LOUIS PASTEUR This framed handwritten letter was signed by the microbiologist and was sent to a boy who he treated for an illness Autograph Letter Signed: "L. Pasteur". One page. 3¾x4¾. Paris, January 21, 1888. On letterhead imprinted with his initials to "My dear child". In French, translated. In full: "I beg your father to allow me the pleasure of answering his letter of 13 January by writing directly to you. How saddened I was to learn you were still suffering from the wound to your arm. Tell me when it will be completely healed with scar. Your general health is, however, good. That is most essential and I rejoice with your parents and friends and hope you count me among them. Please receive, my dear child, the assurance of many many good wishes which I send you for your good health and happiness.". Pasteur sent this letter to a boy he had treated for rabies with an experimental vaccination. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a chemist and biologist who is considered one of a handful of the most important pioneers of microbiology. read more...

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. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE He signs an autograph letter (1854) to Samuel Colgate requesting proxy votes from him, apparently to forestall a hostile takeover. ALS: "Saml. F.B. Morse", 1 page, 7¾x9¾. Po[ugh]'keepsie, New York, 1854 June 21. To businessman and philanthropist Samuel Colgate. In full: "Will you and your brother give me your proxies in blank as below for the next meeting of the Stockholders of the New York Albany and Buffalo Teleg Co. We wish to be prepared against an intrigue of the pirates. I will explain more fully when I see you." Beneath his letter, Morse has written the sample form he mentions. In full: "We hereby constitute [blank] to be our proxy to vote our Stock at the next annual meeting of the N. York, Albany & Buffalo Telegraph Company. New York June [blank] 1854". Note at bottom, probably by Colgate: "Ans 24 June/54...." In 1844, SAMUEL F.B. MORSE (1791-1872) had successfully sent the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought!", from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. In this letter, the "pirates" Morse mentions are probably Hiram Sibley and Judge Samuel L. read more...

HENRY FORD SELLS THREE ACRES OF LAND (NEAR HIS RIVER ROUGE AUTOMOBILE FACTORY) TO THE RAILROAD FOR ONE DOLLAR!   HENRY FORD and CLARA J. FORD. Partly Printed DS: "Henry Ford" and "Clara J. Ford", 2p, 8x13 (front and verso). Wayne County, Michigan, 1929 June 1. Henry and his wife Clara sell 2.964 acres of land in Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan, to the Michigan Central Railroad Company "for the sum of One Dollar ($1.00) and other good and valuable considerations". The land is located adjoining the railroad's "original 100.00 feet right of way...1970.08 feet along the southerly line of said Michigan Central Railroad Company's original 100.00 feet right of way to a point marked by a concrete monument on the westerly lips of Southfield Road...to a point at the center of the Rouge River...." Also signed by two witnesses and a Notary Public. In 1917, Henry Ford built the huge River Rouge Plant to assemble his Model T's and tractors. One of the earliest schools in Dearborn was a one-room brick building known as the Dort School. It was located on the bank of the Rouge River, just south of the Michigan Central Railroad. read more...

ALBERT EINSTEIN Handwritten statement in German [translated here] to the Pacifist Students of Southern California, supporting their cause: "I am rather convinced that the pacifistic activities of student youth are of great importance." He refers the students to a recent speech on the topic. Autograph Statement signed: "A.E." in pencil, 1p, 8½x11. No place, no date. "To the Pacifist Students of Southern California". In German, translated in full: "I had already written a short address for your meeting. It has now been pointed out to me that there would be significant problems as a result of my coming to your meeting because I have already turned down several similar invitations. Further, it is not in the sense of the Oberlaender Trust to whom I am indebted for my trip this year to California wishes that the effect of the speech held under its auspices be affected in its effective from more or less similar speeches by me of fairly similar content. I have therefore been forced to decide retroactively to stay away from your presentation. However, please do not think therefore that it is less near to my heart. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE The artist and inventor signs this letter recommending that Congress purchase letters of General Henry Knox owned by a lady and wishing the courts would effectively put an end to the pirating of his telegraph invention. ALS: "Saml. F.B. Morse", 2p, 7¾x10. Po'keepsie, N.Y., 1849 July 23. To C.S. Daveis, Esq., Portland, Me. Daveis (1788-1865) was a prominent Maine attorney. In full: "Yours of the 17th inst I received on Saturday evening & this morning I called on Mrs Beekman and read her your letter. She feels that she has (as she undoubtedly has) a valuable deposit of papers, which ought to belong to the State or the United States Government. She is well disposed towards accommodating you with the sight and use of the letters of Gen. Knox. She says that the papers are contained in several boxes, and the search will be attended with some labor but that she will select out those of Gen. Knox and lay them by themselves. That she should be desirous of reaping pecuniary benefit from papers possessing so much value to the state, is both natural and proper, and she felt gratefully that part of your letter which promised her you did. read more...

ALBERT EINSTEIN He begins an "intellectual refuge" at the time of his and fellow professors' exodus from Hitler's Germany. TLS: "A. Einstein", 1p, 8¼x10¾. Loe Coq-sur-mer, Belgium, 1933 May 2. To Countess Hetta Treuberg, Hotel International, Geneva. In German, translated. In full: "I share fully the views expressed in your letter: Destruction of the entire upper layer by the now fully mobilized masses. (However, how does it stand with the Reichswehr)" The Reichswehr was the German Army. Typed postscript: "Enclosed is a letter from Mr. Speyer." On January 30, 1933, three months before Einstein wrote this letter from Belgium, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. On February 28th, Hitler was granted emergency powers and on March 24th, he was given dictatorial powers by the German Parliament. On April 2, Einstein's bank account of 30,000 marks was confiscated. Between April 4 and May 15, 1933 no less than 164 German professors resigned or were dismissed from their jobs in Germany. On April 12th, Einstein's two stepdaughters left Germany for France. By the time of this letter, Einstein was in Belgium, knowing he would not return to Germany. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE His signed, handwritten letter to telegraphic expert Robert Sabine (1868), insisting that he be given journal space to refute "Hamel's calumnious paper read before the Society of Arts". ALS: "Saml F.B. Morse, 3 pages, 5x8. Po'keepsie, N.York, 1868 August 8. The inventor of the Morse Code who established a telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore in 1844 writes to Robert Sabine, Westminster, London. In full: "I began a letter to you on the 18th July in reply to your valuable letter of the 18th of June. I have had so many interruptions since my return that I must defer its completion, until I have finished by Report as Commissioner for my Government. I write now simply to acknowledge your kindness and to thank you for your courtesy, and to promise you at no very distant day the finished letter on Hamel's calumnious paper read before the Society of Arts. The part in which he refers to me, requires a thorough exposure. I do not ask to have it published entire, but I do ask that it be read to the Society, and that it be recorded in their proceedings, with such remarks of their own as their sense of justice may prompt after a proper examination of the case read more...

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. read more...