Frederick Douglass Letters and Bob Dylan Handwritten Lyrics to Auction

A Frederick Douglass signed letter from March 13, 1893, addressed to Frederick Perry Noble, Secretary of the African Congress is among the highlights of University Archives' May 6 Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books auction.

Noble was laying the groundwork for the African Congress which convened as part of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The symposium exploring African history, language, geography, and sociology attracted 100 black and white speakers and essay entrants from 20 countries, including Douglass. The letter has an estimate of $35,000-$50,000.

Also going under the hammer is a first edition copy of Joseph Smith, Jr.’s The Book of Mormon (Palmyra: Printed by E.B. Grandin, 1830) printed two weeks before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was formally established, and the only edition where Smith is referred to as an “author” and not a “translator” as in later editions (estimate: $180,000-$220,000). A similar, library-owned printing of this 1830 Palmyra edition sold for a record $250,000 at University Archives’ February auction. 
  
“We are also proud to present Civil War memorabilia from the collection of Larry Berra, eldest son of baseball legend Yogi Berra, whose collection consists of signed CDVs, autograph letters signed, signature clips, as well as orders and discharge papers signed by major Union and Confederate generals and naval commanders,” said John Reznikoff, owner of University Archives.  
  
Other highlights include:

• a September 9, 1962, J.D. Salinger typed letter signed, accompanied by its original enclosure, an unpublished typed draft of Salinger’s proposed dust jacket copy for his upcoming book Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters, together comprising over 360 typed words with two hand-corrections (estimate: $12,000-$15,000)
• a Bob Dylan handwritten set of early version song lyrics for Wiggle Wiggle, the opening track of his 27th studio album Under the Red Sky (estimate: $24,000-$35,000)
• a George Washington free frank signature dated January 5, 1780, written in Morris Town, New Jersey and addressed to Colonel Stephan Moylan of Colchester, Connecticut, the leader of 4th Continental Light Dragoons (estimate: $12,000-$15,000)
• an Abraham Lincoln signed partial check, dated February 8, 1861 from Springfield, Illinois, two days before he left for Washington, D.C. and the presidency (estimate: $9,000-$12,000)
• an Albert Einstein autograph manuscript in German featuring more than a dozen mathematical equations (estimate: $20,000-$30,000)
• a signed document and plat map in Daniel Boone’s hand in his role as District Surveyor of Lafayette County in present-day Kentucky on June 25, 1784 (estimate: $15,000-$20,000)
• a Martin Luther King, Jr. typed letter signed and addressed to minister Thomas T. Chapin, leader of the First Presbyterian Church of Morrison, Illinois, dated October 29, 1963 (estimate: $12,000-$18,000)
• a black and white photograph of The Beatles taken by Dezo Hoffman, signed by all four bandmates during their first trip to the United States in February 1964 (estimate: $10,000-$12,000)
• a signed Thomas Jefferson autograph letter written at Monticello on October 17, 1816, thanking Henry A.S. Dearborn for sending him the English translation of a scientific work by French agronomist Charles Philibert de Lasteyrie (estimate: $10,000-$12,000)