Jackson's bold signature on a 1836 patent for an improved machine to make ship's thimbles, also signed by Secretary of State Forsyth and Attorney General Butler. Accompanied by a 3-page handwritten description of the device by the inventor, Prentice White. Patent signed: "Andrew Jackson" as President, "John Forsyth" as Secretary of State, "B. F. Butler" as Attorney General, 1 page, 11½x15½. Washington, D.C., 1836 July 1. Patent issued to Prentice White for [in part] "a new and useful improvement in the Machine for making Ship's Thimbles which improvements he states has not been known or used before his application; [White] hath made oath that he does verily believe that he is the true inventor or discoverer of the said improvement; hath paid into the treasury of the United States the sum of thirty dollars."  Archivally double matted and framed with a seated portrait and a biographical plaque, to an overall size of 29.5 x 25.25. In fine condition, with light intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, and some scattered light toning and soiling. The white paper seal is lightly toned and worn, but intact, and retains its original green ribbon.

. Printed DS: "U.S. Grant" as President of the Soldiers Monument Association, 1p, 14x17. Galena, Ill., 1865 August 28. Not filled in. In full: "This Certifies that [blank] Is hereby Constituted a Member of the Jo Daviess Soldiers' Monument Association." Vignette of Lincoln at top center and five other smaller vignettes. Engraved by the Continental Bank Note Co., New York. At the time the Civil War broke out, former soldier Ulysses S. Grant was working in his father's hardware store in Galena, Illinois. Four years later, Lieutenant General Grant was the hero of Galena and of the Civil War, which ended on April 9, 1865. The citizens of Galena purchased a furnished home in town and presented it to Grant. He signed its deed on August 18, 1865. Other honors were heaped upon the General, including the honorary presidency of the Jo Daviess Soldiers' Monument Association, for which he signed this membership certificate (according to his memoirs) on August 28, 1865. Galena is located on the Mississippi River in Jo Daviess County, named for the Daniel Boone-like figure of Col. JOSEPH H. DAVIESS, frontier lawyer who was killed in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Counties in Missouri and Indiana were also named after Daviess. Fine condition.

Large 14½x18¼ signed sketch of the President who was elected to four terms. Sketch Signed: "Franklin D. Roosevelt" in pencil. Also signed by the artist and dated circa 1941. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is one of the best-known Presidents in United States history. Before his tenure in the Oval Office, he served as Governor of New York. This position gave him valuable experience working with progressive-minded individuals to improve the economy. He served in the position for just over 12 years, dying 11 weeks into his fourth term. Roosevelt oversaw the U.S. during the Great Depression and World War II. His progressive platform introduced Social Security and the first national minimum wage. During his first term as Commander-in-Chief, he ended Prohibition. This decision is largely credited with helping him to a landslide 1936 election victory. Frame slightly chipped at corners. Otherwise, fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 26¾x37.

The famous Wild West showman pens a hopeful letter to his friend, stating "New England was never big for me. But wait till we start west. I predict a big season." The letter was written during the downfall of Cody's show empire due to outside expenses draining the immense profits from his show Autograph letter signed: "Col.", 1 page, 8½x11 framed to an overall size of 25½x18½. Buffalo Bill's Wild West combined with Pawnee Bill's Great Far East. May 29, 1911. Portsmouth, [New Hampshire]. In full: "Dear Mayor Glad Light, Your letter which found me is fine health. We had two bad towns last week. Fitchburg & Newburyport. No one ever done business in either. The week hurt us at least $2000 in Lowell-sent your bank 5100 today to take up one of my notes. Been getting good deposits from the mines. Been getting in shape [illegible] or any one. I believe I'll walk a sale of the [illegible]. Note if good are doing. [illegible]. While I telegraph you for now we are all OK here-now. And barring accident we will be OK. New England was never big for me. But wait till we start west. I predict a big season. Love to you". William Frederick Cody (1846-1917) earned the name "Buffalo Bill" for killing thousands of buffalo as a hired hunter in 1867 and 1868.

Note handwritten as a lieutenant in the US Army, on duty at Fort Riley, Kansas Territory, signed in the text and accompanied by the original $3 bank note Stewart enclosed with it. Third Person Autograph Note, 1 page, 8x5. In full: "Be sure to direct $6 Lieut. J. E. B. Stuart Fort Riley K. T. P. S. I enclose also $3 more for which please send the Congressional Globe & appendix t P. L. Taylor, Fort Riley K. T. [Kansas Territory]." Accompanied by the $3 demand note, issued by the Phoenix Bank of Hartford, which Stewart forwarded with this letter. James Ewell Brown (J.E.B.) Stuart (1833-1864), called Jeb by his friends and by history, graduated from West Point in 1854, serving on the Western frontier. He participated in the capture of John Brown at Harper's Ferry. When he signed this note, Stewart was serving as Quartermaster of the 1st Cavalry, stationed at Fort Riley in the Kansas Territory. "Bleeding Kansas" was aflame with pro- and anti-slavery forces, seeking to determine by which system the Territory would enter the Union. Stewart, already a veteran of skirmishes with the Plains Indians, was helping to preserve order in the divided land. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1858, and to captain shortly before he resigned from the US Army to join the Confederacy in May 1861.

These incredibly rare documents are a handwritten, dated and signed account of Nazi Germany's forced labor and mass deportation operations by Germany's chief of slave labor recruitment. They were written by Sauckel for his lawyer during his trial before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremburg after World War II. They are important documentation of the 20th century's worst war and of some of the worst atrocities ever recorded in human history. They are also a typical example of the defense used by many defendants in the postwar Nuremberg trials: they were only following orders. This defense failed to sway Sauckel's tribunal; he was found guilty of war crimes and later hanged. Historically Important Autograph Manuscript signed twice (at top of first page and at bottom of last page): "Fritz Sauckel", in pencil, as war crimes defendant, 26 pages, 8x10½. IN GERMAN WITH 1945 ENGLISH TRANSLATION WITH FOOTNOTES AND COMMENTS. Nuremburg [Germany], 1945 July 15. This text was provided by Sauckel to his attorney as a means of fully describing the organization of the forced labor department, and Sauckel's duties and responsibilities.

His handwritten March 1783 letter as Governor of Massachusetts, instructing a garrison commander to forbid a ship full of Tories to disembark, requiring them to sail instead for New York (still in British hands) Autograph Letter, unsigned, 1 page, 7¾x12. Written as Governor. Boston, Massachusetts, 1783 March 27. To William Gordon, Commander of the Garrison in Dartmouth. In full: "I have this moment received your Letter by Express, giving information of the arrival of a Flag with a Number of Persons on board who were desirous of remaining some time at Dartmouth. I have laid the state of this Flag before the Council, & in consequence of their advice you are hereby Directed upon no pretense whatever, to suffer any of the Persons or any of the Effects brought in the Flag to be Landed at Dartmouth, or in any other place, but that you give immediate Directions for the Departure of the Flag with the Persons, & their effects to New York, and that after the Receipt of this Letter you make a point of Embracing the first fair wind to put her under Sail for New York, as no circumstance can possibly induce me to Deviate from this order. I am Sir your very humble servant.…"

Eloquently demands protection of the Red Cross symbol. Manuscript Signed: "Clara Barton" circa 1893, three typed pages, 8 x 10½. American Association of the Red Cross President Barton issues a call for a meeting of the Official Advisory Board to consider the protection of the Red Cross Insignia. Her fight had begun shortly after the First Geneva Convention attended by governments from around the world in 1864. Barton fought for the U.S. Congress to ratify the Convention but fearing foreign entanglements the government would not ratify and acknowledge the Convention until 18 years later. After the chartering of the society in 1882, the charitable and international neutral symbol was also used for everything from snake oils, cigars, alcoholic beverages and later, her fiercest adversary, the burgeoning conglomerate Johnson & Johnson Company. This overwhelming misuse and lack of congressional action led Barton to call the first meeting of the association's Board in 1893. Ultimately, the Red Cross would receive limited protection with the organization's official chartering in 1900. Barton's manuscript, in part: "...…"

Stock Certificate signed: "Robt Morris" as President of Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Navigation and U.S. Senator, 1p, 9¾x8. Philadelphia, 1792 August 4. Certificate No. 1084. In part: "Be it hereby certified, by the President, Managers, and Company of the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Navigation, That John C Moller of [left blank] is entitled to one Share of Stock, in the said Company, numbered Ten Hundred and Eighty four transferrable (sic) in the presence of the Treasurer, by the said John C Moller or his attorney...." Also signed by the Treasurer of the company. Docketed (unknown hand) on verso, transferring Moller's stock to David Dunbar on January 7, 1793 and to other shareholders in 1793, 1794, 1795 and 1803. In the 1790s, Morris and other Philadelphians promoted the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Navigation company, which was eventually made unnecessary by the establishment of the Schuylkill Navigational Company and the Schuylkill & Susquehanna Canal Company, the latter being supplanted by the Union Canal Company. The canals had been proposed to transport coal from the Allegheny region to eastern markets.

With the results of the US Presidential election, and also the South Carolina gubernatorial election, undecided, Democrats (and former Confederate generals) Governor-elect Hampton, US Senator Gordon, and campaign manager Haskell write to General Thomas Ruger, commander of US troops in the State, condemning his interference in the meeting of what they consider the lawfully elected legislature. The former secessionists invoke the US Constitution and the bicentennial of American independence in support of their cause! Collection includes: 1) Autograph Letter signed: "Wade Hampton", "J B Gordon", "A. C. Haskell", 4 pages, 8x12½. Columbia, South Carolina, 1876 November 30. To General T. H. Ruger, Commanding US Troops in South Carolina. In full: "We have just heard through Major McGinnis of your staff your orders communicated to Mr. Wallace, Speaker of the House of Representatives, that at 12 o'clock tomorrow no spectators would be allowed in the Hall and that the Members elect from Edgefield County would not be allowed upon the floor. To say that we are surprised at such an order after the explanations & pledges by you to each one of us, is to use very mild language.…"

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.

His signature in red ink on a typed housing document 2 months before he invaded Kuwait Rare Typed DS: "Saddam Hussein" in Arabic in red ink as President of Iraq, 1 page, 8x11. Baghdad, Iraq, 1990 June 2. Not translated. A decree revising paragraphs in the real estate register for the city of Ebril. Saddam Hussein joined the Pan-Arab socialist Baath Party in 1957 and fled Iraq. He was wounded two years later, after attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Kassim.  Returning to Iraq after Kassim's overthrow in 1963, he rose rapidly in the Baath revolutionary apparatus and by 1968 was a Vice President with broad authority over the secret police.  Saddam seized full power in 1979 and conducted a ruthless purge of opponents inside and outside the Baath Party.  He dealt brutally with political, ethnic and religious opponents, real or imagined, throughout his reign.  In September 1980, Saddam Hussein began an eight-year war with Iran which began well but soon turned into a stalemate costly in lives and money.  It was partly to recover from the resulting financial crisis that Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, just two months after signing this decree.