Search Results: Titles starting with H from The Raab Collection

11/11/55. Harry Truman Never before offered for sale; An extraordinary letter on the part he and the United States played in the birth of the UNA wartime Declaration by United Nations initially was signed by representatives of the United States, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union; over the course of the war, 21 other Allied nations joined this group. On April 25, 1945, as Allied victory drew close, representatives of the member states met in San Francisco to write a treaty for a postwar UN that could arbitrate international disputes without conflict and prevent another world cataclysm. President Truman said to the opening of the conference, “The world has experienced a revival of an old faith in the everlasting moral force of justice. At no time in history has there been a more important Conference, or a more necessary meeting, than this one in San Francisco, which you are opening today. On behalf of the American people, I extend to you a most hearty welcome.” Americans followed news of the… Read More

1660. Harvard The earliest document relating to Harvard we have had, and the first we’ve seen on the market about young people partying at the collegeThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was first settled in 1630, when a flotilla of ships sailed from England in April bearing 700 Puritans under the leadership of Governor John Winthrop. The colonists began arriving at Salem in June. Thousands more followed from Old England to New. Nathaniel and Anna Bowman were among them, arriving in Watertown with the earliest settlers in 1630. According to Watertown historian, Marilyn Roach, Bowman “received several grants of plow land and meadow in town and farmed here for decades before the couple and their seven children moved in 1651 to the part of Cambridge that later became Lexington.”Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. With some 17,000 Puritans migrating to New England by 1636, it was founded in anticipation of the need for training clergy for the new commonwealth. The… Read More

5/12/32. Helen Keller She mentions her two great companions, Anne Sullivan Macy and Polly Thomson The letter also shows Keller’s intellectual acumenSamuel Pepys was the author of Britain’s most celebrated diary, kept from 1660-1669. Pepys as an exceptionally skilled recorder of the political events of his time, and also everyday life. His record of contemporary events has become an important source for historians seeking an understanding of life in London during the mid-seventeenth century. Pepys kept the diary as a virtually daily record that was to stretch to more than a million words, with a quality that entertains and inspires people in the current day, nearly three and a half centuries after it was written. By the 1930s there was a braille version for use of the blind. Miss Prince, the librarian of The National Institute for the Blind, sent Keller a copy and she was quite smitten with it.Anne Sullivan Macy was an teacher best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of… Read More

24/01/1933. Henri Matisse A rare glimpse into among the more important relationships between art collector and artist: Matisse and Barnes, whose collection is at the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia Never before offered for sale; acquired from the recipient's heirsAlbert C. Barnes was an American chemist, businessman, art collector, writer, educator, and the founder of the Barnes Foundation. Barnes made a fortune as the developer of the antiseptic Argyrol, and subsequently amassed an impressive collection of more than 2,000 pieces of rare art. His extensive holdings include many European and American impressionist masterpieces and early modern art, including works by Cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh, and Picasso. His collection of 181 Renoir paintings continues to be the largest number of the artist’s paintings gathered in one location.Barnes started the Barnes Foundation in 1922 as an educational institution, with strict limits to its use and very specific rules about its operations. Barnes was known… Read More

02/07/1814. Henry Clay He gives his opinion on the importance of impressment to the completion of negotiationsThe U.S. was unprepared for the War of 1812, and the fortunes of war proved vacillating. There were successes, such as William Henry Harrison’s victory in the northwest in the Battle of the Thames, in which Tecumseh was killed, and Oliver H. Perry’s victory on Lake Erie. But there were also failures, such as Gen. James Wilkinson’s expedition against Montreal; also, Fort Niagara was lost, Black Rock and Buffalo were burned, and great quantities of provisions and stores destroyed. The American hope of conquering Canada began to look like a dream, and the threat remained that the British and their Indian allies might yet gain a hold over territory in the American west in order to create an Indian buffer state between the U.S. and the Mississippi River. The British blockade of the U.S. eastern seaboard was constantly growing tighter; not a single American man-of-war was on the open sea.… Read More

30/03/1815. Henry Clay 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. He proved instrumental in achieving… Read More

17/10/1814. Henry Clay He was also distressed about American Forces being set back in Canada: “I tremble indeed whenever I take up a late Newspaper. Hope alone sustains me.""  On hearing of his reelection: ""Europe has no attractions for me sufficient to detain me here beyond the termination of my present duties or to bring me back again, when I shall be so happy as once more to see our native land.""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. He and his colleagues had argued that military force was the only option left to combat British imperiousness. Albert Gallatin had served as… Read More

22/11/1850. Henry Clay On the South’s fear of emancipation and the need to have the South’s cooperation in revising legislation: “That feeling was wearing away, but it is aroused again by what has recently passed and is passing in regard to Slavery. It is only in a period of calm, when the passions are stilted, that an appeal can be favorably made to the South. Without its co-operation to some extent, it would be inexpedient to rely altogether on Northern support.” You “can form no full conception of the violence of the passions boiling over in Congress” as a result of the Compromise Clay will now turn his attention to the colonization idea - sending slaves back to AfricaThe Compromise of 1850 was a series of measures proposed by the “great compromiser,” Sen. Henry Clay of Kentucky, and passed by the Congress in an effort to settle several outstanding slavery issues and to avert the threat of dissolution of the Union. The crisis arose from the request of the territory of… Read More

23/03/1815. Henry Clay He gives his assessment of the prospects of the Bank bill: “The Bank bill had not passed as we supposed.  The President returned it on the 30th of Jan. to the Senate, objecting not against its Constitutionality but to the expediency of its particular provisions.”  And the Battle of New Orleans: “The loss of the British in their New Orleans expedition is estimated at 4000.”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… Read More

06/06/1849. Henry Clay The annexation of Texas in 1845 caused the controversy over slavery to heat up, but the Mexican War intervened to deflect attention. When the war ended in early 1848, vast lands in the West were acquired from Mexico, and the question of whether slavery would be allowed in these territories  quickly reignited the flames of sectionalism. In 1849, the discovery of gold led to a land rush in California, and the territory filled quickly with people. With partisans on both sides angrily stirring the pot and fears rising that the country might be split asunder, it was apparent that the matter of slavery had become urgent.Europe appears to be in a state of great and general disorder. A war embracing the larger part of it seems to be almost inevitable. England and France can hardly look upon the Russian interference in the affairs of Austria and Hungary with indifference. I sincerely hope that you may be able to preserve to our country the blessings of peace.The United States was not… Read More

22/06/1920. Herbert Hoover When World War I began, Hoover was a consulting engineer in the mining industry, yet six years later his name was already being included in lists of potential presidential nominees. This letter gives us an insight into why. In 1914 he was asked to organize and direct an American Relief Committee to aid U.S. citizens stranded in Europe. This was followed by his appointment as head of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, where his fine work in this highly visible office brought him fame.When the U.S. entered the war in April of 1917, President Wilson appointed Hoover food administrator, with instructions to increase food production, reduce consumption, eliminate waste, stabilize prices and improve distribution. After the war ended, he went to Europe and established the American Relief Administration to assist in economic restoration and the feeding of millions of undernourished children. Returning to the U.S. in September 1919, with success after success to his credit,… Read More

10/8/48. Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa. He was the first president born west of the Mississippi River and remains the only Iowan President. His father was a blacksmith in the town and a farm tool store owner.In 1948, the town invited him back to give his ""homecoming"" speech on his 74th birthday.  The speech was filled with his recollections of his childhood in rural Iowa, and was also a retrospective on his life.  ""Perhaps without immodesty I can claim to have had some experience in what American means. I have lived many kinds of American life,"" he said.  ""I have seen American in contrast with many nations and many races. My profession took me into many foreign lands under many kinds of government. I have worked with their great spiritual leaders and their great statesmen. I have worked in governments of free men, of tyrannies, of Socialists and of Communists. I have met with princes, kings, despots, and desperadoes.""And it was a vision of… Read More

1962. John F. Kennedy Toi Bachelder served Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt through Lyndon Johnson during her thirty-four year career at the White House. Her mother, Mable Bachelder, worked as a Correspondence Reviewer at the White House as well from 1936 until 1951.Beautiful historical print of the White House, matted, with gold trimming the image. It is signed on the mat beneath the image, with the engraving measuring approximately 4_6 and overall matted to 9.5_11. It is undated but he was known to give this image out in late 1962, around Christmas time. It would be Kennedy's last Christmas.

3/2/23. Herbert Hoover After World War I ended in late 1918, Herbert Hoover became head of the American Relief Administration, which organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Europe. He did such a fine job in that capacity, saving millions of lives, that it made his reputation and led to his political career. In 1921, President Harding named him Secretary of Commerce. From there he would go on to the presidency. As for the American Relief Administration, it wound down its activities in early 1923 and concluded its efforts in June of that year.Thomas Newkirk Phillips was a former White House pharmicist who went on to work for the Red Cross at its national headquarters in Washington. When World War I broke out, he was instrumental in coordinating Red Cross supplies being sent to Europe. After the war, he coordinated Red Cross medical assistence to Herbert Hoover and his American Relief Administration.Typed Letter Signed on Commerce Department letterhead, Washington, February 3,… Read More

25/11/1855. Horace Greeley A signed quotation that sold publicly at Henkels in Philadelphia in 1895As the owner of the New York Tribune newspaper, Greeley was always influential in political circles. Greeley had first entered the political arena in 1840, promoting the candidacy of William Henry Harrison. He remained a politician for the rest of his life, promoting first Whig and, later, Republican causes. He helped to organize the Republican Party in 1854 and campaigned for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Having developed a ""thirst for public office"" while serving three months in Congress in 1848-49, he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1863, for the House in 1868 and 1870, and the presidency in 1872. Greeley's political and social views reflected his strongly held religious beliefs. His reforms aimed at creating a society in which men and women would be less inclined toward moral transgressions and more inclined toward actions that ""shall ultimately result in universal holiness and consequent… Read More

27/06/1865. Horace Greeley The letter had to pass through US government screeners: ""If it be your duty to read the letter, I certainly have no objection.""A search of public sale records going back over 40 years fails to turn up any other letter of Greeley on the Davis matter, nor have we seen one.At the end of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis was arrested and imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Davis was indicted for treason a year later. While in prison, Davis arranged to sell his Mississippi estate to one of his former slaves. After two years of imprisonment, he was released on bail of $100,000 which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith.During and after the Civil War, Greeley's political course was highly controversial. His reluctance to support Lincoln's renomination in 1864 lost him some popular support, as did his premature efforts to bring… Read More

12/07/1799. Horatio Nelson A remarkable and unpublished letter 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 centuryAt the start of 1799 the Royal Navy exercised dominance in European waters. In Northern Europe the Channel Fleet enforced a blockade against the French Atlantic Fleet, based at Brest. Although the Brest fleet was strong, numbering 25 ships with five more nearing completion, it had suffered a series of defeats that had left it demoralized. In Southern Europe the French position was altogether more desperate. In the summer of 1798 the French Mediterranean Fleet had departed its base of Toulon escorting a large fleet of transports carrying an army under Napoleon for his invasion of Egypt. To intercept the French expedition to Egypt, the Admiralty ordered John Jervis, the Earl St. Vincent to dispatch a fleet of his own under Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson tracked the French across the Mediterranean… Read More

14/05/1924. Howard Carter The quotation is about the Pharaoh’s eternal life: “The Wish upon the King's loving cup: 'Live thy Soul, mayst thou spend millions of years, thou Lover of Thebes, with thy face towards the North Wind, thy eyes Beholding Felicity' , Howard Carter May 14, 1924."" This is the only Carter quotation from Tut’s Tomb we have ever seen, and a search of public sale records going back at least 75 years shows no other signed quotation[video width=""1920"" height=""1080"" mp4=""https://raab-collection-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204122319/King-Tut.mp4""][/video] Howard Carter was the renowned British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, along with some 5,000 priceless artifacts in the tomb. This was and remains the foremost archaeological discovery ever made. It vaulted Carter into prominence, and after a century his name is synonymous with adventure and discovery.One of the… Read More

Franklin D. Roosevelt Oversize, imposing 13 by 16 inch portrait photograph of FDR near the start of his term as president, as he launched the New Deal, seated at his desk with letter in hand, signed and inscribed in fountain pen, “To Robert Livingston Bailey, from Franklin D. Roosevelt.""

1961. John F. Kennedy The largest signed portrait photograph of JFK that we have ever seenFrankie Childers was the first woman to run a U.S. Senate committee when she ran the committee on juvenile delinquency for Sen. Thomas Dodd. She was also a theater producer and founder of the Ford’s Theater Society, responsible for restoring and reopening the historic site as a working theater. She produced over 150 stage shows and more than 15 network television specials broadcast from the theater, and there is a plaque to her there. For her work with the theater she was awarded a 2002 National Humanities Medal. For some years she was married to “60 Minutes” producer Don Hewitt, and is also known as Frankie Hewitt. As a TV newsman, Hewitt was well acquainted with John F. Kennedy, both as candidate and president.This is a huge 11 by 14 inch black and white photograph of JFK, clearly as President, inscribed and signed “To Frankie Childers, with warmest personal regards, John F. Kennedy.” There is some… Read More