American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Assembled by an unknown hand, 12 1/2 x 15 in. scrapbook album with leather-covered paper boards bearing the image of a sailing vessel on the front cover, and containing 15 brown paper leaves, most having items adhered to both the front and back pages. The collected items do not uniformly represent a specific historic period or genre, but rather include a variety of cut signatures, letters, engravings, photographs, imprints, and ephemera, ca 1775-1928.

Album highlighted by several Revolutionary War-era related imprints and printings, comprising: The London Magazine: Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer. London: R. Baldwin, July 1775. 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. pp.375-380. Issue features reports of conflict in the American colonies notably the 17 June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill via a letter from General Gage, as well as other sources. -- The Annual Register or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature, For the Year 1776. London: J. Dodsley, 1777. 5 x 8 1/4 in. pp. 261-270. Issue features an early printing of the Declaration of Independence. -- A newspaper clipping from unidentified paper of a "Letter from General George Washington, to his Excellency Lieutenant General Gage." Cambridge, Aug. 11, 1775. -- "Washington's Letter: General Washington's Letter to President Adams, on His Appointment to the Office of Commander in Chief of All the Armies of the United States." Mount Vernon, 13 July 1798. Reprinted from unknown source, pp.349-352.

[With:] Autographs including: John C. Fremont card signed ("J.C. Fremont"); William T. Sherman cut signature ("W.T. Sherman / Maj. General"); William H. Taft ("Wm. H. Taft") clipped signature as Secretary of War; typed letter signed by Herbert Hoover ("Herbert Hoover") as Secretary of Commerce; clipped signature of Gideon Welles ("Gideon Welles"); clipped signature of John A. Dix ("John A. Dix"); autograph album leaf signed in 1883 by Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard ("G.T. Beauregard"); and a land grant secretarially signed for President James Buchanan, 1 September 1859.

[With:] Photography, including: an oval cut photograph of Theodore Roosevelt sitting alongside a young woman with a notepad; a group of 7 WWI photographs, each 8 x 10 in., featuring Gen. Pershing, American soldiers, bi-planes, and more; and a loose 5 x 9 in. photomechanical portrait of Theodore Roosevelt by Underwood & Underwood, with printed signature beneath which is Roosevelt's original signature ("Theodore Roosevelt").

[Also with:] Assorted ephemera including, in part: a $100 Confederate note, Richmond, 7 June 1862; an engraved "National Washington Monument" contribution acknowledgement certificate featuring architect Robert Mills's original design, ca mid-1800s; engravings of Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, James Monroe, Zachary Taylor, George B. McClellan, and Winfield Scott; a National Republican Convention guest ticket, St. Louis, 1896; a Christmas program from Co. D, 9th Infantry Regiment, "The Fighting 9th," "American-Army of Occupation," Germany, 25 December 1918; "A Sermon Preached Before the Honorable Assembly; of Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, of the Lower House of Parliament, February the last, 1623." London: Iohn [sic] Bartlett, 1624. 37pp.; "A Sermon Preached Before the Honorable Assembly; of Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, of the Lower House of Parliament, February the last, 1623." London: Iohn [sic] Bartlett, 1624. 37pp; "Speech of Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, on His Resolutions in Reference to the War with Mexico. Senate, January 4, 1848." Washington, 1848. 16pp; "Proceedings in the House of Representatives of the United States on the Presentation of the Sword of Washington and the Staff of Franklin. 8vo, sewed. Wash. 1843"; and loose newspapers, Chicago Daily Tribune, 1 September 1939, with headline "War! Bomb Warsaw! Nazi Army Order" and Columbian Observer. Vol. III, No.77. Philadelphia, 29 June 1824.

[Also with:] A facsimile copy of Lee's General Order Number Nine, "Presented as a keepsake to the members of The Caxton Club."

A clue as to the potential owner of the scrapbook album, and possibly the compiler of the album, accompanies the lot. A typed letter dated 9 January 1933 from Omar Williamson of "Literary Appraisals" and addressed to "Mr. Steven E. Hurley," indicates that Hurley submitted the album to Williamson for review. Williamson writes, in part: "I return to you your Scrap Book (my No. 297-A), but I will be unable for a week or more to make a complete report because very little data is available on some items." Williamson goes on to reference two items contained in the scrapbook, the account of Bunker Hill and the printing of the Declaration of Independence, indicating that the scrapbook he reviewed is the same as the one here offered. Steven E. Hurley is identified in the U.S. Censuses of 1920 and 1940 as an attorney residing in Chicago.