Arms, Armor & Militaria

This archive includes two MH Cole produced fighting knives with scabbards, five original MH Cole manuscript drawings from Volumes III and IV of his books US Military Knives and a large archive of paperwork that is primarily copies of book pages used for preproduction editing, as well as some original notes, copies and original pieces of correspondence between Cole and knife companies, etc. The primary contents of the archive are:

1) An aluminum hilted fighting utility knife by MH Cole with a 5" single edged spear point blade with a 2" false edge that is .875" wide at the ricasso. The overall length of the knife is 9.675" with a 4.5" hilt. The aluminum scales are attached to the full tang knife with a pair of brass rivets. The obverse of the hilt is stamped in individual letters MHC for "M Howard Cole" the reverse is stamped in individual letters ROEBUCK WORKS, which was a name he used for his basement knife making business from time to time. The knife includes a brown leather scabbard with a hilt retaining strap and a blackened steel pistol belt hanger. The scabbard is a two-piece design with the front secured to the main body by both sewing and with seven rivets. The face of the scabbard is stamped MH COLE over US over a {STAR}.

2) An aluminum hilted fighting utility knife by MH Cole with a 4.625" double edged spear point blade that is 1" wide at the ricasso. The overall length of the knife is 9.125" with a 4.5" hilt. The aluminum scales are attached to the full tang knife with a pair of brass rivets. The obverse of the hilt is stamped in individual letters MHC for "M Howard Cole" vertically at the front edge of the grip and is signed in script MH Cole. The reverse is also stamped M H C horizontally over the signed name Roebuck Wks. The hilt includes a lanyard hole with a leather lace through it. The knife includes a brown leather scabbard with a hilt retaining strap and a steel pistol belt hanger. The scabbard is a two-piece design with the front secured to the main body by both sewing and with seven rivets. 

3) Two original MH Cole pencil drawings for the pages 171 and 198 of his book US Military Knives Volume III. The drawings and text are the full page mock ups for the Type IV Vietnam era machete survival tool and the page on fighting knives marked "Kutmaster" made from Utica "1942" pattern bayonets.

4) Three original MH Cole pencil drawings for the pages 19, 144 and 186 of his book US Military Knives Volume IV. The drawings and text are the full page mock ups for the Model 1905 bayonet modified to knuckle guard trench knife, a knuckle guard modified Cattaraugus 225Q knife and a rare short variant of the M6 scabbard for the M3 trench knife with a brass pommel, wood grip fighting knife.

5) A massive volume of paperwork associated with the production of his classic books on US military knives. These are primarily photo copies of pages used for preproduction reference, with some showing notes or corrections, some page number changes, etc. A few original pieces of art on onion skin or plain paper are included. These are primarily rough sketches and mock ups of page ideas and of various knifes. There are also some piece of both original and copies of correspondence with knife companies and others to gain additional information about various knives. It is estimated that there are roughly 200 to 300 pages in this archive. Most are 8.5"x11" but some are 8.5"x14". An interesting and historic archive giving an inside look at the way in which Cole produced his books.

The contents of both lots of Cole knives, drawings and paperwork were obtained directly from MH Cole's widow after Howard passed away. They were sold to the consignor by John R Gibson in 2008 and a copy of his letter of authenticity discussing the objects in the archive is included with this lot.