The June 24, 2000, Gerald Burg & Dr. Kardatzke Collections, Sale 6
Lot 751 
Herzog, Chaim. (1918-1997) Sixth Israeli
President.
Signed Photograph. Large Color, 7½ x 9", n.p.,
n.d. Portrait of Herzog and his wife in front of the Great Wall of China.
Signed both in Hebrew and in English, in glistening gold ink, "Chaim
Herzog." . Fine.
Estimated Value $150-250.
Lot 752
Hoffman, Dustin. (1937-) American Actor.
Best known for The Graduate, and Rain Man.
Partially
Printed Document Signed Five Times. Accomplished in typescript, One page,
tall Folio, Santa Monica, California, March 16, 1997. Being a sales contract
for the purchase of a brand new 1997 Black Mercury Mountaineer V8, made at
Santa Monica Lincoln/Mercury/Subaru. Hoffman paid 35k for the car. Fine.
Signed five times and initialed once by the new owner.
Estimated Value
$150-250.
Lot 753
[Hollywood Actors].
Eight Signed
Photographs. Collection of seven Black & White, 8 x 10" photographs and
film stills signed by popular Hollywood actors, including a film still from
Citizen Kane signed by Joseph Cotten; a studio portrait of Jimmy
Stewart, inscribed "To Mary Ann and Ed - With my thanks and best wishes
James Stewart"; a printed reproduction of a film still signed by Lew
Ayers; a film still depicting a menacing looking Lloyd Nolan
brandishing a cane, inscribed "That was my grandfather's cane! How the hell
did it get in this picture? Lloyd Nolan" ; a studio headshot of a
beaming Jose Ferrer; a bright headshot of a narrow-eyed George
Burns, inscribed "To Lee Ann - Best Wishes - George Burns"; an
affable publicity shot of Turhan Bey; and a framed 4 x 5" image of
actor David Jansen, inscribed "All the best David Jansen."
Fine. Each of the images is signed in full unless otherwise indicated.
Estimated Value $250-350.
Lot 754
[Hollywood Sheet Music].
Sheet Music
Signed by Lauren Bacall and a Lobby Card. Lot of Three signed pieces of
Hollywood ephemera, including:
A. Sheet Music Signed. Sheet Music
for How Little We Know,a song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Jonny
Mercer, from the Warner Brothers classic film To Have and Have Not. Four
pages, Quarto, with a Cover Sheet illustrated with pictures of Bogart and
Bacall made from film stills, Bacall has signed the cover in full, "Lauren
Bacall." Minor area of paper loss at bottom right corner; moderately worn
throughout.
B. Sheet Music Cover Signed. Signed Cover Sheet, Two
pages, recto/verso, being incomplete, Quarto, Color, of the sheet music for the
song, "More and More," written by Jerome Kern, from the Universal Pictures
film Can't Help Singing, starring Deanna Durbin, who has signed in full
on the first page. Moderately worn, otherwise fine.
C. Lobby Card for
FBI Girl Signed By Cesar Romero. Lobby card, 14 x 11", Color, for
the 1951 cops-and-robbers film, signed by the movie's principal, "Cesar
Romero." In fine condition.
Estimated Value $75-150.
Lot 755 
Hoover, Herbert C. (1874-1964) 31st
President of the United States, 1929-1933.
Typed Letter Signed.
One page, Octavo, on imprinted personal letterhead, n.p., December 10, 1920. To
the Reverend Newell Dwight Hillis. Because the war had left millions of
children undernourished and diseased, Hoover established the American Relief
Administration, a special organization using $100 million appropriated by
Congress for the feeding of children. Here, he writes:
"Dear Dr.
Hillis: You probably have already received request from the Federal Council of
Churches and from the New York Federation of Churches for a special 'Children's
Relief Sunday' on December 19th. May I personally urge that you do thus present
our appeal to your people. The need is overwhelming. One dollar actually means
food and life for some child for one month. Faithfully yours, Herbert Hoover."
.
Fine.
Estimated Value $150-250.
Lot 756 
Hugo, Victor. (1802-1885) French poet and
novelist, author of the classic works The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)
Les Miserables (1863).
Autograph Poem Signed. One page,
oblong Octavo, in French, n.p., n.d. A lovely signed four-line manuscript poem
on the theme of Maternity in the author's own hand:
" Oh the love of a Mother, the love that doesn't ever forget!
Miracle Bread which by a God's grace when divided multiplies!
Feast served each day at the parental hearth!
Those who have tasted it forever crave it!"
Lot 757 
Humphrey, Hubert. (1911-1978) US Senator,
Vice-President (from 1964) under Johnson, and Democratic presidential candidate
in 1968 who narrowly lost the election to Nixon.
Framed Ensemble
Including a Typed Letter Signed and a Signed Photograph. Handsome ensemble
including a Typed Letter Signed, One page, Quarto, on Executive letterhead, The
Vice President, Washington, June 15, 1968. An interesting letter to Harry
Ackerman concerning "one-liner quotes" the Vice President is marshalling
together. Framed alongside an attractive 8 x 10" Sepia-tone Signed Photograph
of Humphrey, signed in full in the white margin below his likeness, "Hubert
Humphrey." Also framed is the original transmittal envelope with an
attractive printed Free Frank. Fine.
Estimated Value $200-300.
Lot 758
[Hunt, Leigh]. Lord Byron and some
of his contemporaries with Recollections of The Author's Life and of his Visit
to Italy. First Edition, 1828. Re-backed cloth, otherwise a good
copy.
Estimated Value $100-150.
Lot 759
Johnson, Andrew. (1808-75) 17th president of
the U.S. (1865-69).
Partially Printed Document. One page,
elephant Folio on vellum, Washington DC, March 23, 1867, with President
Johnson's stamped signature below the text. Beautifully preserved Engraved
Military Appointment installing Palmer G. Wood as First Lieutenant in the
Fifth Regiment of Infantry. Countersigned by Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of
War, with ornate martial devices engraved in two large vignettes framing the
document, which bears a pristine blue wafer seal of the United States War
Office.
This Presidential Military Appointment is of particular
interest, as it was one of the last that Johnson and Stanton would sign
together as President and Secretary of War. The President was becoming
increasingly unpopular for his "gentle" Constructionist policies, which
alienated him from the "Radical" (Reconstructionist) Republicans who dominated
Congress: on this very same day, March 23, 1867, Congress overrode Johnson's
presidential veto to pass a second Reconstruction Act. Five months later, in
August, Johnson had Stanton removed from office for proposing that the newly
appointed military governors of the defeated Southern states should be
answerable directly to Congress and not to the President. This act, which
became a test of executive versus congressional powers, precipitated Johnson's
impeachment before Congress one year later in 1868. Fine.
Estimated
Value $50-75.
Lot 760 
Johnson, Lyndon B. (1908-1973) 36th
President of the United States, 1963-1969.
Partially Printed
Document Signed as President. One page, Elephant Folio, Washington, DC,
June 4, 1965. Letters Patent appointing J. Curtis Counts as "...a
Member of the National Labor Management Panel." Countersigned by Dean
Rusk as Secretary of State, with a large white wafer seal. Signed by the
President in grey ink below the printed text, "Lyndon B. Johnson." .
Fine. Framed to an overall size of 23½ x 19½" Signed
documents by LBJ as President seldom enter the market.
Estimated Value
$1,000-1,500.
Lot 761 
Johnson, Lyndon B.
Typed Letter
Signed. One page, Octavo, on lime green White House letterhead, Washington,
DC, November 3, 1965. To Congressman Seymour Halpern. Celebratory letter
announcing the first fruits of last Winter's new coinage legislation. Johnson
writes:
"Dear Congressman: I would like you to have this freshly
minted quarter. It has just come from the Mint, the first result of your new
coinage legislation. On August 24, 1935, President Roosevelt wrote of the 74th
Congress, 'It has dealt, in a spirit of statesmanship, with matters of vital
interest to the lives of our people. Much has been accomplished for the
permanent well-being of the Nation as a whole.' I wanted you -- as a member of
the even more enlightened and public-minded 89th Congress -- to have this shiny
quarter as a memento. Perhaps it may become a treasured keepsake in your
family. Sincerely, Lyndon B. Johnson."
Accompanied by the original
1965 Quarter Dollar alluded to in the letter, housed in a tiny plastic bag
stapled to the letter at lower right corner. Also included is a facsimile of
the Congressional Act providing for the new coinage.
Very faint stain
at top right, otherwise fine.
Estimated Value $1,000-1,300.
Lot 762 
Johnson, Lyndon B.
Typed Letter
Signed as President. One page, small quarto, Washington, April 7, 1967, on
White House letterhead. To Honorable Charles A. Vanik, House of
Representatives. Minuscule staple holes near top edge, not affecting document.
In full;.
"Dear Charlie: / All good wishes for a happy birthday and
many more of them. Mrs. Johnson joins me in congratulating you on this special
day and in wishing for you good health and happiness in the year to come. /
With best regards, / Sincerely, Lyndon B. Johnson."
Fine.
Estimated Value $500-750.
Lot 763
Johnson, Lyndon B.
Christmas Card
Signed as President. Printed Greeting Card, Approximately 7 x 5½ ",
on textured card stock, n.d., with a gilt embossed Presidential Seal. The
printed greeting reads:
"Season's Greetings and Best Wishes for the
New Year
Lady Bird Johnson Lyndon B.
Johnson."
Mrs. Johnson's signature was made with an auto-pen;
President Johnson has signed the card himself in dark black ink.
Fine. Staple mark at extreme left-center margin, else fine.
Estimated Value $75-125.
Lot 764 
Johnson, Lyndon B. and William H.Taft. 36th
President of the United States, 1963-1969 and 27th President, 1909-1913.
Two Typed Letters Signed and an LBJ Free Frank. Lot of three
Presidential items, including:
A. Typed Letter Signed by Lyndon
Johnson as US Senator. One page, small Octavo, on imprinted United States
Senate Office of the Democratic Leader letterhead, Washington DC, August 3,
1960. To Harry Ackerman. Curious thank you letter provoked by the submission of
a "presentation of a new political technique" that has just been sent to
Senator Johnson and Senator Kennedy. Traces of mounting tape show through from
verso, else fine. Signed in full, "Lyndon B Johnson."
B. Lyndon
Johnson Stamp-Signature Free Frank. Postal cover with imprinted return
address, "United States Senate Office of the Democratic Leader, Washington DC,
Free," postmarked twice, HYE Texas, August 6, 1960, and Los Angeles,
California, August 10, and September 9, 1961, addressed to Screen Gems Studio
Head Harry Ackerman, and free franked " Lyndon B Johnson" with the Senator's
stamped signature. Traces of mounting tape from verso, else fine.
C.
Typed Letter Signed by William H. Taft as Chief Justice. One page, Quarto,
on personal imprinted stationery, Pointe-a-Pic, Canada, July 28, 1921. To
Ernest Ackerman, House of Representatives, thanking the congressman for his
congratulations on Taft's recent appointment as Chief Justice: "I thank you
for your kind congratulations upon my appointment to be Chief Justice. I am
glad you think it is satisfactory to the public. I hope now that I am coming to
Washington, I may see you frequently. Sincerely yours, Wm H Taft." Fine.
All items are in fine condition except where otherwise noted. Accompanied
by a fine steel engraved portrait of President Johnson from the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing.
Estimated Value $150-250.
Lot 765
Jones, Buck. (1889-1942) American
entertainer, vintage film cowboy.
Inscribed Photograph Signed.
Black & White, 7 x 8 " , [circa 1930s], n.p., hand stamped "Property of Murry
Klein" on the verso. Film still of the lugubrious cowboy dressed in sagebrush
togs, standing in a doorway with a grim-looking female co-star, probably saying
goodbye. Inscribed,
"To Murry from Buck Jones." . A minuscule
chip to top center edge, which could be easily trimmed, else fine.
Estimated Value $175-200.
Lot 766 
Keller, Helen. (1880-1968) American writer
and humanitarian, she lost her sight and hearing after an illness at 19 months,
but was educated by Anne Sullivan who taught her to speak, read and write, and
became her lifetime companion.
Three Signed Copies of a Typed Letter
Signed. Each, One page, Quarto, on three tones of her imprinted personal
letterhead, New York, N.Y. Three copies of a stirring fund-raising letter,
dated December 14, 1945, November 30, 1946, and May 2, 1949. Each is addressed
to a different party, and signed in full at the bottom in grey pencil, "Helen
Keller." An astonishing letter soliciting aid for a new department of the
American Foundation for the Blind in which Helen Keller vividly describes the
anguish of being deaf and blind. She writes, in part:
"...I am
indeed happy to inform you that a Committee on the Deaf-blind of America has
been started. It is to be one of the departments of the American Foundation for
the Blind with which I have worked for twenty-two years. All that time there
has burned within me an unceasing pain because the problems of the doubly
handicapped remain for the most part unsolved, and I have made one attempt
after another in their behalf ...Try to imagine, if you can, the anguish and
horror you would experience bowed down by the twofold weight of blindness and
deafness, with no hope of emerging from an utter isolation! Still throbbing
with natural emotions and desires, you would feel through the sense of touch
the existence of a living world, and desperately but vainly you would seek an
escape into its healing light. All your pleasures would vanish in a dreadful
monotony of silent days. Even work, man's divine heritage -- work that can bind
up broken hearts -- would be lost to you. Family and friends might surround you
with love, but consolation alone cannot restore usefulness, or bring release
from that hardest prison -- a tomb of the mind and a dungeon of the body. I
doubt if even the most imaginative and tender normal people can realize the
peculiar cruelty of such a situation. The blind who are taught can live happily
in a world of sounds, and the deaf use their eyes instead of ears, but the
deaf-blind have no substitute for sight or hearing. The keenest touch cannot
break their immobility. More than any other physically fettered group, they
need right teaching and constructive procedures to reclaim them to normal
society...".
Fine. The earliest of the three letters bears
some annotations, not in Keller's hand, at upper right margin. Overall
condition is Fine. Evidently Helen Keller kept a form letter over the years to
use in fund-raising efforts in her work on behalf of the deaf-blind. Though a
fund-raising letter, it is nevertheless frankly personal, and contains a
wrenching articulation of the experience of being deaf and blind.
Estimated
Value $500-750.
From the Gerald Burg collection.
Lot 767 
Keller, Helen.
Christmas Card Signed
With Autograph Dedication Also Signed. Lovely Christmas card, 4½ x
6", n.d., printed in France, depicting a reproduction of Jean Fouquet's
Adoration of the Shepherds, with a folded printed insert salutation, on the
left side of which Keller has signed, "Helen Keller," in pencil, above
the signature of her friend PollyThomson. On the inside back cover of the card,
Keller has pencilled a strikingly beautiful dedication:
"This box
from Damascus is small but it has the property of the Arabian Nights of holding
far more Love than can be seen. Helen."
Fine. Below Helen
Keller's signature, following the dedication, her companion has also signed,
"and Polly." This simple card communicates all the profound fullness of
a very pure heart.
Estimated Value $325-375.
Lot 768 
Keller, Helen.
First Day Cover
Signed. First day cover commemorating the "100th Anniversary of the Death
of Edgar Allan Poe," postmarked Richmond, VA, October 7, 1949, with vignettes
of Poe and "Poe Cottage," signed in pencil in large letters, "Helen Keller."
. Very Fine.
Estimated Value $225-275.
Lot 769 
Kennedy, John F. (1917-1963) 35th President
of the United States, 1961-1963.
Autograph Draft of a Letter In
Extensive Note Form. Six pages, Folio, on lined yellow paper, n.p., n.d.
[1960], written as Congressman. The election of 1960 was one of the closest in
history, and during the campaign, the polls seesawed back and forth. Therefore,
Kennedy was ever conscious of his actions and of the actions of others as they
might impact on the upcoming election. These handwritten notes were Kennedy's
rough draft for a letter to Senator Lister Hill, a Democrat from Alabama and
Chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee. Kennedy was a member
of that Committee, along with Senator Barry Goldwater, a conservative
Republican from Arizona and a supporter of Nixon in the campaign. Kennedy had
returned to Washington from campaigning, in order to attend a scheduled meeting
of the Committee, only to learn that the meeting had been cancelled at the
request of Senator Goldwater. Kennedy writes:
"I was extremely
disappointed on arrival in Washington ...to learn that it had been canceled at
the request of Sen. Goldwater ...Our agreement two weeks ago was that we would
meet every day this week on the Newberger Bill ...Sen. Goldwater states that
'someone' in my office told him that there would be no meeting until Friday. I
have personally checked ...& no one has any recollection of the conversation
...This is the 3rd time that a previously agreed on meeting has been canceled
at Sen. Goldwater's request. This would be understandable if we were not both
aware that Sen. Goldwater is taking every step that he can take to prevent
majority action on the Bill ...An effort is being made to delay this Bill &
then to place responsibility on my campaign for preventing its passage ...I
therefore, respectfully request that the Committee plan to meet Mon., Tues. &
Wed. Weekends if this week's meetings do not finish the job ...until a majority
has expressed their view. I further request that notices be sent to all members
informing them of this schedule."
There is an additional sheet with
notes and telephone numbers written entirely in pencil; the five page draft is
in blue ink. This important manuscript reveals Kennedy's cagey ability to
circumvent political adversaries. It is interesting to remember that he did win
the support of Labor in the 1960 election. Cup stain on the first page, and a
tiny area of paper loss at bottom right corner, otherwise in Fine Condition. An
extremely desirable manuscript.
Estimated Value $3,500-UP.
Lot 770 
Ladd, Alan. (1913-1964) Film star of the
40's and 50's, known primarily for his roles in films like Lucky Jordan
(1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Shane (1951).
Inscribed Photograph Signed. Sepia-toned, 8 x 10." A handsome
photo of the actor donning a pin-stripe suit and a cocky grin. Inscribed,
"To Frank & Nelda - With lots of happiness, Alan Ladd". Fine.
Estimated Value $150-250.
Lot 771 
Lafayette, Marquis de. (1757-1834). French
statesman and soldier who championed the American Revolution; a general in the
Continental Army; aide to General George Washington.
Autograph
Letter Signed, in French. One page, Octavo, La Grange, June 29, 1824.
Addressed to "Monsieur Duclos [?]" on the integral address leaf. This curious
letter concerns a mutual lady friend who may have been swindled out of some
property. Lafayette, writing to his friend, acts as counselor, and gives the
formerly propertied lady advice concerning her predicament. Age-toning
throughout, with two very minor ink smudges, and some wear on the address leaf,
where the letter seems to have been sealed. Still, the letter is Fine, and
Lafayette's signature is very clear. Framed with incidental photographs and a
brief biography of Lafayette. Overall size 28½ x 21½." .
Estimated Value $800-1,200.
Lot 772 
Lawrence, Sir Thomas. (1769-1830) English
painter. Famed for his pencil portraits, by the age of 12 he had his own studio
in Bath. Patronized by King George III, knighted in 1815, he succeeded Benjamin
West as President of the Royal Academy from 1820.
Autograph Letter
Signed. Five pages, Octavo, recto/verso, on gray bond, London, November 3,
1826. An interesting letter concerning a design for a Royal medal that the
artist has been commissioned to execute for the King. Written at the end of his
career, when his sight was failing and Lawrence was finding it difficult to
work at night, he writes to the well-known lexicographer Peter Roget
apologizing for a delay in finishing his design:
"My dear Sir, I
regret most sincerely that the medal cannot be delivered when the award is
announced, but I pledge myself to place the design in your hands, with the
concurrence of Mr Chartney [?], in sufficient time for its receiving the
sanction of the King before the 30th...May I hope that the interval of ten days
will enable you to take His Majesty's pleasure respecting it? Should the King
suggest any alteration in the design, still the fact of its having been
prepared and presented to His Majesty, will I apprehend justify the public
award of it by Sir Humphry Davy. My now advanced life necessarily makes me
careful of my sight, and I have long given up drawing in the Evenings; which
formerly used to be their chief solace. A loose [?] of totally different size
to that of the real work, would be very imperfect assistance to the artist, and
I shall therefore give the design of exactly the same dimensions. My long
neglect of this highest sort of composition, and some natural repugnance to
encounter the minute of intense exercise of the Organ of eyes no longer young -
have been the chief causes of this delay, and no indifference to so honorable a
task...Your Obliged and Devoted Servant Thos. Lawrence."
The
Humphry Davy mentioned in the letter is the eminent chemist remembered as the
discoverer of nitrous oxide; Peter Roget, to whom the letter is addressed, was
of course the compiler of a famous Thesaurus of synonyms and antonyms,
and a mutual crony of the two members of the Royal Academy.
Estimated Value $400-600.
Lot 773 
Lee, Harper. (1926- ). American novelist,
author of the classic work To Kill A Mockingbird (1960).
Typed Excerpt From "To Kill A Mockingbird" Signed by Harper
Lee. One page, Quarto, n.p., n.d. Being a typed excerpt from Harper Lee's
celebrated classic novel, identified in the heading. Fine. There is a
scarcely noticeable water stain at top center, otherwise this presentation
document is in fine condition. Perfect for framing.
Estimated Value
$150-200.
Lot 774
Lillie, Gordon W. "Pawnee Bill". Wild West
Show Impressario.
Signed Check. Approximately 6 x 3" beige
printed check, Washington, DC, March 1, 1935. Drawn on the National Mercantile
Bank, pay to the order of "Major Lillie" in the amount of One Dollar and Twenty
Cents. Endorsed on verso, "G.W. Lillie." . Fine. With punch
cancellation and docketing on verso, not affecting signature.
Estimated
Value $145-UP.
Lot 775
Lincoln, Abraham. (1809-1865) 16th President
of the United States, 1861-1865.
Letter Signed As President. One
page, Octavo, on Executive Mansion letterhead, Washington, DC, May 13, 1862. To
General M(ontgomery) C(unningham) Meigs, U.S.A. In full:
"General:
Allow me to introduce Mr. Charles D. Chase and to commend his request to your
favorable consideration. Your Obt. Servt. A. Lincoln."
Fine.
Meigs was a Union general from Georgia, who had graduated from the U.S.
Military Academy in 1836 and served in various peace-time engineering
assignments. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was promoted to colonel in
the 11th U.S. Infantry. On May 15, 1861 he was appointed Brigadier General USA
and Quartermaster General. He served efficiently in that difficult position
throughout the war. Letter exhibits light toning and minor soiling at the edges
and is mounted on a heavier 8 x 6" sheet.
Estimated Value $8,000-12,000.