Search Results: Titles starting with D from The Raab Collection

6/3/29. D. H. Lawrence This was formerly owned by journalist Virginia Travers, mother of Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, & Mary fameD.H. Lawrence is regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He published many novels and poetry volumes during his lifetime, including “Sons and Lovers” and “Women in Love”, but is best known for his infamous “Lady Chatterley's Lover”. That graphic and highly sexual novel was published in Italy in 1928, but was banned in England until 1960 and the United States until 1959. Amidst the hubbub of Lady Chatterly coming out, Lawrence turned his attention to painting, which had always been an interest of his. It became one of his main forms of expression in the years before his death in 1930.In late 1928 he determined to go public with his paintings and began working on a book illustrating them. His book,“Paintings of D. H. Lawrence”, was published by Mandrake Press in early 1929 in a limited edition of 500. In June of that year, a… Read More

15/09/1852. Daniel Webster After two terms in the House of Representatives, Webster became a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and served until 1841. He became nationally famous in 1830 for his thundering defense of the Union in his replies to South Carolina Sen. Robert Hayne during the first states’ rights controversy, and was the acknowledged leader of the North during the Nullification Crisis that followed. He returned to the U.S. Senate from 1845 to 1850.Webster served as Secretary of State to Presidents William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. In this post, his major task was to resolve a number of longstanding disputes with Great Britain that might have flared up into war. He helped achieve the landmark Anglo-American Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842 that settled the Maine boundary, increased U.S. involvement in suppressing the African slave trade, and included an extradition clause that would become a model for future treaties. The agreement also ushered in an era of rapprochement between the… Read More

14/05/1850. Daniel Webster ""There have been those who desire to uphold all sorts of local ideas, prejudices, and animosities, by the general strength of the Whig cause. If we cannot free ourselves from these counsels, the Whig Party must inevitably cease to be the great, strong, and conservative party of the country.""The new Federal territories obtained from Mexico in 1848, and whether they were to permit slavery, brought the nation again to a crisis. The subject had immediacy because with the huge number of people (the 49ers) who were flooding into California seeking gold, that territory was already seeking statehood. Feeling that slavery was inappropriate for the western territories, the President, southerner Zachary Taylor, supported organizing all the former Mexican lands into the territories of California and New Mexico and bringing them into the Union immediately as free states. Some southerners felt betrayed and threatened to secede, while men in Congress worked on a series of compromise… Read More

09/05/1838. Queen Victoria The Victorian era was a time of monumental importance for the world, and it was so named for the great British monarch who sat on the throne of the world’s dominant power for six decades. It was a time of the rise of science, industrial explosion, literature eminence, broad imperial expansion, exploration, and great political reform. She so bestrode her age that to this day, we speak of people as Victorians in a way we do not of any other person other than Queen Elizabeth I. And with Lincoln, Lee, Darwin, Freud and Einstein as examples, what an age it was.The Victorian era began on 20 June 1837, when King William IV died and his niece, Princess Victoria, became Queen at the age of 18. Her official coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on June 28 1838. The coronation was a huge occasion and four hundred thousand visitors went to London to see the new Queen crowned and attendant ceremonies.As the London Globe reported, “The appearance of the resident and foreign… Read More

05/09/1817. DeWitt Clinton American politician who served as a United States senator, as mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was a major candidate for the American presidency in the election of 1812, challenging incumbent James Madison.Autograph Letter Signed, Albany, September 5, 1817 to early Ohio settler and War of 1812 General John Gano, Clerk of the Ohio Supreme Court, recommending a potential settler in Ohio. “Mr. Patrick Walsh, a reputable citizen of New York is desirous of settling in Ohio. From the favorable representations made of him I have no doubt but that his morals and intelligence entitle him to favorable notice.”As governor, Clinton was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. He was persuaded by Canal proponent Jesse Hawley to support construction of a canal from the eastern shore of Lake Erie to the upper Hudson River. Many thought… Read More

12/04/1422. Medieval History, Literature, Law|All Medieval Historical Documents|Medieval Charters Part of an important professors collection, the majority of which was assembled and last offered for sale 25 years agoMyles Standish was an English military officer hired to accompany the Pilgrims in 1620 on the ship Mayflower as their military adviser. He played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony. He was one of the first settlers and founders of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. He died on October 3, 1656, in the New World, in Duxbury,-- a town the Pilgrims had named after his likely ancestral home in Lancashire, England, and an estate that occupied by these very men. [what does this mean?] On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor… Read More

28/05/1795. Robert Morris Church, who had been a friend of Morris and taken a mortgage for land in New York from him, ended up foreclosing when Morris could not pay This contributed to the problems that sent Morris to debtor’s prison in 1798John Barker Church went to America early in the Revolution, where he became one of three commissioners appointed by the Continental Congress in July 1776 to audit the accounts of the army in the northern department. He resigned his commission in September 1777, and moved to Boston. In Boston, he began a variety of businesses, including banking and shipping, and speculated in currency and land. In 1780, he secured a contract for provisioning the French forces in America, becoming Commissary General. Two years later, he was contracted as sole supplier to the American army as well. Church was known for his marriage to Angelica Schuyler, which made him the brother-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. Church returned to England after the Revolutionary War and served in… Read More

18/10/1450. Medieval History, Literature, Law|All Medieval Historical Documents We can recall nothing similar having reached the market From the collection of Dr. Otto O. Fisher, who bought primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, so this not been offered for sale in nearly a centuryThe Hundred Years’ War was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages. For 116 years, interrupted by several truces, five generations of kings from two rival dynasties - the English House of Plantagenet and the French House of Valois - fought for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe - France. The war’s effect on European history was lasting. Both sides produced innovations in military technology, and tactics, such as professional standing armies and artillery, that permanently changed warfare in Europe; chivalry, which had reached its height during the conflict, subsequently declined. Stronger national identities took root in both countries, which became more centralized and gradually rose as… Read More

1475. Ege|Theology and Scripture|All Medieval Historical Documents Collected by the famous Otto Ege who wanted to put a Medieval manuscript in every homeThe regional flare of this leaf shows the movement of art towards a Renaissance style and the movement of the Netherlands as an independent countryFrom the Psalms: “Then was our mouth filled with gladness; and our tongue with joy. Then shall they say among the Gentiles: The Lord hath done great things for them.”Otto Ege, famed for his creation of portfolios of medieval manuscript leaves in the 1950s, had the objective of putting a medieval manuscript in every American home. His methodology was to create tiered packets, with the most luxurious pieces of each manuscript constituting higher status packets, while more text-based, or less eye-catching leaves, created the more affordable packets to appeal to a wide variety of collectors.The Book of Hours during the latter Middle Ages taught its reader how to interact with the complex structure of… Read More

29/08/1837. Queen Victoria Document Signed as Queen, August 29, 1837, appointing Thomas Hamilton a major in the Nineteenth Regiment of Foot of the British Army. Very good, some foxing, with a paper and wax seal. An extremely early example of her autograph as Queen, and the earliest document we can find of hers having reached the public sale market in the past decade.Victoria became Queen on June 20th. It is particularly interesting to note that Hamilton’s promotion to Major was to date from January 23rd which was during the reign of her predecessor, King William IV.

28/08/1746. George Clinton William Johnson emigrated to America from Ireland in the 1740s to help oversee his uncle's business affairs but soon started his own trading business, allowing him frequent contact with the native populations. In particular, he would trade with the Six Nations, among them Mohawks, among whom he found his second wife.In 1744, King George's War spread to the colonies. King George’s War, American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession, was the third and inconclusive struggle between France and Great Britain for mastery of the North American continent. There were continual disagreements over the boundaries of Acadia (Nova Scotia) and northern New England as well as the Ohio Valley. The war was characterized by bloody border raids by both sides with the aid of their Indian allies.Because of his relations with the native tribes, particularly the Mohawk, he was appointed New York's agent to the Iroquois, and was put into the newly created position of ""Colonel of the… Read More

24/03/1847. James K. Polk Acquired directly from the descendants and never before offered for sale Letters and documents of Polk from the Mexican War have become quite scarceLangdon C. Easton graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1838. He served in the Florida and Mexican wars, and during the Civil War. He was Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Cumberland from December 1863, until May 1864, and of the armies commanded by Major General William T. Sherman from May 4, 1864, until the war’s end, being present during the operations of the campaign from Chattanooga to the taking of Atlanta, and subsequently at the capture of Savannah. On the march from the latter city to Goldsborough, NC, and thence to Washington, DC, via Raleigh and Richmond, General Easton acted in the same capacity. During the war he was brevetted major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and brigadier general, ""for distinguished and important service in the quartermaster's department in the campaign terminating in the… Read More

1232. Medieval History, Literature, Law|Before 1300|All Medieval Historical Documents|Medieval Charters “Let those present and future know that thus it has been agreed between Simon, abbot of Rufford and the convent of the same place on the one side, and John Burdun on the other, concerning the very many disputes had between them….”While the church of a monastic community was its beating heart, the archive was, and remains, its memory - an accumulation of records of things it owned and which provided for its upkeep and continuing survival. However, archives were not just passive collections of old records, but had to play active roles in the assertion of rights to contested estates and properties. The practice of people leaving such things to ecclesiastical communities on their death and then the next generation questioning such grants with the intention of keeping the goods is so common as to feature in almost every local chronicle time and time again. Thus, documents were necessary to push… Read More

26/11/1807. George III ex-GoodspeedHenry Torrens was commissioned as an ensign in 1793 at the age of 14. In 1796 he served in the West Indies, where he displayed great bravery, was wounded, and rewarded with command of a company. He served in Portugal in 1798; in Holland under the Duke of York in 1799; and afterwards in Nova Scotia, Egypt, and India.In 1799 Torrens went to the Netherlands where he was involved in battles at Hoorne and Egmond aan Zee: at the latter, he was wounded. In 1805 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After seeing service at Buenos Aires in 1807, he accompanied the Duke of Wellington to Portugal in 1808, and was present at the battles in that country. Torrens rose to be appointed Wellington’s Military Secretary in 1809. He attained the rank of major-general in 1814, and then Adjutant General to the Forces in 1820, one of the highest ranks in the British Army.Staff memorandum signed, London, November 26, 1807, and headed “Most Humbly Submitted to His… Read More

20/12/1941. Albert Einstein Brigitte Kaufmann was born in Germany, but when the Nazis came to power in 1933 she fled to Paris. In France, Kaufmann worked as an actress under the name of Brigitte Châtel, and translated documents. She met her future husband, Alfred Alexander-Katz in Paris, and they married in 1939; the following day, her husband was taken to an internment camp. He was given the choice of being interned in a labor camp or joining the Foreign Legion and chose the latter. Alexander was then sent to Clermont in Vichy France and the family relocated there.Dr. Walter Rudlin was a social science professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and actively involved in anti-fascist activities. He was the author of “The Growth of Fascism in Great Britain”. In September 1942 he left his position and joined the U.S. Board of Economic Welfare, whose chair was Vice President Henry Wallace. His wife Eryl was interested in bringing Jews in Europe out of harm’s way, and she knew the… Read More

24/12/1846. James K. Polk Benjamin H. Arthur served in the Mexican War. He was with General Taylor as adjutant in Northern Mexico, where his unit did gallant service at the capture of Monterey. He was also present during the occupation of Mexico City in 1847. He fought in the Indian wars as well, skirmishing with the Apaches along Live Oak Creek near present-day Batesville, Texas.,This is his commission as First Lieutenant, signed by President Polk. Document signed, with an eagle, stars, flags and cannon, Washington, December 24, 1846, naming Arthur First Lieutenant in the First Regiment of Infantry, effective September 1, 1846. He would soon achieve the rank of Captain.He died in 1856 and his widow received a pension.

6/1/46. Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower became a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America in 1948, but had been a staunch supporter of Scouting ever since his son was a Scout in the 1930s. He would say that “The Boy Scout movement merits the unstinted support of every American who wants to make his country and his world a better place in which to live. Its emphasis on community service and tolerance and world friendship promotes a speedier attainment of the enduring peace among men for which we all strive. By developing among its members both a spirit of sturdiness, self-reliance, and a realization of the need for cooperative effort in every major enterprise, the movement is a prime force in preparing tomorrow’s men for their duty to themselves, their country, and their world.”Charles D. Hart, was a Philadelphia physician best known for the important contributions he made to the Boy Scouts over the course of four decades. In 1946, Hart was Honorary President… Read More

12/9/66. Dwight D. Eisenhower At home, he advises Americans to cultivate “self-dependence, self-reliance, moral and physical courage and patriotism”, and spurn materialism He demands honesty, hated hypocrisy, and would not tolerate lip service: “I do not mean to preach about them; rather to practice them”The American generation in leadership roles in the 1950s and 1960s had lived through the turmoil and vast destruction of World War I, but been told the sacrifices were worth it, as the war would make the world safe for American-style democracy. Just a decade after that war ended, the nation was plunged into the Great Depression, when a quarter of the people were unemployed and another quarter under-employed. Even as the U.S. struggled to get through the Depression, news was flooding in from Europe documenting the rise of the dictators. Americans saw the European democracies adopt policies of appeasement towards Hitler and Mussolini, assuming they could buy peace by giving the dictators… Read More