Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States

An extensive collection of autographs of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington through Bill Clinton, each accompanied by an engraved portrait. The collection also features the autographs (mostly in the form of clipped signatures or signed photographs) of all Vice Presidents from John Adams through Al Gore (Presidents who also served as Vice Presidents are represented by at least two examples of their signature). In addition to the signatures inventoried, several presidents are represented by additional clipped signatures or signed cards. 

Together, approximately 100 items, various sizes; some backed with card, most with mounting remnants on verso.

Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs (sale, Sotheby’s New York, 29 October 1996, lot 164)

The presidential signatures comprise: George Washington. Signature (“Go: Washington”) clipped from a letter signed, with a final line of closing. — John Adams. Clipped franking signature (“Free John Adams”); clipped signature (“J Adams”). — Thomas Jefferson. 2 signatures (“Th: Jefferson”), each clipped from a printed document. — James Madison. Signature clipped from an autograph letter, with final line of closing. — James Monroe. Signature (“Jas Monroe”) clipped from a printed document. — John Quincy Adams. Printed document signed (“J.Q. Adams”) on vellum, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 23 May 1825, being a land grant to Robert Elder of Gallia County, Ohio, countersigned by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. — Andrew Jackson. Clipped signature, on vellum. — Martin Van Buren. Printed document signed (“M. Van Buren”), accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 3 January 1838, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “the envelope of a letter of Condolence to His Majesty William I. King of the Netherlands”; clipped signature (“M. Van Buren”). — William Henry Harrison. Clipped signature (“Willm Henry Harrison”). — John Tyler. Printed document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 2 April 1842, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “the remission of a penalty incurred by John Collins master of the American Packet Ship Roscins”; clipped signature (“John Tyler, Feb. 3 1844”). — James K. Polk. Engraved broadside document signed, on vellum with martial vignettes at head and foot, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 3 March 1849, being Captain Andrew Porter’s brevet commission as Major, countersigned by Secretary of War Marcy. — Zachary Taylor. Signature (“Z Taylor”) clipped from an autograph letter, with final line of closing. — Millard Fillmore. Printed document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 10 February 1853, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “the remission of the penalties granted to the Master of the Brig Pedraz & the owner or owners”; signature clipped from an autograph letter, with final two lines of closing.  — Franklin Pierce. Printed document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 18 March 1854, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “the remission of the judgment entered against David M. Gazley on his bail bond.” — James Buchanan. Printed document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 21 October 1858, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to the pardon “granted to Charles H. Barrel.”

Abraham Lincoln. Autograph endorsement signed (“A. Lincoln”), [Washington], 24 March 1864, on an orange envelope with the signature of “S. G. Daily, M.C. [from Nebraska]”: “Submitted to the Sec. of War.” — Andrew Johnson. Printed document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 17 August 1868, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “the full power authorizing Mr. Bancroft, to exchange ratifications of treaty, of the 26th of May, last, with Bavaria”; signature on a leaf from an autograph album. — Ulysses S. Grant. Printed document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 20 January 1877, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “a Warrant for the pardon of John McDonald.” — Rutherford B. Hayes. Printed document signed (“RB Hayes”), accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 2 June 1877, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “A Warrant for the Pardon of James R. Russell.” — James A. Garfield. Clipped signature (“J.A. Garfield”). — Chester A. Arthur. Signature on White House card; signature (C. A. Arthur, New York, Dec. 6, 1880”) on card. — Grover Cleveland. Signature on White House card. — Benjamin Harrison. Printed document signed (“Benj Harrison”), accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 11 May 1889, being an order to affix the seal of the United States to “an envelope containing my letter of condolence on the death of the Duchess of Cambridge, addressed to Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain & Ireland, &c &c &c.” — William McKinley. Engraved broadside document signed, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 14 December 1898, being Sargent L. Morton’s appointment as Receiver of Public Moneys at San Francisco, countersigned by Secretary of the Interior Bliss. — Theodore Roosevelt. Typed letter signed, Oyster Bay, 4 June 1916, being a letter of recommendation for Philip O. Mills, with two autograph corrections; Signature clipped from a vellum document.

William Howard Taft. Engraved broadside document signed (“Wm H. Taft”), on vellum with martial vignettes at head and foot, accomplished in a clerical hand, Washington, 12 May 1910, being Charles C. Byrne’s appointment as Brigadier-General on the retired list of the Army, countersigned by Secretary of War Dickinson; typed letter signed (“Wm H. Taft”), New Haven, 26 December, to Congressman Richard Bartholdt, regarding an alien rights bill and commenting on his successor in the White House: “The truth is that Wilson, after falsely accusing Roosevelt and me of yielding to an ‘invisible’ government from Wall Street, is himself conducting the United States under the hardly invisible government of Gompers and the American Federation of Labor. … If there has been a bigger opportunist in the White House than he is, I do not know him.” — Woodrow Wilson. Signature on a photo-reproduction portrait. —Warren G. Harding. Clipped. signature. — Calvin Coolidge. Typed letter signed, Washington, 15 May 1926, to the International Golden Rule Committee, endorsing the observation of Golden Rule Sunday; 2 signatures on White House cards. — Herbert Hoover. 2 typed letters signed, Washington, 16 January 1930, to Charles Jacobs; New York, 21 September 1942, to E. E. Hurja, directing him to Scribner’s for cheap copies of Hoover’s overstocked books. — Franklin D. Roosevelt. Typed letter signed, Albany, 12 March 1930, to Joel DuBose, describing his “enthusiastic” collecting of stamps, signatures, and historical documents; clipped signature. — Harry S. Truman. Signature on White House card; signature on card. — Dwight D. Eisenhower. Signature on White House card; 2 typed letters signed (“DE”; “Ike”) to David Marx, Palm Desert, 11 January 1962; Gettysburg, 19 October 1966: “Seventy-six is a formidable number and I would like it to be my golf score rather than my age.” — John F. Kennedy. Signature on Senate card. — and various cards and photographs signed by Lyndon B. Johnson; Richard M. Nixon; Gerald R. Ford; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George W. Bush; and Bill Clinton.