AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by [ROOSEVELT, Franklin Delano] ROOSEVELT, Sara - [1935]

1843. One page 13 line autograph letter signed by James Flower, the High Sheriff of Norfolk. In it he writes that he was postponing an appointment and noting that he we going to Mr. Simpson for his picture. Dated May 17, 1843.

This Boston businessman was partner in the firm of Winslow, Rand & Co. Wholesale Grocers. ALS, 1p, 8" X 10½", Boston, MA, 23 December 1881. Addressed to "Friend Nutter." Very good. Original folds; single archivally closed (on verso) edge tear. On imprinted company letterhead listing the four principal officers, Watson comments interestingly on the use of soap: "I shall see that you have the soap today. Some fellows are awfully particular, and think that they must wash once a week. Now annual baths, or monthly baths, are great institutions, but I know you are a 'stubborn cuss', and will stick to your old habits and customs, and I trust that the superior quality of the goods sent you, will satisfy the fastidious tastes of you revellers in luxury." Handsomely penned in black ink and signed in full at the close. Intriguing remarks about personal hygiene of the day -- sounds like recipient may have been, as the Brits say, a "right Nutter"!

New York, 1931. 1 p. on "Hotel Brevoort" letterhead. 8-1/2 x 11 inches. Tears not affecting text or signature, some loss to leaf edges, fair/good. 1 p. on "Hotel Brevoort" letterhead. 8-1/2 x 11 inches. A letter from an author better known for her advocacy of social justice. Reading in part: "To work, opportunity and curiosity about life. Have you read my last book Strike!? Sinclair Lewis reviewed it...." Author, journalist, and novelist Mary Heaton Vorse (1874-1966) was a prolific writer whose novels include The Breaking in of a Yachtsman's Wife, The Heart's Country, and The Ninth Man. However, she is probably best remembered as an outspoken pacifist and activist whose causes included civil rights, women's suffrage, infant mortality and most notably workers rights and the labor movement. In 1962, she received the first UAW Social Justice Award. As a high school student, Seymour Halpern (1913-1997), wrote letters to many notables of the day inquiring about their ideas to the keys to success in… Read More

Albany, 1821. One page with integral address leaf with Spencer's free frank. 1 vols. 4to. Regarding the Convention bill which he feels will not pass this time but another is being put forth. Folds, some browning, else good. One page with integral address leaf with Spencer's free frank. 1 vols. 4to. Free frank.

Stevenson, AL, 24 August 1863. Letter. Creases from folding; ink a bit light. Very Good. One-page letter on a 7-3/4" x 12-1/4" sheet addressed to a Capt. Goodwin and SIGNED "J. W. Able"[?], "Army Mail Contractor & News Dealer." The writer seems to be proposing a way of "simplifying the army with news matter." The verso is docketed "Hdqrs. Department Cumb[erland] Office.... Respectfully referred to Lieut. Bracken A. Chf Army Police, who will make a thorough examination of the mails tonight and report By Command of Maj. Gen. Rosecrans" and SIGNED "R. M. Goodwin."

Montana resident, possibly an attorney. ALS, 2pp (separate leaves), 8½" X 11", Harlem, MT, 1904 July 21. Addressed to "My dear James & Albert," Smith's brothers. Near fine. Handsomely penned in black ink in a large readable hand, this letter largely concerns the claims on "poor Writ's property," for "some of his old time prospect loving friend got around me and did not want Writs mining claims sold, that he had held onto for 20 years as they would go for little or nothing. So I paid out on them $500.00 & told the administrator not to sell them. They have to be represented again within a few months it will take between $300 & $400.00 dollars Will you help me represent them? If you cannot or do not want to, will you let me have your interests? On account of your being in Canada & so far away, If you will let me have your interests I will send you $25.00 apiece. Should I ever be luckly [sic] to get any thing out of them I will send you something more." Goes on to explain, "the claims are so high up in… Read More

This pioneering American physician, considered the father of neurology, was also a psychiatrist and bestselling writer and poet. Secretarial ALS, 2pp (lettersheet), 5" X 8", Philadelphia, PA, 1898 August 11. Addressed to Edward Peterson. Near fine. On his "S. Weir Mitchell, M.D." letterhead, Mitchell's secretary pens a letter on his behalf. In part: "Dr Mitchell has forwarded me some letters for reply as he is always out of the City at this time of the year. He strongly advises you to choose the University of Pennsylvania from which to get your degree. He is one of the Trustees of that institution. During the Civil War he was on duty at the Christian St Hospital." Appears to be signed "MBC. / sec'y." With original envelope. An interesting curiosity.

Paget [Bermuda], 1/20/78. 1p. pen and ink on paper. 4to. VG. 1p. pen and ink on paper. 4to. 'Had My World Been Right Side Up'. A somewhat doleful and revealing letter citing difficult times, by the three-time Pulitzer prize-winning American poet and writer, to "Mr. Applefield," probably author David Applefield, who would have been the opinion editor for the Amherst Student at the time this letter was written. Reading in part: "I'm sorry I've been so hard to get at these last few years. It has been, a perhaps you know, a difficult time and it shows no sign of changing its ways. But I do want to thank you for your patience and persistence. You have brilliantly succeeded in doing on of the hardest jobs in letters - editing a really good undergraduate magazine - and I would have liked nothing better than a talk with you had my world been right side up...".

Denmark House Kew, 1893. 9 pp. purple ink on paper in calligraphic hand. Some foxing. 9 pp. purple ink on paper in calligraphic hand. According to her 1936 obituary in the New York Times, Kathleen Lucille Foote (1868-1936), was once a famous American and European stage actress. Her fall from grace, after three marriages and the squandering of several small fortunes, found her on the streets of London, where she was known as "Old Kate" the matchbook peddlar, selling matches at three pennies a box to passers by outside a the Gaiety Theater, "where years before her name gleamed in lights and London was at her feet."

Chicago, 1885. 1 p., pen and ink on paper. 8vo. Trimmed, old folds, residue from album paper on verso, good. 1 p., pen and ink on paper. 8vo. 'I Am So Pressed By The Publishers'. A letter penned by antebellum period and Civil war era American songwriter, George Frederick Root (1820-1895), best known for his sentimental popular songs and memorable martial airs such as Tramp, Tramp, Tramp and The Battle Cry of Freedom. Reading in part: "I despair of being able at present to do what you wish, I am so pressed by the publishers for some work that I have in hand, and I do the sort of thing you want so slowly and laboriously - perhaps because there is so little to say...".