordinary rare, handwritten letter to Herbert Hoover, who was administering food aid to Europe after World War I: "I am more sorry than you can possibly realize to have provoked you about Poland. … I know what you did and how you feel about the Polish Jewish situation …" Autograph Letter Signed: "Felix Frankfurter," 1p, 8¼x10½. No place or date but London, post World War I. On stationery of the American Relief Administration. To Herbert Hoover, who served as Chairman of the American Relief Committee in London. In full: "I am more sorry than you can possibly realize to have provoked you about Poland, for I feel a deeper devotion and gratitude for your services and your wise humanity than you probably appreciate. It's just because I know what you did and how you feel about the Polish Jewish situation that I spoke as briefly as I did. You may be sure that I shall not in the slightest seek to do anything but that which may help towards healing. The first step towards remedy is, of course, the truth of the situation. And on there I think - in all honesty - I can now speak.…"

All nine Supreme Court Justices signed this framed engraving of the Supreme Court building Engraving signed: "Harry A Blackmun", "Byron R. White", "Lewis F. Powell Jr.", "Potter Stewart". "Thurgood Marshall", "William H. Rehnquist", "Warren E Burger", "W Douglas" and "Wm J Brennan Jr.", 7¾x5½ overall, oval image 3½x2 (one surface). Printed by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The nine Justices that signed this image of the Supreme Court building served together from 1971, when Powell and Rehnquist joined the Court, to 1975, when Douglas retired. In 1974, Chief Justice Burger spoke for a unanimous Court upholding a subpoena for the Watergate tapes which resulted in President Nixon's resignation. In 1986, Chief Justice Burger retired and was succeeded by Associate Justice Rehnquist who served until his death in 2005. Frame lightly chipped at back corners. Otherwise, fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 34½x22.

Income tax form filled out and signed in text by the mobster, stating how much net income he filed taxes on in 1929 and listing his parents as dependents Document Signed in Text: "Joseph Doto" New York State Income Tax Resident Return form, 1929. Adonis has written his name, address, and some of his income information in pencil. 8½x11. Joey Adonis (1902-1972), born Giuseppe Antonio Doto, was an American mob boss and businessman. In 1927, with other underworld figures, he formed the Seven Group to control the illicit alcohol trade. Called the "Broadway Mob", they controlled the flow of bootleg liquor to the top clubs in Manhattan. In 1944, Joe Adonis relocated his activities to New Jersey and used as his headquarters Duke's Bar and Grill in Cliffside Park, Palisades, New Jersey. In the 1940s, Duke's restaurant was the meeting place for the Bosses, including Adonis, Albert Anastasia, Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky. Adonis was also involved in controlling gambling in sections of New York and New Jersey. In 1951, he pleaded guilty to violating New Jersey's gambling laws and served a two-year prison term. Rather than encounter New York's indictment against him for violating its state gambling laws, as well as perjury charges brought against him by the U.S.

Henry Clay wrote this letter from his Ashland estate in Kentucky in 1829, about nine months after he stepped down as President John Quincy Adams' Secretary of State. In it, he talks about President Andrew Jackson - "the Military despot" - as well as the election and a friend who had published a letter of his without his permission. Autograph letter signed "H. Clay". 4 pages, 7¾x9¾, 1 sheet folded, front and verso. Written at Clay's Ashland estate in Kentucky, Nov. 21, 1829. Addressed to P. R. Fendale, Esq. In full: "I recd. you favor both of the 30th. Oct. and the 7th. instant. I believe Mr. Wonley has made the permanent arrangement to supply the place of his late Co-partner; and I think it probable that he will make none before the fate of the Journal is finally decided. However much gratified I should be, in some respects, to see you a resident of Kentucky, I should regret it extremely if it were to be the consequence of the failure of the Journal. That paper has been edited with very great ability, generally, since the commencement of the present administration; and is considered in this quarter as standing unquestionably at the head of the papers which are arrayed against the Military despot.…"

From the President to the son of Buchanan's Postmaster General: He cannot attend a meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac. Manuscript LS: "Benj Harrison" as President, 1p, 7½x10. Executive Mansion, Washington, 1892 May 21. To Hon. Horatio C. King, Brooklyn, N.Y. In full: "I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of May 19th in which you extend to me a cordial invitation to attend the annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac to be held at Scranton June 15th and 16th. I fear that it will not be possible for me to accept this invitation, and assure you that I regret that it is so." KING, son of Buchanan's Postmaster General, was Judge Advocate General of New York. In the Civil War, he served with the Army of the Potomac and Shenandoah from 1862-1865. Harrison was Colonel in the 70th Indiana Regiment in the Civil War. Just 2½ weeks after this letter, President Harrison was renominated on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention held in Minneapolis June 7-10, 1892. Tanned, lined page. Lightly creased. Vertical fold touches the "a" in Harrison. Fine condition.