with the fascinating events of early life in the colonies. Every
leaflet printed in this country from the time the first press was
established in Cambridge in 1640 until the year 1700 is of value; after
that date they must relate to historical events or prominent personages
to prove their worth. Every early newspaper printed in America, every
broadsheet, every autograph letter or manuscript containing real meat
for the historian, is of value.
Many youthful collectors approach those older ones who have been
through the mill, asking for tips. In the beginning they all believe
there is some secret which may be learned by diligent questioners.
Well, here is a secret, but it is an open one. If the young
biblio-fiend will search in the older towns of the thirteen original
colonies, he is bound in time to turn up unknown treasures! I only wish
I had the time to do some quiet delving myself.
Do not forget that all material relating to the history of the West
is just as important as that of the Eastern states, often more
picturesque, and perhaps even more romantic. Take, for instance, the
first book published in San Francisco in 1848-49. It will in time be
just as valuable as the first book printed in Philadelphia in 1685. The
three thousand miles between the two cities, one on the Atlantic Coast,
the other on the Pacific, show the tide of settlement of our country.
It was only seventy-five years ago that the first guidebooks were
published in Eastern cities, showing ways to travel to the Far West,
giving tables of distances and other information for the emigrant. They
were the road maps of the stalwart pioneers who packed wife, children,
and chattels into a covered wagon and took the shortest route to that
part of the uninhabited plains which they hoped would be their El
Dorado.
All these are important stones in the foundation of history. There are
books printed within the past twenty-five years which contain important
source material concerning the particular parts of the country they
describe. Some of these books bring very high prices even to-day. What
would Zenas Leonard have thought had he known that his simple little
narrative, published at Clearfield, Pennsylvania, in 1839, would in
less than ninety years be battled for in the auction rooms? This tale
of his adventures of five years’ trapping for furs and trading with
Indians in the Rocky Mountains is sought to-day as a most desirable
addition to a library of Americana. I saw a copy sell at auction not
long ago for $1700.
Although the printed books relating to America are fascinating and
instructive, autographs make the incidents they describe alive and
vivid for us. Every true collector is strongly moved when he sees the
autograph of a great personage in his country’s history. And, after
all, the printed word must have a certain coldness and formality.
Indeed, it is perhaps a part of its beauty. But words written down by
the actor himself as he helps to complete the drama are personal things
which unfailingly appeal to the imagination.
[Illustration: JOURNAL
OF THE
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
CONVENTION
HELD AT
RICHMOND, in the County of HENRICO,
ON THE 20th DAY OF MARCH, 1775.
WILLIAMSBURG:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. DIXON AND W. HUNTER,
AT THE POST-OFFICE.
M, DCC, LXXV.
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COPY OF “PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION”]
No wonder collectors everywhere are doing their utmost to uncover from
the débris of a past age autograph letters relating to the Revolution,
and particularly to the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of
Independence. The highest auction price of any autograph was paid on
March sixteenth of this year for a Button Gwinnett signature. When the
auctioneer of the Anderson Galleries in New York City knocked it down
to me for $51,000, I was tickled to death. It was the only 1776 Button
Gwinnett letter about national affairs that had ever been sold. This
particular autograph is now the most famous one in the world, and at
the price paid figures about $3600 a letter. It is a strange commentary
on the vagaries of fame that you can buy a signature of Napoleon for
ten dollars a letter. During the last six months quotations on Button
Gwinnett Preferred have jumped sixty-five per cent.
A shocking tale is told of the rapid rise of American autograph
material. A friend of mine decided to sell at auction his magnificent
collection of letters of signers, famous generals, Presidents of the
United States, and other historical characters. He had bought them not
many years ago. When the evening of the sale arrived Mr. G---- was
there with his wife. He carried a catalogue marked with the cost of
each item. The first number in the sale, which cost him $45, brought
$250; the next, for which he had paid $80, fetched $800, and so on,
until about fifteen items were sold.
[Illustration: LETTER SIGNED BY BUTTON GWINNETT, BOUGHT FOR $51,000]
His wife, who was watching his catalogue over his shoulder, and who
could hardly contain herself any longer, exclaimed, “My, Doctor R is
going strong to-night. Why, that letter which just sold for $1650 you
bought from him only a little while ago for $360. I feel like laughing
out loud.”
“If you do,” her husband threatened, “I’ll take you by the hair, drag
you outside, and strangle you!” At this his wife was quiescent for a
few minutes. The prices were still mounting. She then wrote on a card
which she passed to Mr. G----: “I can smile, can’t I?”
“That goes for smiling, too,” replied her husband.
About five years ago I was especially interested in all material
relating to Paul Revere and his celebrated ride. In the midst of my
researches a gentleman called upon me one day and showed me a series
of volumes which contained most important papers relating to the
Revolutionary period. On looking through them I was amazed to run
across the following outstanding document, which is dated Cambridge,
April 29, 1775, ten days after Revere’s famous exploit. It is as
follows:--
This may certify that the bearer Mr. Paul Revere is a messenger to the
Committee of Safety and that all dispatch and assistance be given him
in all instances that the business of the Collony may be facilitated.
JOS. WARREN, CHAIRN
Poor General Warren, who signed Revere’s commission as messenger, was
killed a few weeks later at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Although I freely admit that this letter belongs in the archives of New
England, you may be sure I keep it well within my reach. I don’t care
to have those doughty New England historians, such as Dr. Charles L.
Nichols, Clarence S. Brigham, George Parker Winship, and Lawrence C.
Wroth, come pouncing down as a mighty host and demand it of me.
It is surprising how things fall the collector’s way in series. As
I have related in a previous article, I have the only certified
copy of the Declaration of Independence that is outside the public
archives. But I always hankered after a letter written by a signer who
was an eyewitness on that July Fourth, one hundred and fifty years
ago--a letter telling about the actual signing of the Declaration
of Independence. For twenty-two long years I searched for it, and
was delightfully shocked one day to read in an auction catalogue a
description of the following letter by Cæsar Rodney, the signer from
Delaware, to his brother, Thomas Rodney, dated Philadelphia, July 4,
1776. You may be sure I gobbled up this letter.
Rodney wrote:--
I arrived in Congress tho detained by thunder and rain time enough to
give my voice in the matter of Independence. It is now determined by
the thirteen United Colonies without even one desenting Colony. We
have now got through with the whole of the Declaration and ordered
it to be printed so that you will soon have the pleasure of seeing
it. Hand bills of it will be printed and sent to the armies, cities,
county towns, etc.--to be published or rather proclaimed in form....
I have always been peculiarly interested in anything which related to
the origin and history of the American flag, and I have always wanted,
with my infernal and almost feminine curiosity, to find out when it was
first raised. I had found references at various times to its appearance
sometime during the second year of the Revolution, but could not
discover the exact date in any of the items of Americana which I had
collected. One day about nine years ago I was reading a manuscript,
_Journal of the most Material Occurrences proceeding the Siege of
Fort Schuyler_, by William Colbreath. As I turned the leaves of the
manuscript my attention was arrested by the following:--
Augt 3d [1777] Early this morning a Continental Flagg made by the
Officers of Col. Gansevoorts Regiment was hoisted and a Cannon
Levelled at the Enemies Camp was fired on the Occasion....
This is the only authoritative account known of the first raising of
the American battle flag, and it was on this day that the British
troops saw for the first time the new standard of America.
Some years ago I received a seductive appeal from a Boston collector.
He had purchased some wonderful books which, though they filled his
shelves, depleted his purse. And yet he could still write, “Dear
Doctor: Please tempt me!” How often do I wish the sirens would tempt
me, especially if the little charmers were in the form of autograph
letters and manuscripts relating to Lincoln and his time. Believe me,
I’ll never be too old to be caught by their allure.
Of all periods in American history, none is more inspiring and dramatic
than that of the Civil War. It is one of the most kaleidoscopic times
in all history, with three men of outstanding character in it, Abraham
Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee. Any scrap of material
relating to them is bound to increase in value. Lincoln letters to-day
are rarer than Washington’s, and nearly all of his great pieces are
written in his own hand.
Of course, collectors prefer what are known as A. L. S. (autograph
letter signed) instead of the L. S., or letter merely signed by
Lincoln, that is, not in his handwriting but written by an official
clerk. Thank God, those were the days before the typewriter, and every
letter contains an intimate appeal which the machine can never give.
That puts me in mind of a good one.
About three months ago a lady came to see me in New York and asked
to be shown some Lincoln letters. I used the cataloguer’s phrase and
spoke of holographs, fair copies, A. L. S., and the usual rigmarole of
the collector. I then exhibited before her interested eyes a letter
of Lincoln’s which I treasured, because it is perhaps the only one
in which Lincoln swore. It was addressed to John T. Stuart, his law
partner, dated Vandalia, Illinois, February 14, 1839, and he refers to
a man named Ewing as follows:--
Ewing won’t do anything. He is not worth a damn.
Your friend,
A. LINCOLN
The lady exclaimed, “I know what you mean by A. L. S. I did not
understand you at first. You mean Abraham Lincoln swore!”
Americana really is the collector’s best bet. I can never be too
grateful to Uncle Moses for his advice to me. I have kept zealously
almost every piece relating to the Civil War, and I think that I have
succeeded in the past thirty years in gathering the finest collection
relating to it, except the national collection in Washington. I
have such remarkable Lincoln documents as his first draft of the
Emancipation Proclamation, entirely in his autograph, written six
months before it was finally put into operation on January 1, 1863; his
famous Baltimore address, in which he gives his celebrated definition
of liberty; the original manuscript of his speech about the formation
of the Republican Party; and many other pieces of the greatest
historical significance, which can never come a collector’s way again.
I cannot resist giving Lincoln’s speech on the party of which he was
the most illustrious leader:--
Upon those men who are, in sentiment, opposed to the spread and
nationalization of slavery, rests the task of preventing it. The
Republican Organization is the embodiment of that sentiment; though
as yet, it by no means embraces all the individuals holding that
sentiment. The party is newly formed, and in forming, old party ties
had to be broken, and the attractions of party pride, and influential
leaders, were wholly wanting. In spite of all differences, prejudices,
and animosities, its members were drawn together by a paramount common
danger. They formed and maneuvered in the face of the disciplined
enemy, and in the teeth of all his persistent misrepresentations. Of
course, they fell far short of gathering in all of their own. And yet,
a year ago, they stood up, an army over thirteen hundred thousand
strong. That army is, today, the best hope of the nation, and of
the world. Their work is before them, and from which they may not
guiltlessly turn away.
I have spoken of the unfurling of the first American battle flag. The
following is Lincoln’s beautiful acknowledgment of a flag sent him by
some ladies of a patriotic society:--
EXECUTIVE MANSION
_Aug. 10, 1863_
Permit me to return my grateful acknowledgements to the fair
manufacturer and generous donors of the beautiful present which
accompanies their note of the 20th July. If anything could enhance
to me the value of this representation of our national ensign, so
elegantly executed and so gracefully bestowed, it would be the
consideration that its price has been devoted to the comfort and
restoration of those heroic men who have suffered and bled in our
flag’s defense. We never should, and I am sure, never shall be niggard
of gratitude and benefaction to the soldiers who have endured toil,
privations and wounds, that the nation may live.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN
I do not want to be accused of waving too often our emblem. But I must
give in full two letters relating to the Confederate flag. They are
not particularly valuable in a money sense, but I do not think any
amount would tempt me to sell them. They are the kind that cannot fail
to melt the heart of an old bachelor with a fondness for children. The
first is addressed by General Leroy P. Walker, Secretary of War in the
Confederate Cabinet, to General Beauregard, from Richmond, Virginia,
September 14, 1861, and says:--
MY DEAR GENERAL:
The enclosed note from my little daughter was written by her without
suggestion or alterations in any way, and the design for a flag is
entirely her own conception. She has insisted so strongly on sending
it to you that I did not feel at liberty to refuse her. I consent the
more readily because I am sure you will appreciate it in the spirit in
which it is sent.
She signs herself with the usual vanity of her sex, “daughter of the
Secretary of War”, and this gives me the opportunity to say that
my official connection with the Army is about to terminate, having
tendered my resignation to the President a few days since.
What I have done in this office has been honestly done, and when the
history of this war is written I feel that the laggard justice of
popular approval will be bestowed.
I am etc.,
Most truly,
yr friend L. P. WALKER
And here is the second letter:--
GENERAL BEAUREGARD:--
I send you a design entirely my own for a Confederate flag. I have
never been satisfied with the Confederate flag, because it is too much
like that of the United States. I am a little girl nine years old and
though I have never seen you I feel as though I knew you
Your admirer
MATILDA POPE WALKER
Daughter of the Secretary of War
Richmond, Virginia. _Sept. 14._
I feel that I must return for a moment to Lincoln. Although I have
letters of the greatest historical import not only from the martyr
President himself but from nearly all his generals and members of
his cabinet, I prefer the notebook of Surgeon C. S. Taft, who was at
Lincoln’s bedside at the time of his death. You can hear in it not only
the last tragic heartbeats of one of the truly great characters of all
time, but the knell of a soul-stirring epoch. The meagre words that
follow, extracted from the notebook, are to me more moving than all the
fine writing in the world:--
The wound ceased to bleed or discharge about 5.30 A.M. and from that
time the breathing was stertorous but gradually increased in frequency
and decreased in strength up to the last breath, which was drawn at 21
minutes and 55 seconds after 7; the heart did not cease to beat until
22′ 10″ past 7; my hand was upon the President’s heart and my eye upon
the watch of the Surgeon General who was standing by my side.
The finest character after Lincoln in the whole Civil War was
undoubtedly that great gentleman and descendant of gentlemen, Robert E.
Lee. From my schooldays I had read of his life of nobility and sorrow.
The letter in which he resigned his commission, addressed to General
Winfield Scott, who commanded the American Army, has always been to me
the highest example of patriotism and the soldier’s ideal credo. The
words, “save in defence of my native State, I never desire again to
draw my sword,” have been indelibly impressed upon every mind. I know
of no letter that I would sooner possess than this, but it was thirty
years before I could finally call it my own. I give it here without
further comment:--
ARLINGTON, WASHINGTON CITY P. O.
_20th April, 1861_
LIEUT. GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT,
COM. ARMY
GENERAL:--Since my interview with you on the 18th inst., I have
felt that I ought no longer to retain my commission in the army. I
therefore tender my resignation which I request you will recommend for
acceptance. It would have been presented at once, but for the struggle
it has cost me to separate myself from the service to which I have
devoted all the best years of my life, all the ability I possessed.
During the whole of that time, more than thirty years, I have
experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors, the most cordial
friendship from my companions. To no one General have I been so much
indebted as to yourself for uniform kindness and consideration, and
it had always been my urgent desire to merit your approbation. I
shall carry with me to the grave the most grateful recollections of
your kind consideration, and your name and fame will always be dear
to me. Save in the defence of my native State, I never desire again
to draw my sword. Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the
continuance of your happiness and prosperity, and believe me most
truly yours,
ROBERT E. LEE
Four years elapsed. The war was over. General Lee had surrendered. The
following letter, which I hold, to his old friend, General Beauregard,
is one of the finest letters ever written by the hand of man.
LEXINGTON, VA.
3rd _Oct._ ’65
MY DEAR GEN.:--
I am glad to see no indication in your letter of an intention to leave
the country. I think the South requires the aid of her sons now, more
than at any period of her history. As you ask my purpose, I will
state that I have no thought of abandoning her, unless compelled to do
so.
“After the surrender of the Southern Armies in April, the revolution
in the opinions & feelings of the people, seemed so complete, & the
return of the Southern States into the union of all the States, so
inevitable; that it became in my opinion, the duty of every citizen,
the Contest being virtually ended, to cease opposition, & place
himself in a position to serve the country. I therefore upon the
promulgation of the proclamation of Pres. Johnson, which indicated
apparently his policy in restoring peace, determine to comply with its
requirements; & on the 13 of June, applied to be embraced within its
provisions. I have not heard the result of my application, but since
then have been elected to the Presidency of Washington College, & have
entered upon the duties of the office, in the hope of being of some
benefit to the noble youth of our country.
“I need not tell you, that true patriotism requires of men sometimes,
to act exactly contrary at one period, to that which it does at
another; & that the motive which impels them, viz, the desire to do
right, is precisely the same. The circumstances which govern their
actions undergo change, and their conduct must conform to the new
order of things. History is full of illustrations of this. Washington
himself is an example, at one time he fought against the French,
under Braddock, in the service of the King of Great Britain; at
another he fought with the French at Yorktown, under the orders of the
Continental Congress of America, against him. He has not been branded
by the world with reproach for this, but his course has been applauded.
With sentiments of great esteem
I am most truly yours
R. E. LEE
To me, Ulysses S. Grant has always been a gigantic figure. He is
probably the greatest general this country has ever produced. Nowhere
are his simplicity and greatness better shown than in his letters. For
some reason they are not yet appreciated at their proper worth, but
the time will come when their extraordinary merits will be recognized.
They are written in a direct style, free of all elaboration, not unlike
Lincoln’s, but without his peculiar felicity of phrase. They are the
words of a soldier, not a statesman. Two of the letters which I have
are, it seems to me, without parallel for conciseness and beauty. The
first, written at the beginning of the war, is to his father:--
_May_ 30th, 1861
GALENA, ILLINOIS
DEAR FATHER:--
I have now been home near a week, but return to Springfield today.
I have tendered my services to the government and go today to make
myself useful, if possible, from this until our national difficulties
are ended. During the six days I have been at home, I have felt all
the time as if a duty was being neglected that was paramount to any
other duty I ever owed. I have every reason to be well satisfied with
myself for the services already rendered but to stop now would not do.
Yours truly,
U. S. GRANT
[Illustration: GRANT’S TELEGRAM TO STANTON ANNOUNCING THE SURRENDER OF
LEE]
The second, at the war’s end, is probably the finest single document
in private hands to-day, as it is the original official telegram which
ended the greatest conflict in American history. Why I was allowed to
get this is one of the mysteries of collecting. It should not be in the
hands of any one person, but ought to be in the safekeeping of the
Government. It was written in obvious haste, in his own hand, at the
moment General Lee surrendered, on a page in the notebook of Grant’s
orderly, General Badeau.
APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE
_April 9th, 1865._ 4.50 o’clock P. M.
HON. E. M. STANTON, SEC. OF WAR, WASHINGTON
Gen. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Va. this afternoon on terms
proposed by myself. The accompanying additional correspondence will
show the condition fully.
U. S. GRANT, LT. GEN.
The demand for things American is not a passing fancy. It will increase
in the same way as a stone gathers moss. The prices now paid for early
American furniture, pottery, glass, and pictures are but an indication
of a movement yet in its infancy. Even collectors in England, such
as that eminent enthusiast, Sir R. Leicester Harmsworth, Bart., are
gathering objects of interest relating to this country. It is only
meet and proper that Americans themselves should tenderly cherish the
primal, honest, unpretentious things to which this country owes its
greatness.
INDEX
Adam, R. B., 161.
_Adonais_, 25.
Agnesi, Baptista, 274.
_Agriculture of Argyll County_, 21.
Alexander, forged letter of, 121.
Althorp, Lord, 90, 91, 263.
Ambrosian Library (Milan), 271.
_Amenities of Book Collecting_ (Newton), 47.
_America, History of_ (Robertson), 20.
American Tract Society, 184.
Americana, 45, 53-58, 172-177, 253, 265-299.
_See also_ Franklin and Washington.
_Amore di Florio e di Bianchafiore_ (Boccaccio), 29.
_Amoretti_ (Spenser), 148, 149, 150.
Anderson Galleries sales, 53, 95, 219, 286.
André, Major, forged letter of, 99, 100.
“Annabel Lee,” MS. of, 164, 166, 167.
_Arcadia_ (Sidney), 61.
Arnold, Benedict, letter of, 172, 173, 174.
Articles of Confederation (U. S. A.), 176, 177.
Asquith, Margot, 43.
_Autographs, A Book about_, 119.
Avery, Mary, 188.
Ayer, Edward E., 252.
_Babes in the Wood_, 195.
Bache, Benjamin Franklin, 197, 198.
Bacon’s _Essays_, 46, 50.
Badeau, Gen. Adam, 299.
Bancroft, George, 6.