University Archives announces its next sale currently open and concluding on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Photographs & Books consists of over 440 lots from all imaginable collecting categories. The auction thus provides even the most discriminating collector with an unparalleled opportunity to enlarge and deepen existing collections. Our October auction contains the second installment (60+ lots) from The Douglas Wertman Collection, majority political items personally collected and curated by Douglas Wertman, the longtime Secretary of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club. Other exceptional sale items come from the Early America, Literature, Music, Art, Entertainment, Civil Rights, and Sports collecting categories. Bid, Register and View the auction at universityarchives.com.
Our catalog is accessible on our website, Invaluable, AuctionZip, and LiveAuctioneers:
University Archives is pleased to announce its next sale:
Our website: https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-catalog/rare-autographs-manuscripts-books-photographs_6G2EXM32T1
Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/6g2exm32t1?page=1&size=48
AuctionZip: https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-catalog/rare-autographs-manuscripts-books-photographs_6G2EXM32T1
LiveAuctioneers: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/433747_rare-autographs-manuscripts-books-photos/
U.S. Presidents
Lot 1 is a John Adams signed presentation copy of Jonathan Mayhew’s A Discourse, Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers; with Some Reflections on the Resistance Made to King Charles I (Boston: Re-Printed by Hall & Goss, 1818.) Adams gave this sermon originally published in 1750 to one of his wife’s Quincy relatives, Maria Sophia Quincy. Mayhew’s sermon affirmed and legitimized the concept of political resistance against tyranny, as guided by Romans 13:1-7, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” Just four months earlier, Adams had given another copy of Mayhew’s sermon to his old friend and fellow revolutionary Thomas Jefferson, explaining that it had greatly shaped Adams’s world view as a young college student at Harvard. With a Beckett LOA.
Lot 88 is an Abraham Lincoln 1p autograph letter signed, addressed to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtain, dated July 25, 1864 from Washington, D.C. In it, Lincoln asked Curtain to forward a thank-you note to a well-wisher who had presented Lincoln with a decorative cane made from wood salvaged from the wreck of the Confederate ironclad U.S.S. Virginia. The vessel had fought in the naval Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862 but was scuttled by the Confederates when they evacuated Norfolk, Virginia three months later. PSA/DNA slabbed and graded PSA Mint 9.
Lot 152 is a George Washington signed three language partial ship’s passport dated February 4, 1796, counter-signed by Secretary of State Edmund Randolph. The safe conduct papers – in English, French, and Dutch – safeguarded Henry Tredick’s brig Drake on its passage from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to the British West Indies, most likely Martinique, which had been wrested from French control two years earlier, and with whom the Americans had secured limited trading rights. The vessel carried various foodstuffs including “Indian corn and meal” as well as lumber and candles.
Lot 143 is an archive related to Harry Truman and a topic which he rarely discussed: the atomic bomb. The capstone item of the archive of personnel records is a Truman-signed Citation for a Medal of Merit which explicitly refers to the “Manhattan District Project in development of the atomic bomb.” The award was posthumously bestowed on Charles M. May, Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the War Manpower Commission from August 1943 until his death in January 1945. The award praised May’s extraordinary commitment to finding, vetting, and hiring approximately 130,000 civilian workers for the Manhattan Project.
Lot 76 is a Thomas Jefferson signed document, dated November 8, 1791, approving a congressional act granting an extension to the state of South Carolina so that it could complete the U.S. Census of 1790. The census enabled the activation of the 1787 Three-Fifths Compromise – which counted non-whites as 3/5 of a white person – in a state where 43% of the population was enslaved in 1790. Ultimately, South Carolina counted 107,094 enslaved persons, more than the combined amount of free white females and free white males aged 16+. An exact tally of souls in South Carolina carried important ramifications in terms of both taxation and representation. In consequence, South Carolina was allocated seven representatives. With PSA/DNA LOA.
Early America
Lot 266 is a John Hancock signed document, dated January 1, 1776, promoting a New Hampshire minuteman named William Scott to the rank of Captain in the 16th Regiment of Foot. Scott had been wounded multiple times during the Battle of Bunker Hill, refusing to desert his command even though grievously injured, and only removed when he was taken as a war prisoner. Imprisoned in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Scott escaped by digging a tunnel underground using a few rudimentary tools. Shortly thereafter, he escaped imminent capture by the British at Fort Washington by swimming over a mile to the safety of another Patriot fort!
Literature
Lot 366 is a Charles Dickens signed cabinet card portrait photograph autographed on April 20, 1868, the very last day of Dickens’s 1867-1868 American Reading Tour. On this date at New York City’s Steinway Hall, Dickens read selections from “A Christmas Carol” and Pickwick Papers, promising his American audience that he would cherish their memory. Two days later, the incredibly popular novelist and lecturer left for England, never to return again.
Lot 380 is an Edgar Allan Poe carte de visite after Mathew Brady as published by Edward Anthony in New York, n.d. but probably early 1860s. Known as the “Ultima Thule” portrait, the original photograph of Poe was taken by Edwin H. Manchester in Providence, Rhode Island just four days after the poet’s suicide attempt in November 1848, and less than one year before Poe’s death under mysterious circumstances at the age of 49. Lot 373 is a rare Nathaniel Hawthorne signed carte de visite.
Entertainment
Lot 302 is a Marilyn Monroe autograph manuscript, n.d., but ca. 1956, being a statement of 130+ words describing her impressions as an “observer student” permitted to audit Lee Strasberg’s acting classes at the Actors Studio. Monroe’s manuscript shows contemporaneous edits and is accompanied by a typed transcription by her publicist Pat Newcomb. The young actress describes a very positive experience at the invitation-only acting school, adding that she hoped she can become a member someday. The starlet was awarded a Lifetime Membership from the Actors Studio in 2023.
Civil Rights
Lot 255 is a Martin Luther King, Jr. typed letter signed, dated January 16, 1964, thanking a California professor for congratulating him on recently being named as TIME magazine’s “Man of the Year” for 1963. As the first black man to receive the honor, King interpreted it as a step in the right direction for the Civil Rights Movement. TIME included a 7-page spread of King within its issue which praised his leadership and influence, but also criticized his appearance and manner.
Sports
Lot 441 is a Babe Ruth signed newspaper clipping headlined “Babe Takes A New Grip After Signing,” PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic. The photo caption was probably an illusion to the Sultan of Swat’s ambidexterity: the southpaw wrote with his right hand. Ex-Joseph “Bill” Kahn, Jr. Another lot from Kahn’s autograph collection is Lot 434, a Lou Gehrig signed card, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded MINT 9.
Marvelous Miscellany
Lot 247 is a remarkable 21st-century artifact: an entrance ticket to the “Top of the World Trade Center Observatories,” located on the 107th Floor of the South Tower, date- and time-stamped September 10, 2001 at 12:16 pm. Less than 24 hours later, both of the Twin Towers had collapsed after being struck by two hijacked passenger airliners.
These are just some of the immensely important and desirable lots available in our October 21, 2026 sale. Bid, Register and View the auction at universityarchives.com.
Highlights Include:
- Lot 1, John Adams SB
- Lot 88, Abraham Lincoln ALS
- Lot 152, George Washington DS
- Lot 143, Harry Truman TLS in archive
- Lot 366, Charles Dickens SP
- Lot 76, Thomas Jefferson DS
- Lot 266, John Hancock DS
- Lot 380, Edgar Allan Poe CDV
- Lot 247, World Trade Center entrance ticket
- Lot 302, Marilyn Monroe AM
- Lot 255, Martin Luther King, Jr. TLS
- Lot 441, Babe Ruth SP
Auction Index
- American Presidents / First Ladies
Lots 1 – 157 - Art / Architecture / Photography
Lots 158 – 188 - Aviation / Space
Lots 189 – 231 - Business / Notables / Notorious
Lots 232 – 249 - Civil Rights / Native American / Slavery / Religion
Lots 250 – 260 - Colonial / Dec. of Independence Signers / Rev. War
Lots 261 – 276 - Entertainment / Music
Lots 277 – 316 - History / Military / Civil War
Lots 317 – 349 - International / World Leaders / Judaica
Lots 350 – 359 - Literature
Lots 360 – 385 - Old West
Lots 386 – 388 - Politics / Supreme Court
Lots 389 – 410 - Science
Lots 411 – 424 - Sports
Lots 425 – 448
Major Categories:
U.S. Presidents & First Ladies: (Washington to George W. Bush; Frances Cleveland through Hillary Clinton, etc.)
Early America (John Hancock; Declaration of Independence Signers; Revolutionary War, etc.)
Literature (Charles Dickens; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Walt Whitman; Anton Chekhov; Ernest Hemingway; Helen Keller; Stephen Crane; Robert Frost; Pablo Neruda; Thomas Wolfe, etc.)
Music (George Gershwin; Ringo Starr; Madonna; Taylor Swift, etc.)
Art (Pablo Picasso; Frank Lloyd Wright; Marc Chagall; Salvador Dali; Yousuf Karsh; Walt Disney; Charles Schulz; Chester Gould; Shelly Moldoff; Comics, etc.)
Entertainment (Marilyn Monroe; Alfred Hitchcock; Bette Davis; Vivien Leigh; Jimmy Stewart, etc.)
Civil Rights (Martin Luther King, Jr.; Booker T. Washington; Frederick Douglas; Underground Railroad, etc.)
Sports (Baseball: Babe Ruth; Lou Gehrig, etc. // Boxing: Jack Dempsey; Muhammad Ali, etc. // Basketball: Abdul Jabbar; Larry Bird, etc. // Miscellaneous: Arnold Palmer; Paul Bear Bryant, etc.)
World Leaders (Charles III; Charles de Gaulle; Haile Selassie; Grace & Rainier of Monaco, etc.)
Space & Aviation: (Space: Mercury; Apollo; ASTP; Skylab; Space Shuttle; Aldrin, Armstrong, Bean, Borman, Carpenter, Cernan, Collins, Conrad, Cunningham, Duke, Glenn, Gordon, Haise, Lovell, Schirra, Shepard, plus Cosmonauts, etc. // Aviation: Early Pioneers; Charles Lindbergh; Amelia Earhart; Orville Wright; Igor Sikorsky; Richard E. Byrd, etc.)
Science (Charles Babbage; Thomas Edison; Carl Jung; Simon Newcomb; Felix Lobligeois; Jonas Salk, etc.)
Military (Civil War: Burnside, Chamberlain, Custer, Dalhgren, McClellan, etc. // World War II: Bradley, MacArthur, Nimitz, etc.)
University Archives has become world-renowned as a go-to source for rare items of this kind. It is actively seeking quality material for future auctions, presenting a rare opportunity for sellers. Anyone who has a single item or a collection that may be a fit for a future University Archives auction may call John Reznikoff at 203-454-0111; or email him at john@universityarchives.com.
University Archives was founded in 1979, as a division of University Stamp Company, by John Reznikoff, who started collecting stamps and coins in 1968, while in the third grade. Industry-wide, Reznikoff is considered the leading authenticity expert for manuscripts and documents. He consults with law enforcement, dealers, auction houses and both major authentication companies.
University Archives is located at 88 Danbury Road (Suite #2A) in Wilton, Conn. To learn more about University Archives and the online-only Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Photographs auction scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, 2026, visit www.UniversityArchives.com.
