The Dec. 11, 1999, Premier Beverly Hills Collectible Sale, Sale 4

175   Powell, Eleanor. Actress of the 30s & 40s.

Typed Letter and Inscribed Photograph Signed One page, Quarto, on personal stationery, April 7, 1939. Los Angeles. In full:

"Dear Mr. Caciatore:- / This is just to say "thanks" for writing that grand letter. Being an entertainer is a lot of hard work and heartache, and things are so much easier when you know that that work is appreciated. It was grand of you to take the trouble to write, and I'm very grateful. / I am sending you a new portrait -- Mother's favorite, which means it's the best one to date, and I wanted you to have it. / Again my thanks, and good wishes always for your health and happiness. / Ever sincerely / Eleanor Powell".

The photo (4 x 5") is an attractive portrait of the actress in wrapped in a white fur and is inscribed "To- Frank Best Wishes always Eleanor Powell Broadway Melody of 1936".
Estimated Value $100-150.

176   Pownall, Thomas. 1722-1805. English Colonial Governor of Massachusetts (1757-60) who urged vigorous measures toward driving the French from America.

Manuscript Document Signed as Governor. One page, Tall Folio, Massachusetts Bay, August 22, 1757. Curious document granting special powers to Major General John Broadstreet (1711-74), who participated in the attack on Ticonderoga (1758) and captured Fort Frontenac (1758). The document serves to:

"... authorize and impower you in the prosecution of your journey on His Majesty's Special Service... to impress a Horse or Horses ... and do hereby Command all his Majesty's Justices of the Peace... and all others his Majesty's good Subjects... to be aiding and assisting to you..." .

Horizontal fold repaired on verso, with minor area of paper loss at top margin, not affecting text.
Estimated Value $650-UP.

177   Preston, Frances Cleveland. (1864-1947) At 22, she was the youngest First Lady to occupy the White House, having married Grover Cleveland in the mansion during his first term.

Autograph Letter Signed. Two pages, 16mo., on her personal letterhead. Princeton, NJ. February 18, 1934. Includes transmittal envelope with holograph address, signed above postmark. Plus a bold clipped signature on 3.5 x 1.25" card, adding "Oct. 24, 1933" In part;.

"... Mr. Preston has been passing through the same experience these same weeks... and would like you to know how sorry we are... " Boldly penned and signed.

Very Good.
Estimated Value $200-300.

178   Rabin, Yitzchak. (1922-1995). Israeli soldier, statesman and Prime Minister (1974-77, 1992-95). Assassinated in 1995.

Signed Photograph. Color, 7 x 5", n.d. Group portrait of Rabin and his wife, with the Vice-President Gores in a dayroom of the White House. Very Fine. Rabin's signature is very slightly uneven in places, where the ink has been repelled by the photograph's glossy surface. With a Letter of Authenticity from the Institute of Documentation in Israel.
Estimated Value $300-400.

179   Roosevelt, Eleanor. (1884-1962) First Lady of the United States. Diplomat and humanitarian.

Typed Letter Signed. One page, Octavo, on personal stationery. New York, NY. May 24, 1956. Signed boldly in blue ink. In full:

"Dear Miss Raymond: / Thank you very much for your kind letter regarding the Maskit rug. / I am so glad I can have the rug and I would like to have it delivered here but not until June 5th. When you send it, will you be good enough to enclose the bill and I will send you my check? / Very sincerely yours, Eleanor Roosevelt".

Very Good. Slight center fold and crease of upper left corner.
Estimated Value $100-150.

180   Schulz, Charles. (1922- ) The creator of Peanuts. Having learned cartooning from a correspondence course, he worked as a freelancer for a religious magazine and the Saturday Evening Post (1947) He submitted a sample strip about children entitled Li'l Folks to many newspapers before United Features accepted it, retitling it Peanuts (1950). It went on to become one of the world's most successful strips and has been adapted for both screen and stage.

Photograph Signed. Black and white, 8 x 10", n.d., n.p. Signed in black pen at lower right. Very Good.
Estimated Value $100-200.

181   Schulz, Charles, Walter Lantz & Bob Kane. Charles Schultz (1922- ) The creator of Peanuts. Having learned cartooning from a correspondence course, he worked as a freelancer for a religious magazine and the Saturday Evening Post(1947) He submitted a sample strip about children entitled Li'l Folks to many newspapers before United Features accepted it, retitling it Peanuts (1950). It went on to become one of the world's most successful strips and has been adapted for both screen and stage.Walter Lantz (1900- ) The creator of "Woody Woodpecker" Started in 1916 in William Randolph Hearst's animation studio, then moved to Hollywood where he took over Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1928. He remained at Universal for over 50 years where he created the very popular "Woody Woodpecker" whose trademark laugh was supplied by his wife, actress Grace Stafford. Bob Kane (1916-1998 ) The creator of "Batman."

Three Sketches Signed. One page, 4 x 6", on index card, 1993, n.p. A collection of cartoon portraits by three of the world's foremost cartoonists, each signed by the artist together on one card: Bob Kane's Batman, inscribed, " 'Bats' Wishes"; Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker, and Charles Schulz's famous beagle Snoopy. Fine.
Estimated Value $500-UP.

182   [Screen Actors].
Lot of Seven Signed Photographs. Seven Black and white, mostly 8 x 10" signed photographs of screen stars , including Lew Ayres, Eleanor Holm, Viola Dana, Kent Smith, Charles Winniger, Anita Page, and Ward Brown. Fine.
Estimated Value $50-UP.

183   Slave Document. One page, Quarto, recto/verso. On "Office of the U.S. Board of Claims" letterhead. Baltimore, MD. April, 1865. an official receipt of payment for a slave, "John F. Woodford", who fought in the Civil War in the 2nd Regiment U.S.C.T. (colored troops). Two fold creases. Very Good. Scarce document.
Estimated Value $300-400.

184   Stroud, Robert. (1890- 1963) "The Bird Man of Alcatraz". American criminal, a convicted murderer who became a self-taught ornithologist during his 54 years in prison, 42 of them in solitary confinement, and made notable contributions to the study of birds. While living with a dance-hall girl in Juneau, Alaska, Stroud got into an argument with a man over the girl and subsequently killed him. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Puget Sound (1909). After stabbing a fellow inmate and proving generally troublesome, Stroud was transferred to the infamous Leavenworth Prison in Kansas (1912). He continued his loner ways but began to educate himself through university extension courses. On March 26, 1916 he stabbed and killed a guard and was sentenced to be executed by hanging; but on April 15, 1920, President Woodrow Wilson commuted his sentence to life imprisonment in solitary confinement. It was during this time that Stroud began raising canaries and other birds, collecting laboratory equipment, and studying the diseases of birds and their breeding and care. Some of his research was smuggled out of prison and published. In 1943, Stroud's Digest on the Diseases of Birds was published and became an important work in the field of ornithology.

Autograph Letter Signed. Two pages, recto/ verso, Quarto, Alcatraz, CA. August 11, 1952. Written to his half-sister Mamie, regarding his political beliefs. In part:

"... After 20 years of the worst missrule the country has ever known I can't see why any one devoted to the course of free government should vote for any democrat... For that matter, any Republican will be better for the country than the best Democrat. I would rather see Old Hoover again than see Stevenson... who is just another communist stooge... ".

Very Good. Much more of Stroud's own political ideology; all from a man who was never allowed to vote in his life! .
Estimated Value $400-600.

185   Tennyson, Alfred Lord. 1809-1892. Influential English poet, whose most famous works include The Lotus Eaters (1832), and In Memoriam (1850), which catapulted Tennyson to Poet Laureate.

Autograph Letter Signed. One page, Octavo, on embossed personal letterhead, Farringford, Freshwater, Isle of Wight, March 2, 1878. Interesting letter of thanks for a book, evidently a work of philology, in which Tennyson makes a mocking allusion to his former publisher, in the direction of whom both parties seem to enjoy throwing a bit of scorn. Tennyson writes, in full:

"Dear Sir, Thank Herman Kunst Philologist, Professor, whoever he may be, in my name for the book he has sent me. What I have read of it is clever and well done. I suppose you know that I have got rid of my peacock of a publisher, who insulted you, some years back. Yours Faithfully, A Tennyson." .

Very slight stains above and below date, else fine. Handsomely framed with a brass plate engraved with a copy of the letter, and a biographical plaque listing Tennyson's most famous works, together with a portrait of the poet. Overall size 29 x 20".
Estimated Value $400-600.

186   The Ground They Walked On: Sale of the Lot Where Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton First Squared Off! [Tombstone]

Clum, John. Mayor of Tombstone. Publisher of the Tombstone Epitaph.

Partly Printed Document Signed. Accomplished in manuscript. One page, Octavo, Tombstone, Arizona, December 9, 1881. Signed by John Clum, Mayor of Tombstone and publisher of the Tombstone Epitaph. Being a Proof of Publication document, signed by Clum as editor, advertising the sale of the exact spot of land in Tombstone where Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton first squared off. This confrontation, which eyewitnesses said ended with Earp disarming and arresting Clanton -- occured the night before the famous Gunfight at the O. K. Corral, and precipitated the famous showdown. This document, which has a newspaper clipping of the original published notice attached, announces the sale at public auction of this piece of Tombstone real estate, to dispose of the property of one Jerome Ackerson, deceased. Fine. Matted and framed with a full-size facsimile of the Tombstone Epitaph, October, 1881, the front page of which is devoted to a detailed account of "yesterday's" Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and which gives an exact account of the events of the night before leading up to the famous Gunfight, mentioning the very streets and parts of town here advertised as being put up for sale. An amazing piece of folkloric history.
Estimated Value $1,000-UP.

187   Thomas, Heck. (1850-1912) Western gunfighter in more than ten recorded gunfights. In his checkered career, Heck Thomas was a soldier, railroad guard, detective and lawman. He served in the Stonewall Jackson brigade as a courier during the Civil War. He was chief agent for The Texas Express Co. and was wounded by the Sam Bass gang in a train robbery. With Bill Tilghman, Thomas cleaned up "Hell's Half Acre," shot Ned Christie, and killed Bill Doolin in July 1896. He was responsible for over 300 arrests in three years, making him one of the deadliest lawmen of the West.

Document Signed. One page, legal Folio, Oklahoma Territory, December 3, 1896. Embossed seals present. Affidavit declaring the necessity of "the employment of a posse comitatus at Lawson" in the arrest of George Lane, Walter McLain, Lee Kallian and others in the area of "Osage Creek & Cherokee Nat[ion]..." Boldly signed "HA Thomas".
Estimated Value $1,000-1,400.

188   Tilghman, William. (1854-1924) A true Western hero, he was an Army scout during the Indian Wars, lawman, saloon owner and state senator. As a buffalo hunter, Tilghman is said to have killed 4,000 buffalo in one year. In more than seven recorded gunfights, he also wounded Clay Allison. He was deputy sheriff under Bat Masterson and chief of police for Oklahoma City. He is said to have been paid reward money more than any other law officer. He spent a good deal of time chasing and killing members of the Doolin Gang, arresting him in December 1895. Doolin escaped six months later. Tilghman was killed by a drunk at the age of 70.

Partly Printed Document Signed as deputy U.S. Marshall. One page, legal Folio. Guthrie Logan County, Oklahoma Territory. October 16, 1895. Being an affidavit stating the necessity of the "employment of a posse comitatus at Guthrie" to execute a warrant for the arrest of Joe Jennings et. al. in the area of the Creek Nation. Boldly signed twice in spaces provided. Also signed by U.S. Marshall Evett D. Nix, who assembled the best known lawman of the day in the pursuit of the Doolin Gang. Bill Tilghman, Heck Thomas, and Chris Madsen formed the core of his "Oklahoma Guardsmen", each man assigned to a different quadrant of Doolin territory. Bill Doolin was finally killed by Thomas in 1896.
Estimated Value $800-1,200.

189   Tracy, Spencer. (1900- 1967) Film actor. Initially typecast as a tough guy and gangster, he became one of Hollywood's finest actors of the 1940s and 50s. Nominated nine times for an Oscar, he was the only actor ever to receive two consecutive awards, with Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys' Town (1938).

Cut Signature with Photograph. Blue ink on a 3 x 2" slip of paper. n.d., n.p. Autograph is in a gold-accented frame with a beautiful fabric lined matte. A black and white "headshot" is situated above the signature. Very Fine.
Estimated Value $150-250.

190   [War of 1812].
Autograph Document Signed. One page, Quarto, Boston, Augusta, May 12, 1813. From Major Joseph Chandler to the Quartermaster General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Being a military requisition order for "Powder, tubes & other stores for the Company of Artillery Commanded by Capt. Sammuel Ranlet, particularly some cannister shot as he has never received any." Signed and endorsed on verso by Captain Samuel Ranlet, and Abraham Morril. Two small areas of paper loss at top right and bottom right corners, otherwise fine.
Estimated Value $200-300.

191   Warner, Pop. 1871-1954. American football coach and father of kids football league.

Autograph Letter Signed. One page, Quarto, on imprinted personal letterhead, Palo Alto, California, July 22 1949. To Joseph Tomlin, founder and program director of the sandlot football program which would go on to become a national kids football league known as "Pop Warner" football. Fascinating letter which finds the two men originating and developing the idea of a sandlot football league for kids using the name "Pop Warner." Warner writes, in part:

"It seems to me very unfortunate that there has been so much controversy over the sand lot sports activities of Philadelphia as your letters have indicated. Since you organized those sand lot sports and did such an excellent job in developing them it seems to me a damn shame if you have been shoved aside and the work turned over to someone else. You were the first to honor me by naming your football sand lot program after me and I feel that I would be an ingrate to refuse permission for you to continue to use my name as you have done in the past. With your successful experience in that sand lot work I cannot see why you should not continue to be very useful to the sand lot organization... " .

Fine. Signed in full, "Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner." Very slight thumbprint stain at bottom, not affecting text, else fine.
Estimated Value $350-500.

192   Warner, Pop. 1871-1954. American football coach and father of kids football league.

Autograph Letter Signed. One page, Quarto, on imprinted personal letterhead, Palo Alto, California, May 28, 1950. To Joseph Tomlin, founder and promoter of Pop Warner football league. Interesting letter which finds the two men hashing out plans for the new "Pop Warner" football league, and developing the idea of a "kids size" football. Warner writes, in part:

"I should have answered your letter of May 8th sooner but I have been on a visit to So. California for about ten days. I doubt very much if your suggestion of a Pop Warner christmas package could be worked out. You are at liberty to use my name and any income from that source if you can get some sporting goods firm interested. The idea of a Pop Warner kids football looks to me more feasable [sic] because there is really a need for a good kids size football and I think there would be a good market for such a ball. I suggest that you contact Wilsons or Spaulding Bros."

Warner goes on to comment, with startling candor, on the ideas of producing a biography of the coach:

"Regarding the suggestion of a life of Pop Warner I hardly believe such a book would go over very big. I know Grantland Rice very well but I do not feel like making such a suggestion to him personally. Perhaps after my death such a book might pay out, but that may be some years ahead... " .

Fine. Slight age-toning around the edges, otherwise fine. Signed, "Pop." .
Estimated Value $350-500.

193   [Washington, George].
Custis, George Washington Parke

1781-1857. The stepson of George Washington. Owing to the early death of his father, he grew up under the charge of Washington at Mount Vernon, where he lived until the death of Mrs. Washington. A colonel in the US Army, he became an aide-de-camp to General Charles Pickney. Father-in-law of Robert E. Lee, thus linking the two great generals in a family tie. Author of "Conversations with Lafayette," recording Lafayette's visit to the United States in 1824, and a series of recollections of Washington, as well as numerous plays.

Autograph Letter Signed. Two pages, Quarto, with integral address leaf, Arlington House, December 14, 1850. Marvelous letter in which this practiced raconteur answers queries about the founding fathers use of tobacco. Washington's stepson writes, in part:

"My Dear Sir In answer to the queries contained in yr letter, I have to reply, that Washington never used Tobacco in any way whatever, & condemed its use by others. When holding councils with delegations from Indian Tribes, their Great Father was compelled to take a single whiff of the Pipe of Peace, altho' it never suited [?] him very much.

"With Adams, Jefferson, Madison, & Monroe, I had the honor of an intimate acquaintance & saw much of them all, in my early life. I have no recollection of either [sic] of these illustrious individuals being in the habit of using tobacco. Some perhaps occasionally the Snuff Box. Indeed chewing was by no means a gentlemanly habit under the old Regime [.] the sugar was unknown, & the smoking of the pipe principally confined to elderly persons... The snuff box was an appendage to genteel society in the olden times, yet I only remember two individuals who were excessive snuffers in the days between 20 and 60 years ago...The money paid for Tobacco to be used by the 23 millions of the modern United States in the next ten years would make a rail road from New York to San Francisco, & secure the mighty trade of China & the East Indies."

Fine. Some separation at corner folds, with a small area of paper loss where the seal has been broken, otherwise fine.
Estimated Value $1,250-1,750.

194   Whipple, William. 1730-1785. American Revolutionary leader. Member from New Hampshire of the Continental Congress. Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Autograph Letter. Two pages, with the second page containing a single line, Octavo, n.p., June 4, 1776. To Meshech Weare (1713-1786), who served as President of the Council which governed New Hampshire.

Original draft of a letter concerning the raising of reinforcements for the Revolutionary War. Whipple writes, in part:

" ...Congress have resolved to send a further reinforcement into Canada 750 will be required of our Colony the officers to be commission'd by the Colony they are to serve as militia untill 1st Decr: - it is absolutely necessary our posts sho'd be supported in that Country for sho'd the enemy get possession we shall certainly have a long war on our hands, but if we are successful which by proper exertions & divine assistance there is no doubt of this Campaign will place us out of reach of their malice. You will soon receive the Resolutions of Congress respecting this reinforcement from the President. The money mention[ed] in our last is not yet gone forward... "

On May 24th and 25th, General George Washington met with members of Congress to discuss the conduct of the war. Congress appointed a committee consisting of fourteen members -- two from Virginia, and one from each of the remaining twelve colonies -- to plan "for the carrying on of the ensuing campaign." This included raising reinforcements for Canada.

Fine. Docketed on verso, "Col Weare, June 4th 1776." Minor paper loss at right margin of integral leaf where the seal was originally broken, not affecting text.
Estimated Value $1,500-UP.

195   Wray, Fay. Classic film heroine, star of the original King Kong.

Inscribed Vintage Photograph Signed. Sepia-tone, Large 13½ x 10½" portrait of Fay Wray in a dramatic, over-the-shoulder pose. Inscribed, "To Warner Baxter - With admiration and good wishes -- Fay Wray." Print is slightly dappled, probably with age, but is still becoming. Boldly signed. In a slender black wood frame.
Estimated Value $100-200.
From the Warner Baxter estate.

196   Wright, Frank Lloyd. American architect. Known for dwellings and structures designed in powerful conformity with the natural features of the surrounding landscape. Though overshadowed by controversy in his own time, Wright is now considered one of the greatest architects of modern times.

Autograph Letter Signed. Seven full pages, Quarto, Tokyo, [Summer, 1919]. On imprinted stationery of The Imperial Hotel, which Wright designed. To his estranged wife Miriam. With the original envelope, addressed "Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright, Iako Hotel, Iako, Japan", and with two lengthy Autograph Letters Signed by Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright to Wright, written from the Iako Hotel, Japan, one fifteen pages, the other fourteen pages, both Quarto, July 1919, laying bare the overwhelming difficulties in their dissolving relationship.

A breathtaking, confessional letter from Wright to his wife Miriam, describing the painful internal conflicts that have worn away at their relationship. The architect searches his own nature, and his wife's, for a place to lay blame, exposing the neurotic complexities of their warring personalities. Wright writes in part:

"You are quite right. I have no true personal culture. My talent has come between me and the things that bring it usually -- by personal sacrifice. Instead of making the sacrifices myself I have been taking them from others as my right. And I see how it has hardened and roughened the points of contact -- how I even handle my prints as though they were waste paper -- and have hardly patience enough to hear a voice, any voice, beside my own. Why pride in my work has served to give me the self-respect that enabled me to keep on when it were best that I should fail -- for my own souls good... I am a creature of warm animal instincts with something born of heaven thrown in, to sink or swim and but for you it would have sunk. My struggle has been terrible -- in some moments great, but my confusion has been complete and I lose my grip and resourcefulness at last when I see myself face to face -- unequivocally as I do now.

"Let me tell you Miriam dear -- the truth. I have not loved you much until I began to understand. My hungry need at first and your gifts came to me in the dark like a ray of hope. I was -- like you -- in love with love -- or the quest for it and as I know now I had never found it. I took you as I take everything I want and then came reaction. So awful it was under those circumstances because conscience still had me in toils and, I could not escape. But then came the self-deception I have practiced always with myself to slip and slide and cheat and what I did to escape is past belief -- but it is a matter of record... I did not love you then enough. I wanted to -- but my weakness and my pet vanities and special pretensions were all antagonized by you -- no matter what they were. You have explained them all. And I had never realized what terrible depths of despair, and to what extremity a sensitive, neurotic woman, highly developed and nervously disorganized by internal change could be...

"I watched you for the cause. I was told that after effects of morphine left one subject to depression and hate. That violent hatred and special antipathies were the result, and for life, doctors prescriptions to kill pain -- and even when no longer practiced the previous use of it to any considerable extent in illness often left the patient at the mercy of hatred too violent and bitter for words... Your very look in those days -- the unnatural pallor, all served to make me suspect. And I am quick to suspect as quick as I am to forgive and both so facile because I have been so ignorant of the consequences to others of the use of words, which I have learned now are deeds. ...

"... I saw the inconstancies of you own thought -- how you turned about and the inconsistencies of your practices in Science. Ordinarily I would have thought nothing of them but when you were holding yourself up so high and so faultless with one hand, tearing me down with the other and nullifying everything I had -- naturally I grudged it, was skeptical and sarcastic and thought I saw hypocrisy. I am skilled in the arts of hypocrisy. I see and can detect it in others quickly, having the tests all well within myself. But then I began to see. On the boat coming across the Pacific something compelled me to see. I had the vision of my own unworthiness and wretchedness and how it had all poisoned you....".

Fine. Wright and his wife exchanged a number of letters during their torturous estrangement. This harrowing account of the end of their relationship must be one of the finest Frank Lloyd Wright letters ever to appear on the market. Other than the first page, which is slightly torn at the centerfold, and some minor wear at the folds of several other pages, the letter is in fine condition. The two letters of Wright's wife, Miriam, totalling twenty-nine pages, are of equal substance and interest.
Estimated Value $6,000-8,000.

197   Wright, Frank Lloyd. American architect.

"Who's Who" Application Signed. One leaf, two-sided, Octavo, on partially printed orange stock. "Who's Who In America, published by A.N. Marquis & Company, Chicago, Ill." printed at top, with instructions for completing form.

Frank Lloyd Wright's application form for inclusion into "Who's Who in America," completed and signed "Frank Lloyd Wright" in the first blank where the architect has filled in his name. Wright provides his vitals, describes his education, lists his Politics as "Independent," names the Societies and Fraternities to which he belongs, describes his Specialty as "Architecture - (creative)," and in the blank that asks " What have you done that is worthy of special mention?," Wright dryly quips, "The Imperial Hotel of Tokyo Japan and 176 other buildings of note." Fine. There are a number of corrections, in a different hand, with the address Wright has provided being crossed out and rewritten in pencil in the top left margin.
Estimated Value $2,500-UP.

198   Album of 29 Cartes de Visite. A leather album, 5½ x 6½ x 2", with gilt detail, and working brass clasp, containing 29 cartes de visite of prominent Opera Singers, Actresses, and visiting Royalty of the 1900's. Most of the cartes bear the photographer's imprint on the reverse, and many have been identified in pencil by the original owner on the album page which encloses each card. The majority of the cards are of notable 19th-century women.

Pictures include the opera singers Adelina Patti, Madame Albany, and Christine Nillson. Indian royalty, English royalty (including the Princess of Wales), a Burmese prince, a Zulu queen, the Sultan of Turkey, an Arabian Pasha, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Sir Garnette Wolacky, the "late" Mr. J. Burke, Maximillian of Mexico, Princess Beatrice, and various crowned heads of Europe are represented.

Album has some normal wear and tear, and has two small tears at bottom spine, but is still in very good condition, with a working latch. The cartes are almost all Fine, with many being scarce and extremely interesting.
Estimated Value $400-500.