Search Results: Titles starting with B from The Raab Collection

05/06/1822. Jonathan Russell On August 8, 1814, talks began at Ghent, Belgium, that would ultimately result in a treaty ending the War of 1812. The head of the American negotiating team was John Quincy Adams, the U.S.’s most experienced diplomat. The four men who served with him were carefully selected by President Madison to reflect the varieties of political sentiment in the United States. Foremost among them was Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and a noted War Hawk. Albert Gallatin had served as Secretary of the Treasury for both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. James Bayard was a U.S. Senator belonging to the Federalist Party who had been an opponent of the war, and was one of the 13 Senators to vote against declaring it. However, once the war began he supported the war effort. Jonathan Russell was acting U.S. ambassador to Britain when war was declared. Sent to Ghent as a negotiator, he was also serving as ambassador to Sweden and Norway.William H. Crawford was U.S.… Read More

Abraham Lincoln Print of Abraham Lincoln, well framed, approximately 2 ft by 3 ft, color, commemorating the fallen president's work in saving the nation, at the expense of his life.

2/9/45. Chester Nimitz Zenith was for many decades the leading name in radios and televisions. It pioneered the manufacture of portable radios in 1924, and in 1926 it introduced the first home radio receivers to operate on AC power instead of batteries. By the mid-1930s, about 450 people worked at Zenith plant. In the late 1940s, Zenith began to manufacture televisions; during the 1950s and 1960s, it was the number one maker of black-and-white sets. During World War II, Zenith manufactured radar, communications equipment, and high-sensitivity frequency meters. The company filled military orders for bomb fuses and other devices. The Zenith Sales Corporation was the sales arm of the company. The aid it gave the military was a factor in the Allied victory.Chester Nimitz was Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Naval forces in the Pacific in World War II, and was largely responsible for the successful island-hopping campaign against the Japanese that brought the war to a successful… Read More

10/1/39. Franklin D. Roosevelt|Eleanor Roosevelt In 1929 violinist Alfredo de Saint Malo made a concert tour of Italy, where he performed in the Vatican, before Pope Pius XI, and then before his successor, Pope Pius XII. He was then named by Time Magazine as one of the ten greatest violinists in the world. In 1939, he was invited to present a concert at the White House in Washington D.C. for the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. That concert took place on June 10, 1939.An 8 by 10 inch sepia photograph of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, in the White House, inscribed by Mrs. Roosevelt “To Alfredo de St. Malo, with good wishes”, and signed by both Roosevelts. It was given to St. Malo at that concert. It is uncommon to find photographs signed by both Roosevelts, who made such an effective team in the White House. This is our first in years. We obtained it from the St. Malo family directly.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Uncommon framed portrait of Longfellow, the most noted American poet of his day, and author of such acclaimed works as “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Song of Hiawatha.” This is the first signed copy of this fine image that we have seen. 

25/09/1585. Medieval History, Literature, Law|All Medieval Historical Documents The Renaissance was a period of crucial cultural, artistic, social and financial development in late Medieval and Renaissance Italy, and particularly the affluent cities of Florence, Venice, Genoa, and Padua.The Holy Roman Empire spanned central Europe, in one form or another, for the span of a millennia. For much of that time, it contained vast swaths of Italy, mainly in the north, and included the Italian city of Padua, which would become a hub in the Renaissance in that country and a major university center. As the Middle Ages bled into the period of the Renaissance, the Empire slowly lost direct control over Italy. It managed to maintain its power into the 16th century in part via old established orders that maintained local control.Among these Holy Roman imperial titles was the ""comes palatinus caesareus"" or the imperial count palatine. The office of imperial count palatine was hereditary and the emperors seem to… Read More

14/02/1893. Benjamin Harrison This led to the establishment of Workers' Compensation in the United StatesThe watershed events in the development of modern workers' compensation laws occurred in the improbable setting of Prussia under the leadership of its Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck pushed through Workers' Accident Insurance in 1884, creating the first modern system of workers' compensation. This was followed over the next few years by Public Pension Insurance providing a stipend for workers incapacitated due to non-job related illnesses and Public Aid providing a safety net for those who were never able to work due to disability. The system as a whole valued the active worker; but the greatest benefits were granted to job-related injuries and medical care and rehabilitation were covered. The state-administered Prussian system also established an important precedent: it was regarded as an ""exclusive remedy"" to the problem of workers' compensation, as employers under the system could not… Read More

13/12/1895. Benjamin Harrison He also invokes the final wishes of his departed first wife in counseling his son“You have never come to me or shown me any consideration save when you were in trouble…You have often said that your sonship had brought you a great deal of trouble…I will try to state as considerably as possibly and with the restraints your mother's last request put upon me…Whatever further is said let it be face to face, and God give me the grace to say it in kindness for I must always desire your good and the happiness of your family.""Benjamin Harrison was born in 1833 in North Bend, Ohio, to a prominent family that had a legacy of political activism. He was the great-grandson of a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and grandson of the nation's 9th President, William Henry Harrison. Raised on a farm adjacent to his grandfather's vast estate, Harrison believed he was destined for greatness, and ended up following in his grandfather’s footprints as President.In 1853… Read More

03/12/1777. Benjamin Franklin This was  an important moment in the relations between the two countries and the story of the American Revolution Franklin's efforts resulted in an agreement in France just 7 days after news of Saratoga had reached Passy, the first such agreement in Europe after the great victory changed the face of the Revolutionhttps://vimeo.com/913107222?share=copy Provenance: Historical Society of PennsylvaniaWhen news reached France of the Declaration of Independence of the thirteen colonies, it was perceived by many as the incarnation of the Enlightenment spirit against the tyranny of England. When Benjamin Franklin arrived in Paris on December 21, 1776, he found much sympathy for his cause and he himself was the “celebrated Dr. Franklin” from the beginning. The people gathered in crowds to see and acclaim him and shopkeepers rushed to their doors to catch a glimpse of him as he passed along the sidewalk.  Perhaps no person in history has come to symbolize America… Read More

16/08/1896. Benjamin Harrison “I had seen in the newspapers a report of the birth of your son but waited official confirmation before extending my congratulations to you and May…. I think the name you have in mind very appropriate.”Benjamin Harrison was born in 1833 in North Bend, Ohio, to a prominent family that had a legacy of political activism. He was the great-grandson of a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and grandson of the nation's 9th President, William Henry Harrison. Raised on a farm adjacent to his grandfather's vast estate, Harrison believed he was destined for greatness, and ended up following in his grandfather’s footprints as President.In 1853 Harrison married Caroline Lavinia Scott, and they moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, the following year. There he began his own law practice, and got involved in Republican politics. The Harrisons had a son Russell and a daughter Mary.During Benjamin Harrison’s presidency, Russell was his father’s aide and secretary, and… Read More

15/11/1553. Queen Mary I Mary I was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in 1558. A strong Catholic in a nation converted by her father Henry VIII to Protestantism, she sought to restore her religion to power in England. She met opposition, and her ensuing executions of Protestants led to her posthumous sobriquet, ""Bloody Mary.""  She was the only child of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive to adulthood. Her younger half-brother Edward VI (son of Henry and Jane Seymour) succeeded their father in 1547; she also had a half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, who would later become Queen and reign for 45 years.When King Edward became mortally ill in 1553, he attempted to remove Mary from the line of succession because of religious differences, instead naming Lady Jane Grey as his successor. He died on July 6, 1553. On July 9, Jane Gray was informed that she was now Queen, though according to her own later claims, accepted the crown only with… Read More

1916. Thomas Edison Between 1915 and 1924, inventor Thomas Edison, automobile tycoons Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs, calling themselves the Vagabonds, embarked on a series of summer camping trips. The idea was initiated in 1914 when Ford and Burroughs visited Edison in Florida and toured the Everglades. The notion blossomed the next year when Ford, Edison and Firestone were in California for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. They visited Luther Burbank and then drove from Riverside to San Diego. In 1916, Edison invited Ford, Burroughs and Harvey Firestone to journey through the New England Adirondacks and Green Mountains; Ford, however, was unable to join the group. In 1918, Ford, Edison, Firestone, his son Harvey, Burroughs, and Robert DeLoach of the Armour Company, caravanned through the mountains of West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Subsequent trips were made in 1919 to the Adirondacks and New England; in 1920 to John Burroughs' home and cabin… Read More

26/01/1829. James Northcote James Northcote was an early 19th century British artist trained by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Renowned for his portraits of the leaders of his day, his best known work is probably The Murder of the Princes in the Tower.Autograph Letter Signed, Argyll Place, London, January 26, 1829, to an unnamed correspondent. “Many months since I sent two pictures by the desire of Mr. Howard of Corby Castle {Henry Howard, antiquarian and historian] directed to you in order to be exhibited in the Carlisle Exhibition. I had them carefully packed up in a case and sent by Pickford’s Boats. I have never heard anything about them since and of course must now be very uneasy about their fate. I pray you would inform me as soon as possible if you know anything about those unfortunate pictures and I should still be more obliged if you can give me any advice in what way I can proceed to recover them. I own I have been very foolish but we must all learn by experience and I hope I shall never again… Read More

Viceroy Lord Reading One letter mentions “The Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee”, which led to the “Government of India Act”The British Raj in India lasted from 1858 to 1947. The British monarch was emperor or empress of India, and the British government’s representative on the spot was the the Viceroy and Governor-General of India. There were Princely States during the Raj, each with an indigenous Indian ruler called a maharaja, though on important policies and issues that were subject to the British. It was part of the Viceroy’s responsibility to maintain good relationships with the maharajas.One of these was the Maharaja of Gondal, and this is a collection of letters, photographs, and signatures, and imprints that were addressed to or belonged to him. There is a letter from October 1934 to the Maharaja from the Earl of Willingdon, who was Viceroy from 1931-36, saying that “The Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee which has been sitting in London on Constitutional… Read More

20/10/1925. Viceroy Lord Reading Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, was a British politician and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England, Viceroy of India, and Foreign Secretary. He was also the British ambassador to the United States during World War I. Reading was the second Jew to be a member of the British cabinet, the first Jew to be Lord Chief Justice, and the only Jew to serve as Viceroy of India. Reading was considered by many the greatest British Jew in public service since Disraeli. When he visited Palestine in 1932 he was given a reception at Tel Aviv which was described as the most triumphal ever given any visitor to that date, except for Lord Balfour, author of the Jewish homeland proclamation.Taking office as Viceroy in 1921, Reading was faced with an organized non-cooperation movement that sought Indian independence, and led by Mohandas Gandhi. Reading preferred a conciliatory policy and was determined to implement the provisions of the Government of India Act,… Read More

27/08/1823. James Monroe Col. John P. Decatur, brother of Commodore Stephen Decatur, was a man unlike his famous brother. In 1820, New York Governor DeWitt Clinton was challenged for reelection by Daniel Tompkins, who was the sitting vice president. Some active-serving U.S. military officers used their positions to try to prevent his reelection and install Tompkins, an effort that failed. In 1821 Clinton laid proofs of that interference before his state legislature. Col. Decatur, at that time the naval storekeeper at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, was heavily implicated in this highly improper conduct. Information about the scandal was sent to the Navy Department by Decatur’s superior, Samuel Evans, the Captain Commandant of the Navy Yard.The Monroe administration was not content with inaction, lest that be taken as approval that interference in an election, particularly one in which Monroe’s vice president was the candidate/beneficiary, was acceptable conduct. So as a form of discipline, Decatur was… Read More

2/2/35. Richard E. Byrd Byrd was a naval officer and polar explorer, recipient of the Medal of Honor, and organizer of polar logistics. Many questions were left unanswered upon conclusion of Byrd's first Antarctic expedition and the Admiral was all too aware of the necessity for a quick return to the ice. Plans were soon made for a second expedition as many of the experienced men would still be available and polar interest in America was thriving. Despite declining interest in the region for many years, Americans were quick to resume that interest following the great successes of the First Byrd Expedition and the Wilkins-Hearst Expedition between 1928 and 1930. Daily newspaper and radio accounts, particularly of the South Polar flight and discovery of Marie Byrd Land, made Byrd's first expedition a topic of conversation throughout America. America was in the midst of a great economic depression in the early thirties, however the renewed of the American public resulted in necessary resources and… Read More