JOHN HANCOCK 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. read more...

PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. "BILL" CLINTON The 42nd U.S. President pens a letter to a friend who had been profiled in an Arkansas newspaper, thanking him for his friendship Autograph Letter Signed: "Bill". One page. 6¾x9. Place: The White House, Washington, District of Columbia. Date: April 27, 1995. In full: "Dear David: I loved the High Profile article - It was richly deserved. I hope it gives your work a boost too - Thanks for being a true friend." "High Profile" is a feature in the Sunday edition of Little Rock's "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette". On the morning of the day the President wrote this letter, he met with Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev in the White House. Following the meeting, he had a telephone conversation with President Boris Yeltsin of Russia. On the afternoon of May 8, 1995, President and Mrs. Clinton left for Moscow, arriving the next morning. President Clinton met with President Yeltsin on May 9th. The visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe. read more...

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). read more...

LYNDON B. JOHNSON and GEORGE W. BALL LBJ as President, and Ball as Acting Secretary of State, sign the official appointment of Arthur Goldberg, formerly Supreme Court Justice, as US ambassador to the United Nations. Historic Partly Printed DS: "Lyndon B. Johnson" as President and "George W. Ball" as Acting Secretary of State, 1 page, 21½x17½. Washington, 1965 September 15. Appointment of Arthur J. Goldberg to the General Assembly of the United Nations to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Adlai E. Stevenson. In full: "Know Ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the Integrity and Ability of Arthur J. Goldberg, of Illinois, I have nominated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do designate him as a Representative of the United States of America to the Twentieth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and do authorize and empower him to execute and fulfill the duties of this commission, according to law, with all the powers and privileges thereunto of right appertaining during the pleasure of the President of the United States. read more...

JOHN F. KENNEDY The President thanks America's first woman Nobel Prize-winning novelist, Pearl Buck, for his 1961 Authors Guild membership card. Typed Letter Signed: "John Kennedy" as President, 1p, 7x9. The White House, 1961 February 23. A month after his inauguration, JFK writes to 1932 Pulitzer Prize-winning author and winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize in Literature, Pearl Buck. In full: "I wish to thank you and the Guild Staff for sending me the current membership card in the Authors Guild. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. With every good wish." The following year, he invited Mrs. Buck to the White House. The April 29, 1962 White House dinner honoring 49 Nobel Prize winners from the Western Hemisphere was the largest formal gathering hosted by President and Mrs. Kennedy and one of the largest ever given at the Executive Mansion. The stellar array of guests prompted President Kennedy's remark that it was "the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." At the reception following the dinner, JFK sat next to Pearl Buck (photocopy of photograph included). read more...

THOMAS JEFFERSON He extends a dinner invitation to friend and merchant William Huntington, signed in the text. Third Person Autograph Note signed in text: "Th: Jefferson asks the favor of Mr. Huntington to dine with him on Sunday the 8th. Apr. 6. 21", 1 page, 7¾x4. No place given [but probably Monticello], 1821 April 6. THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743-1826) served as third U.S. President from 1801 to1809. A former delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia (1775-1776, 1783-1784), Jefferson drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence (1776). He then served as Governor of Virginia (1779-1781) and as a member of Virginia's state legislature (1782). Named U.S. Minister to France in 1785, Jefferson remained abroad until 1789, when he was asked by George Washington to be his Secretary of State (1790-1793). Jefferson then served as Vice President under John Adams (1797-1801) until being elected President. A man of many talents, Jefferson has been called "the Sage of Monticello". read more...

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. read more...

JOHN ADAMS and TIMOTHY PICKERING Ship's papers signed in 1798 for the brig Jane, which sailed from Philadelphia to Antigua. The Jane was later captured by the corsair le Narbonnais; papers from captured ships are extremely rare. These papers are especially significant: They were signed a month after the beginning of the Quasi-War between France and the United States, an undeclared war that was fought exclusively at sea and was started over the capture of merchant ships like the Jane Four Language Ship's Papers signed: "John Adams" as President and "Timothy Pickering" as Secretary of State. Also signed on verso "Le Brig/capturé par le corsaire le narbonnais/No. 2" in unknown hand.  1 page, 19½x15½. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1798. Four language ships' papers (French, Spanish, English, Dutch) issued at Philadelphia. read more...

JAMES EARL "JIMMY" CARTER Carter read this speech at the 1976 Democratic National Convention in New York, where he accepted the party's nomination for presidential candidate. He went on from here to become 39th President of the United States. Typed speech unsigned, with handwritten notes, under linings and corrections in blue ink and notations near left edge of page 1 in black ink in unknown hand, 5 pages, 8½x11. This is a speech that Carter gave at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, which met in Madison Square Garden from July 12 to July 15, 1976. Carter was named Democratic candidate for President at this convention, and Walter Mondale was named his Vice President. The nomination represented a dramatic reversal of fortune for Carter, a peanut farmer who had been elected Governor of Georgia in 1971 but who otherwise started the nomination process as an obscure candidate with little name recognition. However, favorable media coverage helped him win the New Hampshire primary, and Carter used his obscurity to his advantage, marketing himself as a fresh face and Washington outsider. read more...