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Sale 40
Lot 266
1st Printing of Israel's Declaration of Independence - Signed By 10 Original Signers. Israel's Provisional Government Official Bulletin No. 1 (14 May 1948) with the complete Declaration of Independence Signed in Hebrew on page two by ten of the original signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, 3 pages, 13½" x 8¼", n.p., n.d. In superb condition. Hard bound in an elegant folder. Very rare and a most historic document. So far as we know, this is the only signed copy in private hands and the first time a first printing has been offered outside of Israel.
The ten signers of this original issue of the Israeli Declaration of Independence are:
David Ben Gurion - Prime Minister, Minister of Defense
Golda Meierson (Meir) - Labor Minister
Moshe Shertok (Sharet) - Prime Minister and first Foreign Minister
Moshe Kolodny (Kol) - Minister of Tourism
Felix Rosenblit (Rosen) - Minister of Justice
Izrak Greenbaum - Minister of Internal Affairs
Harav Fishman - Minister of Religion
Nachum Nir Refalkes - Speaker of the Knesset
Moshe Shapiro - Minister of Welfare
Rabbi I.N. Levin - Orthodox Religious Affairs Minister
At 4:00 pm on Friday, May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. His reading of Israel's Declaration of Independence was broadcast to Jews all over the country. Ben Gurion became the first Prime Minister of the new state, which was quickly recognized by the United States and the USSR.
Here is the text of the Declaration of Independence::
THE LAND OF ISRAEL was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world.
Exiled from Palestine, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and the restoration of their national freedom.
Impelled by this historic association, Jews strove throughout the centuries to go back to the land of their fathers and regain their statehood. In recent decades they returned in masses. They reclaimed the wilderness, revived their language, built cities and villages and established a vigorous and ever-growing community with its own economic and cultural life. They sought peace yet were ever prepared to defend themselves. They brought the blessing of progress to all inhabitants of the country.
This right was acknowledged by the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, and re-affirmed by the Mandate of the League of Nations, which gave explicit international recognition to the historic connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and their right to reconstitute their National Home.
The Nazi Holocaust, which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe, proved anew the urgency of the re-establishment of the Jewish state, which would solve the problem of Jewish homelessness by opening the gates to all Jews and lifting the Jewish people to equality in the family of nations.
The survivors of the European catastrophe, as well as Jews from other lands, proclaiming their right to a life of dignity, freedom and labor, and undeterred by hazards, hardships and obstacles, have tried unceasingly to enter Palestine.
In the Second World War the Jewish people in Palestine made a full contribution in the struggle of the freedom-loving nations against the Nazi evil. The sacrifices of their soldiers and the efforts of their workers gained them title to rank with the peoples who founded the United Nations.
On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Resolution for the establishment of an independent Jewish state in Palestine, and called upon the inhabitants of the country to take such steps as may be necessary on their part to put the plan into effect.
This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their independent State may not be revoked. It is, moreover, the self-evident right of the Jewish people to be a nation, as all other nations, in its own sovereign State.
ACCORDINGLY, WE, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly today, the day of the termination of the British mandate for Palestine, by virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish people and of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations,
HEREBY PROCLAIM the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called ISRAEL.
WE HEREBY DECLARE that as from the termination of the Mandate at midnight, this night of the 14th and 15th May, 1948, and until the setting up of the duly elected bodies of the State in accordance with a Constitution, to be drawn up by a Constituent Assembly not later than the first day of October, 1948, the present National Council shall act as the provisional administration, shall constitute the Provisional Government of the State of Israel.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew Prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be ready to cooperate with the organs and representatives of the United Nations in the implementation of the peace and play their part in the development of the State, with full and equal citizenship and due representation in its bodies and institutions provisional or permanent.
We offer peace and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all.
Our call goes out to Jewish people all over the world to rally to our side in the task of immigration and development and to stand by us in the great struggle for the fulfillment of the dream of generations the redemption of Israel.
With trust in Almighty God, we set our hand to this Declaration, at this session of the Provisional State Council, in the city of Tel Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the fifth of Iyar, 5708, the fourteenth of May, 1948.
Estimated Value $15,000 - 25,000.
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Lot 82
Adams, John (1735-1826) 2nd President of the United States (1797-1801). Letter Signed, 2 pp (recto/verso), 10" x 8", Quincy, 30 April 1819. To an unidentified correspondent, with some of the finest John Adams content extant.
"Dear Sir, Of republicks the varieties are infinite, or at least as as numerous as the tunes and changes that can be rung upon a complete sett of Bells. Of all the variety's, a Democracy is the most natural - the most ancient - and the most fundamental and essential of all others….In some writing or other of mine I happened currente caloma to drop the phrase 'the word Republic as it is used may signify - any-thing - every-thing - or nothing.' For this escape I have been pelted for twenty or thirty years - with as many stones as even were throw'n at St Steven - when St Paul held the clothes of the stoners - but the aphorism is literal, strict, solemn truth - to speak technically, or scientifically, if you will.
There are Monarchical Aristocratical and Democratical Republicks - the government of Great Britain - and that of Poland - are as strictly republicks - as that of Rhode-Island or Connecticut under their old charters. If mankind have a right to the voice of experience - they ought to furnish that experience with Pen, ink and paper to write it - and an amanuensis to copy it.
I should have been extremely obliged to you if you had favoured me with Mr. Jeffersons sentiments upon the subject - as I see you have an inquiring mind. I sincerely wish you much pleasure Profit, and success in your investigations. I have had some pleasure in them - but no Profit - and very little, if any success.
In one of your Letters you say that my defence has become none - this is strange - Mr. Dilly Published an Edition of it [Adams' 1787 pamphlet A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America], was published in Boston -- another in New-York - another in Philadelphia --before the Adoption of the present Constitution of the National Government - and before one line of the Federalist was printed - since that Mr. Cobbet, alias Porcupine printed a large Edition of the whole work in Philadelphia - and Mr. Stockdale of Picca-dilly has published another large Edition in London - it has been Translated into the French and German Languages - and what has become of all these Copies. I am Sir, with much Esteem your humble servant, John Adams." Adams' signature shows his age; in six months, he would be 84 years old.
Estimated Value $40,000 - 60,000.
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Lot 47
Foster, Stephen Collins (1826-64) America’s first professional songwriter. Many of his songs remain popular today, over 150 years later. They include ."Oh! Susnna," "Camptown Races,", "My Old Kentucky Home," "Old Black Joe," "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Old Folks at Home."
Autograph Manuscript Signed "S.C. Foster," being a presentation copy of a musical composition titled "Autumn Waltz," with a decorative cartouche and banner drawn by Foster, and the inscription "Composed for the Piano Forte by S.C. Foster & dedicated to Miss Thalia Bentel," one page, 11 5/8" x 9 5/8", in ink on heavy wove paper, n.p., n.d. (c. 1846-50). The sheet is lightly toned and is stitched along the left-hand edge into a volume of contemporary sheet music bound for Miss Thalia Bentel, who lived at Freedom (Beaver County) near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1840s.
"Autumn Waltz" is a 56-bar composition for piano in the key of E-flat Major, notated in Foster's hand on five two-stave systems. Foster manuscripts are extremely rare, most of them being held by the Stephen Foster Memorial at the University of Pittsburgh. This is the only extant source of this unpublished, early instrumental work by Foster. It was probably written when Foster was between 20 and 24 years of age.
The covers of the volume are in rough shape; the front cover, which is separated, has a name plate, "Thalia Bentel"; there is another separation two pages before "Autumn Walz," not affecting Foster's manuscript. The remainder of the contents is sheet music published between 1846 and 1850; it includes music by Foster and Henry Kleber (Foster's mentor), as well as by Beethovern and other composers.
In 1846, Foster moved from Pittsburgh, where he was born, to Cincinnati, Ohio and became a bookkeeper with his brother's steamship company, While there, he wrote his first hit songs, among them "Oh! Susanna," which would become the anthem of the California Gold Rush. In 1848, he returned to Pittsburgh, when he began to make an income from sales of his music. He married in 1850.
Since songwriting was a new profession, adequate provisions for music copyright and composer royalties were not available and Foster had no recourse when music publishers printed their own editions of his work and paid him nothing. He died in a poverty ward in New York City. In 1970 Stephen Foster was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.
Estimated Value $25,000 - 35,000.
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Lot 115
Lincoln, Abraham (1809-65) 16th President of the United States (1861-65). Autograph Letter Signed "A. Lincoln" as President, one page, 8" x 5", Executive Mansion, 4 Jan. 1862. To Brigadier General and Quartermaster of the U.S. Army Montgomery C. Meigs: "Gen. Meigs / My dear Sir / Gen. Cooper, who will present this, is anxious to have Alfred A. McGaffey appointed Q.M. for his Brigade; & I am willing to oblige him, only that I have an impression that ["that" is crossed out] you have some objection. If you have not, so write below this, and he may be appointed."
Meigs writes below: "The Q M Genl cannot recommend this appointment. MC Meigs / QMG." On 6 January, Gen. Cooper wrote Lincoln that Meigs' objection stemmed from "the belief that McGaffey is a gambler…." There is no record of McGaffey's appointment and he has not been otherwise identified. Gen. Meigs served as Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army during and after the American Civil War, establishing a reputation for being efficient, hard-working, and scrupulously honest. He was responsible for the largest amount of money ever disbursed by a single individual in military history up to that point: some fifteen hundred million dollars. The General Orders (January 4, 1892) issued at the time of his death declared that "the Army has rarely possessed an officer … who was entrusted by the government with a greater variety of weighty responsibilities, or who proved himself more worthy of confidence."
Gen. James Cooper, once a student in the Gettysburg law office of Thaddeus Stevens and a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, had been a member of the committee which drafted the Compromise of 1850. Because of his Whig antecedents and Maryland birth, Lincoln appointed him a brigadier in May 1861 to recruit "loyal Marylanders." He briefly served under Franz Sigel in the Army of the Shenandoah during Stonewall jackson's Valley Campaign, then commanded parole and prison camps in Ohio before his death in March 1863.
Dark bold writing by both Lincoln and Meigs; a few light vertical folds; some mounting traces on blank verso; two minuscule tears and a thread-thin line of toning along the left margin, otherwise fine. Published in CWAL, Vol. V, pp 90-91.
Estimated Value $20,000 - 30,000.
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Lot 134
Roosevelt, Franklin D. & Winston S. Churchill. Photograph Signed "Franklin D. Roosevelt" and "Winston S. Churchill," 8" x 10", n.p., n.d. The photo is stamped on verso: "International News Photo, A King Features Synd., Inc.," and has a newspaper slug affixed to the back, for release on February 1st. The photo has slight waviness around the edges and faint creasing in upper right corner; otherwise, the photo is nice and clear and the signatures bold. The only other Churchill/FDR signed photo that we know of sold for $17,600 at Sotheby's in October 1989.
This historic photograph shows FDR and Churchill at Casablanca, in French Morocco, meeting with French Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud. The purpose of the conference, which took place January 14 to 24, 1943, was to plan the European strategy of the Allies during World War II. Stalin was invited to attend but declined. De Gaulle initially declined his invitation, but changed his mind when Churchill threatened to recognize General Giraud as head of the Free French. The "Casablanca Declaration," which resulted from the conference, stated that the Allies demanded the unconditional surrender of the Axis, that the Allies agreed to aid the Soviet Union, the Allies agreed on the invasion of Sicily and Italy; and that Generals De Gaulle and Giraud would have joint leadership of the Free French. On 12 February, President Roosevelt made a radio address to the American people and shared the results of the conference.
(See "Non U.S. Statesmen" for another Churchill/FDR signed item and for a signed copy of Churchill's biography of his father).
Estimated Value $10,000 - 15,000.
Ex Franklin D. Roosevelt Museum in Worchester, Massachusetts.
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Lot 110
Johnson, Andrew (1808-75) 17th President of the United States (1865-69). Partly-printed Document Signed as President, one page, 10" x 8", Washington, 25 Jan. 1868. Fine. The document reads: "I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to a power authorizing William H. Seward to conclude an additional article to the Treaty between the United States and Russia of the 6/18 December 1832 dated this day, and signed by me and for so doing this shall be his warrant."
The Monroe Doctrine, issued in 1823 by President James Monroe, had been prompted by concern that Russia might try to expand its claims in Alaska to include the Oregon territory and that Spain might try to reclaim her former colonies in Latin America. From that time, Russia ceased from attempts to increase her influence on the Pacific coast.and regarded Alaska as a possession difficult to defend and of little value. A Treaty on Trade and Navigation was signed between the North American States and Russia on December 6, 1832 and most favored nations status was established in bilateral trade between the two countries.
On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million (less than 2 cents an acre). The Treaty was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William H. Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl. Although the purchase was called "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox," the Senate ratified the Treaty with Russia on April 9, 1867 by a vote of 37 to 2; however, the appropriation of money needed for the purchase was delayed for over a year because of opposition in the House of Representatives. The appropriation was finally approved by the House on July 14, 1868, by a vote of 113 to 48. When gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896, opposition to the purchase subsided.
Next to the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of Alaska ranks as the most historic land acquisition ever made by the United States.
Estimated Value $10,000 - 15,000.
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Lot 136
Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) 26th President of the United States (1901-09). Typed Letter Signed as associate editor of "Outlook" magazine, on "The Outlook" stationery, 6 pp, 9½" x 7¾", New York, 18 Sept. 1913. Fine; light toning. Roosevelt made numerous holograph corrections in this letter to Charles Sumner Bird, a candidate for Massachusetts Governor (he lost), as Roosevelt prepared to leave for South America.
The content of this letter is superb. In part: "…Over a year has passed since we founded the Progressive Party….Massachusetts has always taken the lead foro the right in every great crisis of our history….I make my appeal for your election not only to all the men who supported the Progressive ticket last year, but to all…who…felt there was hope of salvation within the two old parties to which they had so long paid allegiance….I appeal to…every Republican who is loyal to the principles of Abraham Lincoln, who is loyal to the great memories of Sumner and Andrew. Last year the bosses of the Republican Party stole from the rank and file of the Republican Party their right to nominate their own ticket and to enunciate their own platform. They turned the Republican Party with its back squarely to the principles of Abraham Lincoln and delivered it bound and shackled into the hands of those who are the enemies of every principle that Lincoln professed and practiced. These men have the Republican Party absolutely in their grip today. One of the prime agents in the theft lasy [sic] year was Mr. Lorimer of Illinois, and it was the Lorimer men who succeeded in breaking the deadlock in the Illinois Legislature by securing an alliance between the Republicans and Democrats against the Progressives….you cannot be true to the principles of the Republicans of the days of Lincoln…unless you turn and smite down the bosses of the party, and break up the evil alliance between commercialism and politics for which those bosses stand; and you can do this only by supporting the Progressive Party. As for the good and honest men and women who make up the rank and file of the Democratic Party, I ask them in their turn to consider what has been done by the Democratic machines in all the States of the Union….In New York State, Tammany has decreed the impeachment of the Governor [William Sulzer]…because that Governor has stood by the cause of the people…he has endeavored to put into jail certain of the prominent Tammany politicians for…malfeasance in office…. Finally, to all independent citizens, and to all party men who put country above party….The bosses have long counted upon the fact that revolt against boss domination in one party could only find expression in seating in power the boss-controlled opposition party. In the last analysis, the bosses on the two old parties work together….You can crush the boss system….You can express your abhorrence of the politicians who win power and position through promises which with cynical indifference they repudiate as soon as elected. You can work for far-reaching measures of social and industrial reform, for genuine popular rule, and for the exercise of this rule in a spirit of justice to all our people, business men, farmers and wageworkers alike…only by supporting the Progressive Party….
This letter sold for over $15,000 at a Superior auction about a dozen years ago.
Estimated Value $10,000 - 15,000.
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Lot 78
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939) Austrian neurologist; founder of psychoanalysis. He was forced to leave Vienna by the Nazi regime (1938) and lived in London until his death. Autograph Letter Signed "Freud" on stationery engraved "Prof. Dr. Freud, Wien, IX., Berggasse 19," one page (recto/verso), in German, Vienna, 5 Oct. 1917. Very fine. With translation. To "Dear Colleague," describing the symptoms of a patient and recommending psychoanalysis for him. In part:
"Dr. Benesch, age 36, from Eger, is suffering from a very interesting periodical affliction which is not melancholia, but certainly neurasthenia and manifests itself by pressure in the head, listlessness at work and cessation of the libido, showing the most distinct connection with his sexual life. In such a way that today normal intercourse does not agree with him any more. His previous attacks were provoked by frequent masturbation. The patient is on a three months leave…I think he should use this period to undergo PS (psychoanalyticial treatment) with you…."
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,000.
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Lot 108
Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826) 3rd President of the United States (1801-09); author of the Declaration of Independence. Beautiful, clean Ship's Passport (or Mediterranean Passport) Signed "Th: Jefferson" as President and countersigned by James Madison as Secretary of State, one page, 15¼" x 10¼", vellum, n.p., n.d. Very fine; scalloped top with two nautical engravings by E. Savage at top; white wafer seal is intact at lower left. Attractively matted and framed to 21" x 16" and ready for display. Jefferson's signature is bold; Madison's is nice and solid, with one vertical fold between the "a" and "d" in "Madison."
In the early years of its independence, the United States paid tribute to the Barbary states in exchange for being able to sail and conduct business in the Mediterranean area without interference. The Mediterranean Passport was a document issued only to vessels that were completely owned by citizens of the United States and was recognized by Algeria and other Barbary states after treaties were concluded with these states. The master of an American vessel paid a fee of ten dollars to the custom's collector for his ship's Passport (the penalty for sailing without one was $200). The various customs districts received these documents pre-signed by the President and Secretary of State. The collector would insert into the appropriate blanks the vessel's name and tonnage, the master's name, number of crew members, and the number of guns mounted on the vessel, then sign the document. Unused Passports were supposed to be returned to the Treasury Department, after being canceled by cutting holes through the seals, but someone obviously saw the value of holding on to this lovely, historic document. (See Douglas L. Stein"s American Maritime Documents 1776-1860 for more information).
Estimated Value $5,000 - 6,000.
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Lot 130
Reagan, Ronald & Mikhail Gorbachev. Official White House Photograph Signed "Ronald Reagan" as President and "M. Gorbachev," in Cyrillic script, as Secretary-General of the Soviet Communist Party and last leader of the Soviet Union, 14" x 11" (the actual image is 9½" x 7½"), n.p. (Washington and the Soviet Union), n.d. (c.1988). The photograph was taken in the White House Library on December 8, 1887, the same day the two leaders signed a treaty that for the first time eliminated the entire class of intermediate-range missiles. Official White House stamp and date are on verso.
President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev held several "summits" during President Reagan's administration--from Reykjavik to Geneva, to Moscow, The White House and New York. A designated White House travel staff accompanied President Reagan on most of these summit meetings. After this particular photograph was taken, approximately 35 photos were signed by President Reagan and then sent to General Secretary Gorbachev for his signature. They were to be given to President Reagan's traveling staff as a token of appreciation for their participation in the summits. When General Secretary Gorbachev received them and saw the notation of what they would be used for, he thought it was a great idea and signed them all, then decided to keep half for his own staff who had particiated in these same meetings. Consequently, the White House sent another 35 signed photos to Gorbachev and, again, he signed them all and kept half. There are likely fewer than 100 of these signed photos in existence. A historic photograph!
Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,500.
From a former member of President Reagan's personal staff.
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