iCollector.com is presenting online viewing of the August 10th, 2016 Auction from RR Auction. This auction catalog has over 850 lots available for viewing with an incredible array of autographs and artifacts available for bidding through the auctioneer. They open the auction with a special ‘Royalty’ section, which spans over five hundred years of majestic material—from Spain’s Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of the 1490s to Britain’s tragic Princess Diana of the 1990s. The presidential section is similarly robust, highlighted by a Revolutionary War-dated letter by George Washington, a Congressional resolution to honor Ben Franklin signed by Thomas Jefferson, and a page from Theodore Roosevelt’s manuscript for The Winning of the West. Other great autographs in this sale include the scientist Dmitri Mendeleev, the economist Adam Smith, the abolitionist John Brown, the surrealist Rene Magritte, and many more. RR Auction is a globally recognized and trusted auction house specializing in historical autographs and artifacts. They have achieved countless record setting prices in over 400 successful sales and have an international reputation through both media and private collectors.
Lot 2 is a highlight from Ferdinand and Isabella. As described in the catalog:
“Exceptional LS in Spanish, signed “Yo el Rey,” [I the King] and “Yo el Reyna,” [I the Queen], one page, 8.5 x 9, October 12, 1499. In full (translated): “Our municipal royal representative in the noble town of Valladolid. By a patent letter or ours that we are sending to that town, we are ordering that they send their parliamentary representatives to wherever we may be on the twentieth of November next coming, as you will see at greater length in our said letter. We therefore order that you endeavor to see to it that they choose their parliamentary representatives from among those who seem to you to have better intentions, and bring it about that in any case they come on the day we order and that the powers they bring are very complete and in accordance with our said patent letter and the memorandum that accompanies it with the signature of Miguel Peres Dalmacan, our secretary.” Signed at the conclusion by the king and the queen, and countersigned by Dalmacan. In fine condition, with a small repair to a seal-related tear at the very start of the king’s signature. A decidedly crisp letter signed by both the king and queen of Castile, dating to the seventh anniversary of Columbus’s landing on ‘the new world.’ On October 12, 1492, the flagship Santa Maria, searching for an alternate trade route to Asia, sighted a Bahamian island. Upon landfall, Columbus claimed the region in the name of his benefactors, Isabella and Ferdinand, and called it San Salvador, which means ‘Holy Savior.’ The place name of this letter also holds great interest, as Valladolid, the de facto capital of Castile and Leon, was where Isabella and Ferdinand were married on October 19, 1469, and where Columbus died in 1506.”
Valued at up to $18000 is Revolutionary War Letter from George Washington up for grabs at Lot 98. RR Auctions describes this treasure as follows:
“Revolutionary War-dated LS signed “G:o Washington,” one page, 7.75 x 12.5, March 24, 1781. A letter of commendation, in full: “Adam Hubley Junr. Esquire, late Lieutenant Col. Commandant of the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment, entered the service as a Lieutenant in the year 1175 from which rank he rose to that of the command of a Regiment, and continued untill the late reform of the Army, when he was under the necessity of retiring upon half pay. For the last three years Colonel Hubley acted principally under my immediate command, during which time, he distinguished himself as an attentive, brave and intelligent Officer: and from the testimony of the Gentlemen under whom he served at other periods, his conduct has been uniformly deserving of applause. Given at Head Quarters at New Windsor the 24th day of March 1781.” In very good to fine condition, with areas of light staining, repaired lower right corner tip, and archival reinforcements to folds on the reverse.
Col. Adam Hubley was a prominent officer of the Revolutionary Army, who commanded the eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment until his retirement in 1781. He entered politics soon thereafter and was named to the Pennsylvania senate in 1790. Hubley enjoyed private correspondence with General Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, Anthony Wayne, and other high officers, and his Journal of Events of 1779, later published in the Pennsylvania Archives, offers unique insight into the history of the war for independence. Only days before Washington signed this letter, a British victory at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, proved an unprecedented boon for the American war effort. Following the battle, which featured considerable losses of British troops, General Cornwallis abandoned his campaign for the Carolinas and turned his army to Virginia, where in October of that year he surrendered to Washington following the pivotal Battle of Yorktown.”
The full catalog is showing on iCollector.com up until January 10th, 2019. Interested bidders can contact the auctioneer through the website to discuss being part of the auction and placing bids. RR Auction carefully prepared this incredible catalog and look forward to sharing these treasures with collectors and historians around the world.