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...

JOHN COLTRANE Autograph Musical Manuscript, an early (late 1950s), 2-page arrangement of the jazz classic "Body and Soul," a part for alto sax, unsigned but handwritten by him on musical notation paper Autograph Musical Manuscript, unsigned. Titled "Body + Soul". 2 pages, 9½x12½ (conjoined) with his handwritten comments: "IIIrd Alto/Solo with 1st Alto". Written in treble clef, 2/4 time, key of B flat. John Coltrane (1926-1967) was a jazz saxophonist (tenor, but also soprano and alto) and highly innovative composer. First noted as a sideman for such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and especially Miles Davis, Coltrane released his first solo album in 1957, and the first album consisting entirely of his original compositions (Giant Steps) in 1960. That same year, he formed his first ensemble, a quartet. "Trane" explored many jazz styles during a career shortened by liver cancer. His spiritual quest helped him overcome an early addiction to heroin and greatly influenced his music. Coltrane's posthumous honors included a Grammy read more...

COLE YOUNGER Plains Indian "peace pipe", an heirloom given by Younger to his close friend Harry Hoffman, who attended Cole at his death bed. This well-used Minnesota red pipestone comes from Hoffman's collection, with a notarized statement signed by him. Ephemera, unsigned. Catlinite pipestone "peace pipe", each separated piece roughly 8x3½ (due to length of handle), with the much-handled patina of an authentically used pipe (very different from the clean surfaces found on souvenir pipes). This easily worked rock type, drawn from quarries near the Pipestone River in Minnesota, was in use by several Plains Indian nations for making ceremonial pipes. "Catlinite" is a descriptive term applied to the stone since American painter George Catlin wrote about it in 1832. Accompanied by Typed Statement signed: "Harry C. Hoffman", in full: "one Indian peace pipe, given to Harry C. Hoffman by Cole Young", 7¾x4¾. Notarized by Charles Wright at Oxford, Ohio, September 21, 1948. COLE YOUNGER (1844-1916) was a Confederate guerrilla fighting in divided Missouri during the Civil War. Joining the band of William Quantrill, he participated in the bloody raid on Lawrence, Kansas. read more...

GENERAL GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER 3-page text, unsigned but entirely in his hand, explaining the rules of croquet. While it is extremely unusual to find Custer writing on a sport not directly related to his military duties, Custer, his wife Libbie, and his soldiers did entertain themselves with croquet and similar sports in idle times at their military posts. Autograph Manuscript, unsigned, 3 pages, 7½x9½. No place, no date. In full: I. In commencing to play, each player, in their proper turn, places their ball at a distance from the starting post equal to twice the length of their mallet. II. The order of the wickets is as follows. Leaving the starting post players will take the 1st wicket, then the middle wicket from left to right, then the three wickets on the right of the table in their proper order. Then the middle wicket from right to left, then the wicket nearest to the turning post. Then the turning post, then the wicket nearest the turning post. Then the middle wicket from right to left. Then the three wickets in left side of table in their proper order. Then the middle wicket from left to right, then the wicket nearest starting post. III. read more...

JIMMY CARTER A revealing collection of documents from his 1976 presidential campaign - including a nine-page draft speech on Israel on Carter's presidential campaign stationery with 67 words of revisions and notes in Carter's hand - showing how a speech on Israel was drafted and revised. Photocopied annotated speech unsigned, with blue ink revision, some in Carter's own hand. 9 pages, 8½x11, loose-leaf sheets, typed on Jimmy Carter Presidential Campaign stationery. Titled: "Speech on Middle East Policy". The photocopy already included revisions, to which someone, presumably Henry Owen of the Brookings Institution, has appended additional comment and crossed out some sentences and paragraphs in the interest of brevity. On page 7, Owen has penned additional suggestions from foreign policy expert Zbigniew Brzezinski, who would become President Carter's national security advisor. Carter has added margin notes of his own: On page 1, Carter has replaced the typed text, "stopping in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and Haifa, visiting the Holy Places" with "visiting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Golan Heights and the West Bank" read more...

NAVY SECRETARY GIDEON WELLES ORDERS THE NAVY TO TRANSPORT CAPTURED FUGITIVE JOHN SURATT BACK TO THE US TO STAND TRIAL FOR CONSPIRING TO ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT LINCOLN GIDEON WELLES Telegram, unsigned, 1 page, 8½x11. 1866 December 6. Telegram partly printed in Portuguese, received from Gideon Welles in Washington, D.C., for transmittal to Admiral Goldsborough, American Squadron at Lisbon, Portugal. Manuscript text of Welles' message (unknown hand): "Send steamer to Alexandria, Egypt to receive Surautt [sic] from Consul Hale and bring him to Washington." [Welles' name has also been misspelled by the telegraph office.] Docketed on verso: "Hon. G. Welles/Secy of the Navy/6th Dec. 1866/Send steamer to/Alexandria, Egypt". Gideon Welles (1812-1878), a Jacksonian Democrat who joined the new Republican Party in 1854 because he detested slavery, was Secretary of the Navy throughout the Presidencies of Abraham Lincoln (who called him "Neptune") and Andrew Johnson (1861-1869). John Suratt (1844-1916) was the son of Mary Suratt, convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Lincoln and the first woman executed (hanged) by the US government. read more...

1904: THEODORE ROOSEVELT's ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE CERTIFICATION Official Electoral College certification by the President of the Senate, William P. Frye, also signed by tellers of the US Senate and House of Representatives Printed Declaration signed: "Wm. P. Frye/President pro tempore" of the U.S. Senate and "Julius C. Burrows" and "J.W. Bailey" as tellers on the part of the Senate and "Joseph H. Gaines" and "Gordon Russell" as tellers on the part of the House of Representatives, 1p, 11½x28, Washington, District of Columbia, not dated. Certificate of the Electoral College votes deciding Theodore Roosevelt as President and Charles W. Fairbanks as Vice President. According to the 12th Amendment to the U.S. read more...

ABRAHAM LINCOLN While defending a woman accused of murdering her husband (1857), the future President added six lines of text in his own hand to the written deposition of a witness. Autograph Statement unsigned at the conclusion of Manuscript Document Signed: "J.L. Springgate", 2 pages, 7¾x12¼. Woodford County, [Metamora, Illinois], c. 1845-1857. AT THE CONCLUSION, SIX LINES IN THE HAND OF LINCOLN DIRECTLY ABOVE SPRINGGATE'S SIGNATURE, NOT SIGNED BY LINCOLN WHO WROTE, IN FULL: "Re-cross examination by defendants- The morning of the sale, Laws said that he wanted to go and buy horses, and wanted Vandike to go with him and be his security, and then they both, and this witness went to the sale together (The plaintiff objects to the last piece of evidence)". The names of the plaintiff and defendants are spelled differently throughout the document. Headed: "Deposition of Witness to be used in evidence on the trial of the case now pending in the Circuit Court of Woodford County where John A. read more...

PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR Unsigned aquatint "Tourne à Gauche" portrait of Pierre Auguste Renoir's son, Claude Renoir, circa 1904. Aquatint, unsigned. B/w, 11x13¼ overall, image 9¾x12 (two surfaces). Aquatint "Tourne à Gauche" portrait of his son, Claude Renoir, circa 1904. Facsimile of Renoir's signature, produced by the same process, appears below the image. Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), a leader among the Impressionists, is best known for his landscapes and paintings of figures and flowers. Renoir, who also enjoyed painting his children, also painted Claude, the youngest of his three sons (born in 1901 when the artist was 60), at his easel (1907) and dressed in a clown costume (1909). Dry mounted. Edges slightly soiled. Mounting remnants on verso (no show through). Overall, fine condition. Mounted, not in Gallery of History style. Not reviewed by us for conservation integrity. "As is" mounting purchase. read more...