University Archives to Offer Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books and Photographs in Oct. 21 Online Auction

Top lots include a John Hancock signed document from 1776, a Martin Luther King, Jr. typed letter signed, a Charles Dickens signed cabinet card, and a George Washington ship’s passport

Wilton, CT — October 2026 — University Archives will hold its online-only Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Photographs auction on Wednesday, October 21, beginning at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. The sale spans 448 lots across a wide range of collecting categories, including autographs, documents, archives, books, photographs, artwork, and relics.

The catalog includes a second installment of more than sixty lots from The Douglas Wertman Collection, personally collected and curated by the longtime Secretary of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, with a majority of the items relating to American political history.

American Founding Fathers

Lot 1 in the sale 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). This sermon, originally published in 1750, affirmed the concept of political resistance against tyranny and helped lay the intellectual groundwork for the American Revolution. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000.

A John Hancock signed document, dated New Year’s Day, 1776, promotes New Hampshire minuteman William Scott to the rank of Captain in the 16th Regiment of Foot. Scott had been wounded during the Battle of Bunker Hill, refusing to leave his command despite serious injury, and later escaped a Canadian prison and evaded British capture at Fort Washington. Estimate: $12,000-$15,000.

A George Washington signed three-language partial ship’s passport, dated February 4, 1796, and counter-signed by Secretary of State Edmund Randolph, contains safe-conduct papers in English, French, and Dutch safeguarding Henry Tredick’s brig Drake on its passage from Portsmouth, NH to the British West Indies. Estimate: $18,000-$25,000.

An Abraham Lincoln one-page autograph letter signed, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded PSA Mint 9, is addressed to Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew G. Curtain and dated July 25, 1864. In it, Lincoln asks Curtain to forward a thank-you note to a well-wisher who had presented him with a cane made from wood salvaged from the wreck of the Confederate ironclad the U.S.S. Virginia, which fought in the naval Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000.

A Thomas Jefferson signed document, dated November 8, 1791, approves a Congressional act granting South Carolina an extension to complete the U.S. Census of 1790, the census that enabled the activation of the 1787 Three-Fifths Compromise. A PSA/DNA letter of authenticity is included. Estimate: $12,000-$15,000.

Civil Rights and American History

A Martin Luther King, Jr. typed letter signed, dated January 16, 1964, thanks a California professor for congratulating him on being named TIME magazine’s “Man of the Year” for 1963, the first Black man to receive the honor. King interpreted the award as a meaningful step forward for the Civil Rights Movement. Estimate: $5,000-$6,000.

The capstone item of a Harry Truman archive is a Truman-signed Citation for a Medal of Merit referencing the “Manhattan District Project in development of the atomic bomb.” The award was posthumously bestowed upon Charles M. May, Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the War Manpower Commission from 1943 to 1945. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000.

A remarkable artifact from September 10, 2001 is an entrance ticket to the World Trade Center’s “Top of the World” Observatories, located on the 107th Floor of the South Tower, date- and time-stamped at 12:16 PM. Less than 24 hours later, both towers had collapsed. Estimate: $8,000-$10,000.

Literary Figures

A Charles Dickens signed cabinet card portrait photograph was autographed on April 20, 1868, the very last day of his 1867-1868 American Reading Tour. On that date, at New York City’s Steinway Hall, Dickens read selections from A Christmas Carol and Pickwick Papers, promising his American audience he would cherish their memory. Estimate: $15,000-$18,000.

An Edgar Allan Poe carte de visite, published by Edward Anthony in New York and known as the “Ultima Thule” portrait, is based on a photograph taken by Edwin H. Manchester in Providence, Rhode Island, just four days after Poe’s attempted suicide in November 1848. The sale also includes a rare Nathaniel Hawthorne signed carte de visite.

Sports and Entertainment

A Babe Ruth signed newspaper clipping, headlined “Babe Takes a New Grip After Signing,” is PSA/DNA slabbed and certified authentic. The caption alludes to the Sultan of Swat’s ambidexterity: though a southpaw, Ruth wrote with his right hand. A Lou Gehrig signed card, PSA/DNA slabbed and graded MINT 9, is also on offer from the same collection.

A circa-1956 Marilyn Monroe autograph manuscript, more than 130 words in length, describes her impressions as an observer permitted to audit Lee Strasberg’s acting classes at the Actors Studio. The manuscript shows contemporaneous edits and is accompanied by a typed transcription by her publicist Pat Newcomb. Estimate: $8,000-$10,000.

For catalogue and bidding information, visit University Archives.