Icons of America

Icons of America

Chapters

S otheby's Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana auction, taking place on 27 January at 2:00 PM EDT in New York, features a selection of works and objects from some of the most iconic figures in the country's history. These men and women blazed new paths for generations of future Americans, and their work helped to shape our understanding of the American identity. Below, we delve further into these icons and the object they've left behind.

Revolutionaries

John Hancock, manuscript letter signed, announcing the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 6 July 1776.

A Signed Letter from John Hancock Announcing the Adoption of the Declaration of Independence


"G entlemen," begins this letter from John Hancock, President of the Second Constitutional Congress, "Altho it is not possible to foresee the Consequence of Human Actions, yet it is nevertheless a Duty we owe ourselves and Posterity in all our public Counsels, to decide in the best Manner we are able, and to trust the result to that Being, who controuls both Causes and Events, so as to bring about his own Determinations..."

This consequential letter, complete with Hancock's famous signature, goes on to announce the adoption of the Declaration of Independence:

“the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve all Connection between Great Britain, and the American Colonies; and to declare them free and independent States. …”
John Hancock (excerpt taken from the present Lot)

On the evening of 4 July 1776, a manuscript copy of the Declaration, evidently bearing the authorizing signature of John Hancock, was taken to the shop of John Dunlap, official printer to Congress; Dunlap set the Declaration in type and proceeded to print 500 to 1,000 copies. In the morning, finished copies were sent to members of Congress.

Among the very first copies of the Declaration to be distributed were those ordered by Congress to be “sent to the several Assemblies, Conventions & Committees or Councils of Safety and to the several Commanding Officers of the Continental troops.” One of those printings of Dunlap’s broadside would have been accompanied by the present extraordinary letter, signed by John Hancock as President of Congress, 6 July 1776, and dispatched to one of the original thirteen states.

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Literary Giants

Whitman, Walt. Envelope signed ("Walt Whitman"), and inscribed "Autumn Leaves ... for Miss Chevalier". Estimate $1,000 – 1,500.

A Charming Autumnal Gift from Walt Whitman

I n October of 1878, storied American poet Walt Whitman secured 12 pressed leaves in a 6 x 8 ½ in brown envelope. "Autumn Leaves...for Miss Chevalier," Whiteman scrawled on the envelope, along with his signature. Though the identity of the recipient is not known, near contemporary sources make reference to "the Chevaliers" as some elderly women who lived across the street from Whitman in Camden.

It's a wonder that this simple gift from Whitman has survived through the ages with only minor handling wear, as expected.

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Heroines

Oakley, Annie. A Brief Sketch of Her Career and Notes on Shooting. [N.p.]: ca. 1913, Signed. Estimate $2,000 – 3,000.

A Signed Copy of Annie Oakley's Pamphlet: A Brief Sketch of Her Career and Notes on Shooting


A famed figure of the American West, Annie Oakley's sharpshotting skills were renowned – so much so that she became a national star and longtime feature of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. This pamphlet is a loosely-obscured advertisement for Union Metallic Cartridge Company, where Oakley's husband and manager, fellow marksman Frank Butler, was employed. The pamphlet is written in the first person (either by Oakley or a ghostwriter) and recounts Oakley's biography before offering some gun safety skills and tips. The heroine's signature, "Annie Oakley", appears on the front cover.

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Civil Rights Leaders

Du Bois,W. E. Burghardt. Typed letter signed to Miss Helen Buckmiller, 17 November 1920. Estimate $10,000 – 15,000.

A Typed & Signed Letter from W.E.B. Du Bois Underscoring the Life and Death Stakes of the Civil Rights Movement

"The basic difficulty is that this is a nation of murderers, that human life is cheap and that it is difficult to arouse the conscience of the nation on the subject."
W.E.B. Du Bois writing to Miss Helen Buckmiller, 17 November 1920


W riting to a Miss Helen Buckmiller of Dayton, Ohio, as the editor of The Crisis, the official magazine of the NAACP, W.E.B. Du Bois devotes much of this letter to the organization's efforts to draw attention to the "enormity of the lynching problem." The NAACP had been founded in 1909 by a diverse group of advocates that included Du Bois. In addition advocating for federal anti-lynching legislation, the organization concentrated its efforts on fighting Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. This activism came at a time of great urgency, with some 4,000 African Americans murdered between 1877 and 1950 in the south alone.

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Athletes

Baseball signed by Babe Ruth and others involved in the film The Pride of the Yankees. Estimate $35,000 – 50,000.

Baseball signed by Babe Ruth and others involved in the film The Pride of the Yankees


T his Spalding National League baseball is signed by a number of baseball players, actors, and others involved in the making of the 1942 film The Pride of the Yankees – including the great Babe Ruth.

The ball was a gift to Frank Cory, a Hollywood studio guard in the 1920s to 1940s who became friendly with Gary Cooper; Cooper starred as Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees, and arranged for others involved in the film to join him in signing this ball for Cory. Gehrig's widow inscribed the ball "with appreciation Eleanor Gehrig." It is also signed by Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey, two of Gehrig's teammates who played themselves in the movie; Babe Herman, a left-handed major-leaguer who doubled in some scenes for the right-handed Cooper; co-star Walter Brennan; director Sam Wood; and producer Sam Goldwyn.

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Books & Manuscripts

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