Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

Updated August 24, 2026

What's in this auction

207 lots, mostly memorabilia & autographs (21), firearms & militaria (6), vehicles & automotive (2), pottery, china & glass (1). 207 lots have photos and 207 have full descriptions. Pre-sale estimates $200–$300,000 across 207 priced lots. Bidding is online through the auction house's catalog.

Highest-estimated lots

• [American Revolution] Franklin, Benjamin. Partially-Printed Promissory Note, accomplished and twice — est. $200,000–$300,000
• [Americana] Smith, Joseph. The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates — est. $100,000–$150,000
• [Presidential] Washington, George. Letter, signed — est. $100,000–$150,000
• [Presidential] [Morocco] Washington, George, and Thomas Jefferson. Manuscript Letter, signed — est. $50,000–$80,000
• [Natural History] Audubon, John James. Brown Pelican — est. $30,000–$50,000

From the auction house

Freeman’s August 20, 2026, Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana sale highlights the continued celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of America. It includes important documents related to the American Revolution, Presidential history, the African-American experience, fine works of literature, natural history, and much more. The sale is led by an extremely rare 1781 French loan document printed and signed by Benjamin Franklin and used to help fund the American Revolution (est. $200,000-$300,000); a first edition of The Book of Mormon ($100,000-$150,000); and two very important letters signed by President George Washington, one transmitting the first major law passed by Congress ($100,000-$150,000), and the other reaffirming the American Treaty of Friendship with Morocco ($50,000-$80,000). Other highlights include the Surveying Commission of the Continental Congress settling the New York/Massachusetts border ($30,000-$50,000); a very rare book signed by famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking ($15,000-$25,000); a rare letter signed by early African-American businessman Paul Cuffe ($15,000-$25,000); autograph notes in the hand of Dr. Charles A. Leale, the first physician on site after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln ($12,000-$18,000); a large collection of printed and manuscript documents fresh to market from Rev. Samuel J. May, a founding member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830s, and a lifetime ardent supporter of the abolitionist movement. Full catalog and bidding: view on liveauctioneers .

In this auction (207 lots)

Categories: Memorabilia & Autographs (21) · Firearms & Militaria (6) · Vehicles & Automotive (2) · Pottery, China & Glass (1) · Antiques & Furniture (1) · Toys & Collectibles (1)

• Lot 0001 — [African-Americana] Bacon, Benjamin C. Autograph Letter, signed on Printed Circular "To the friends
• Lot 0002 — [African-Americana] (Bacon, Benjamin C.) Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Printed Circular
• Lot 0003 — [African-Americana] Birney, James G. Signed Printed Circular of the American Anti-Slavery Society
• Lot 0004 — [African-Americana] Chapman, Maria W. Autograph Letter, signed, on Printed Circular, "Address of the
• Lot 0005 — [African-Americana] Colin, Paul. Le Tumulte noir
• Lot 0006 — [African-Americana] Cuffe, Paul. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0007 — [African-Americana] [Douglass, Frederick] May, Rev. Samuel J. Group of 3 Receipts for the Purchase
• Lot 0008 — [African-Americana] [Jackson, Andrew] Protest of the American Anti-Slavery Society
• Lot 0009 — [African-Americana] [King, Martin Luther, Jr.] Obsequies Martin Luther King Jr.
• Lot 0010 — [African-Americana] May, Rev. Samuel J., and Evan Lewis, and George Benson, and Rowland Greene.
• Lot 0011 — [African-Americana] May, Rev. Samuel J. Autograph Letter, signed on Verso of a Printed Circular
• Lot 0012 — [African-Americana] May, Rev. Samuel J. Printed Invitation, "A Call to the New-England Anti Slavery
• Lot 0013 — [African-Americana] Phelps, Amos A. Printed Circular of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
• Lot 0014 — [African-Americana] [Reason, Patrick Henry] Stanton, Henry B. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0015 — [African-Americana] Tappan, Arthur, and Joshua Leavitt, and Elizur Wright, Jr. Partially-Printed
• Lot 0016 — [African Americana] Tappan, Lewis. Autograph Letter, signed on Printed Circular of the American
• Lot 0017 — [African-Americana] Tappan, Arthur and Henry B. Stanton. Partially-Printed Circular Letter of the
• Lot 0018 — [African-Americana] Wright, Elizur, Jr. Autograph Letter, signed on an Anti-American Colonization
• Lot 0019 — [African-Americana] Wright, Elizur, Jr., and Arthur Tappan. Abolitionist Rev. Samuel J. May's
• Lot 0020 — [African-Americana] Wright, Elizur, Jr. Autograph Letter, signed, on a Printed Circular Regarding
• Lot 0021 — [African-Americana] Wright, Elizur, Jr., and Arthur Tappan. Rev. Samuel J. May's Partially-Printed
• Lot 0022 — [African-Americana] "A Tour to the South", A Revealing Firsthand Account of Slavery in Antebellum
• Lot 0023 — [American Revolution] Franklin, Benjamin. Partially-Printed Promissory Note, accomplished and twice
• Lot 0024 — [American Revolution] Iznardy, Miguel Lorenzo de. Manuscript Document, "Nota de los certificados
• Lot 0025 — [American Revolution] Lafayette, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0026 — [Americana] (Snowden, Richard). The History of the American Revolution; in Scripture Style. To Which
• Lot 0027 — [Americana] Bierstadt, Albert. The Rocky Mountains
• Lot 0028 — [Americana] Bingham, George Caleb. The County Election
• Lot 0029 — [Americana] Bingham, George Caleb. The Jolly Flat Boat Men
• Lot 0030 — [Americana] Boone, Daniel. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0031 — [Americana] [Borden, Lizzie] The Fall River Directory, 1892, 1893, 1894
• Lot 0032 — [Americana] Bryan, William Jennings. Autograph Letter, signed.
• Lot 0033 — [Americana] (Carey, Mathew). Carey's Pennsylvania Evening Herald and American Monitor, Group of
• Lot 0034 — [Americana] Engraved Centennial International Exhibition Stock Certificate
• Lot 0035 — [Americana] Chase, Salmon P. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0036 — [Americana] [1893 Chicago World's Fair] Personal Diary of William M. Wikoff, with an Original Fair
• Lot 0037 — [Americana] Ewing, John, and David Rittenhouse, and Thomas Hutchins. Manuscript Document, signed
• Lot 0038 — [Americana] Flagg, James Montgomery. I Want You For U.S. Army
• Lot 0039 — [Americana] [Green Bartholomew] Partially-Printed Massachusetts Tax Collector Broadside
• Lot 0040 — [Americana] [Ohio] 16 Manuscript Diaries of a New Salem, Ohio Family, 1878-1922, Plus Assorted
• Lot 0041 — [Americana] May, Samuel J. An Address Delivered Before the American Peace Society, in Park Street
• Lot 0042 — [Americana] [May, Samuel J.] The Literary Union: A Monthly Magazine
• Lot 0043 — [Americana] Smith, Joseph. The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates
• Lot 0044 — [Americana] [Mormonism] Bell, Alfreda Eva. Boadicea; The Mormon Wife. Life-Scenes in Utah
• Lot 0045 — [Americana] Thomas, Gabriel. An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and Country of
• Lot 0046 — [Americana] Wallihan, Allen, G. Collection of 92 Original Photographs, including Examples Published
• Lot 0047 — [Americana] Wikoff, William M. Manuscript Diaries of Cross-Country Automobile Trips, ca. 1914-25,
• Lot 0048 — [Americana] Woodville, Richard Caton. Mexican News
• Lot 0049 — [Americana] Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark!
• Lot 0050 — [Art] [Demand, Thomas] Thomas Demand
• Lot 0051 — [Art] Ford, Walton. Pancha Tantra
• Lot 0052 — [Art] Grosz, George. Ecce Homo
• Lot 0053 — [Art] Meatyard, Ralph Eugene, and Eugenia Parry. Dolls and Masks
• Lot 0054 — [Art] [Gontcharova, Natalia] Pouchkine, Alexandre. Conte de Tsar Saltan...
• Lot 0055 — [Art] Verve an Artistic and Literary Quarterly
• Lot 0056 — [Art] Walker, Kara. Freedom A Fable A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled
• Lot 0057 — [Baseball] Boston Braves 1914 National League Championship Pennant
• Lot 0058 — [Baseball] 1915 Boston Red Sox Pennant
• Lot 0059 — [British Isles] Camden, William. Britain, or a Chorographicall Description of the Most flourishing
• Lot 0060 — [British Isles] [Richard III] Buck, George. The History of the Life and Reigne of Richard The Third
• Lot 0061 — [Children's & Illustrated] Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle
• Lot 0062 — [Children's & Illustrated] Lobel, Arnold. Original Illustration of Frog and Toad
• Lot 0063 — [Children's & Illustrated] Lobel, Arnold. Original Illustration of Frog and Toad
• Lot 0064 — [Children's & Illustrated] (Wyeth, N.C.) Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. Signed by N.C. and
• Lot 0065 — [British Isles] Churchill, Winston S. Typed Letter, signed
• Lot 0066 — [British Isles] Churchill, Winston S. Typed Letter, signed
• Lot 0067 — [Civil War] Sheridan Cavalry Corps Member Badge
• Lot 0068 — [Civil War] Woolsey, Charles W. Identified Army of the Potomac Headquarters Badge
• Lot 0069 — [Constitution] (Hamilton, Alexander, and John Jay, and James Madison). The Federalist: A Collection
• Lot 0070 — [Constitution] (Hamilton, Alexander, and James Madison, and John Jay) The Federalist, on the New
• Lot 0071 — [Declaration of Independence] Binns, John. Declaration of Independence
• Lot 0072 — [Declaration of Independence] Clymer, George. Signed Check
• Lot 0073 — [Declaration of Independence] Durand, Asher. The Declaration of Independence of the United States of
• Lot 0074 — [Declaration of Independence] Morris, Robert. Partially-Printed Document, signed
• Lot 0075 — [Declaration of Independence] Sherman, Roger. Autograph Letter, signed.
• Lot 0076 — [Declaration of Independence] [Trumbull, John] Declaration of Independence of the United States of
• Lot 0077 — [Declaration of Independence] Williams, William. Clipped Signature
• Lot 0078 — [Declaration of Independence] Wilson, James. Manuscript Document, signed
• Lot 0079 — [Early Printing] Ariosto, Ludovico. ll (Orlando) Furioso...
• Lot 0080 — [Early Printing] Biblia Sacra, Ad optima quaeque veteris, & vulgate translationis exeplaria
• Lot 0081 — [Early Printing] Cartari, Vincenzo. Le imagini de I Dei de Gli Antichi...
• Lot 0082 — [Early Printing] H(oogstraeten)., F(rans). van. Het Voorhof der Ziele, Behangen met leerzaeme
• Lot 0083 — [Early Printing] Tasso, Torquato. La Gierusalemme liberata...
• Lot 0084 — [Early Printing] Vegetius Renatus, Flavius. Flavii Vegetii Renati Vier bücher der
• Lot 0085 — [Education] Brooks, Charles. To the Friends of Education in Plymouth County
• Lot 0086 — [Education] Brooks, Charles and Catherwood, Frederick. Printed Education Circular, with a Short
• Lot 0087 — [Education] [May, Rev. Samuel J.] Memorial of the Quarter-Centennial Celebration of the
• Lot 0088 — [Fashion] [Vuitton, Louis] (Alas, Mert, and Marcus Piggott. Visionaire 52: Private)
• Lot 0089 — [Franklin, Benjamin] Franklin, Benjamin. Manuscript Document, signed
• Lot 0090 — [Franklin, Benjamin] Franklin, Benjamin. Manuscript Document, signed
• Lot 0092 — [Franklin, Benjamin] Rockwell, Norman. Poor Richard's Almanack
• Lot 0093 — [Franklin, Benjamin] Rockwell, Norman. Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Signing of the Declaration
• Lot 0094 — [Funerary] Porcacchi, Tommaso. Funerali Antichi di diuers i Popoli, et Nationi...
• Lot 0095 — [Gold Rush] Hardy, Charles Ashley. Collection of Photographs Taken in Colorado, Alaska, and the
• Lot 0096 — [Ireland] Molloy, Francis (Froinsias Ó, Maolmhuaidh). Lucerna Fidelium, sev Fasciculus
• Lot 0097 — [Jazz] Armstrong, Louis. Swing That Music
• Lot 0098 — [Judaica] Liber Genesis (Hebrew title translated: Quinque libri legis Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
• Lot 0099 — [Judaica] Levita, Johann Isaak. Malachias Propheta, Hebraice et Latine Interpretatus...
• Lot 0100 — [Literature] [Lawrence, T.E.] Shaw, T.E. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0101 — [Literature] Benson, Sally. Meet Me in St. Louis
• Lot 0102 — [Literature] [Matisse, Henry] Joyce, James. Ulysses
• Lot 0103 — [Literature] Maugham, W. Somerset. Catalina A Romance
• Lot 0104 — [Literature] Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
• Lot 0105 — [Literature] Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita
• Lot 0106 — [Literature] Poe, Edgar Allan. The Mask of the Red Death
• Lot 0107 — [Literature] Spenser, Edmund, and Walter Crane. Spenser's Faerie Queene A Poem in Six Books with the
• Lot 0108 — [Literature] Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens) Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0109 — [Literature] Wells, H.G. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0110 — [Literature] Whitman, Walt. Autograph Letter, signed
• Lot 0111 — [Maps & Atlases] Morden, Robert. Group of 3 Maps of America
• Lot 0112 — [Maps & Atlases] [Buenos Aires] Willems, (Guillermo). Buenos Ayres
• Lot 0113 — [Maps & Atlases] [New York] Maerschalk, Francis. Early Manuscript Map of the Bloomingdale Road
• Lot 0114 — [Maps & Atlases] [Paris] Braun, Georg and Frans Hogenberg. Lutetia Vulgari Nomine Paris, Urbs
• Lot 0115 — [Motor Racing] [Indianapolis 500] Bretzman, Charles F. Panoramic photograph of the Main Grandstands
• Lot 0116 — [Native-Americana] Bodmer, Karl. Assiniboin Indianer...Assiniboin Indians
• Lot 0117 — [Native-Americana] Bodmer, Karl. Bisonheerde...Herd of Bisons on the upper Missouri
• Lot 0118 — [Native-Americana] Bodmer, Karl. Bisonheerden und Elkhirsche...
• Lot 0119 — [Native-Americana] Bodmer, Karl. Missouri Indianer...
• Lot 0120 — [Native-Americana] Bodmer, Karl. Wahk-Ta-Ge-Li...A Sioux Warrior
• Lot 0121 — [Native Americana] Catlin, George Osceola. of Florida [Copy] Drawn on Stone by Geo. Catlin from His
• Lot 0122 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. Coups Well-Known - Apsaroke
• Lot 0123 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. Fish Shows - Apsaroke
• Lot 0124 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. The Fisherman-Wishham
• Lot 0125 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. Hopi Snake Priest-Hopi
• Lot 0126 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. An Oasis in the Badlands-Sioux
• Lot 0127 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. A Painted Tipi-Assiniboin
• Lot 0128 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. A Son of the Desert-Navaho
• Lot 0129 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. Story Telling - Apache
• Lot 0130 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. Taos Water Girls
• Lot 0131 — [Native-Americana] Curtis, Edward. Three Chiefs-Piegan
• Lot 0132 — [Native-Americana] Harman, Fred. Original Illustration
• Lot 0133 — [Native Americana] [Lewis, James Otto] Schweighofer, Julius. Near-Contemporary Sketchbook of Images
• Lot 0134 — [Native-Americana] Reed, Roland N. Ringing Bells
• Lot 0135 — [Native-Americana] Rinehart, Frank A. Group of 2 Silver Print Photographs
• Lot 0136 — [Natural History] Audubon, John James. Brown Pelican
• Lot 0137 — [Natural History] Audubon, John James. King Duck
• Lot 0138 — [Natural History] Audubon, John James. Night Hawk
• Lot 0139 — [Natural History] Audubon, John James. Summer or Wood Duck
• Lot 0140 — [Natural History] Audubon, John James. Group of 2 Prints
• Lot 0141 — [Natural History] Furber, (Robert), and Richard Bradley. The Flower-Garden Display'd, In above Four
• Lot 0142 — [Natural History] Sander, Frederick. Reichenbachia. Orchids Illustrated and Described
• Lot 0143 — [Natural History] Warner, Robert, and Bejamin Samuel Williams, and Thomas Moore. The Orchid Album,
• Lot 0144 — [Natural History] Wilson, Alexander, and Charles Lucian Bonaparte, and Sir William Jardine. American
• Lot 0145 — [Philadelphia] Beck, G(eorge). Philadelphia, from the Great Tree at Kensington, under which Penn
• Lot 0146 — [Philadelphia] Birch, Thomas. The Upper Ferry Bridge Over the River Schuylkill near Morris street in
• Lot 0147 — [Philadelphia] Bird's-Eye View of Philadelphia
• Lot 0148 — [Philadelphia] The Conflagration of the Masonic Hall Chestnut Street Philadelphia. which occurred on
• Lot 0149 — [Philadelphia] Fair Mount Water Works. Dedicated to the Select and Common Councils of the City of
• Lot 0150 — [Philadelphia] Hill, John William, and Benjamin Francis Smith. Philadelphia, From Camden 1850
• Lot 0151 — [Philadelphia] Hill, John William, and Benjamin Francis Smith. Philadelphia, From Girard
• … and 57 more lots

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