Lot 277

[U.S. Navy]. A near-complete collection of autographs from Secretaries of the United States Navy, 1798-1947.

Lot 277

Status:

Open

Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500

Estimate$1,000 – $1,500

Status

Open

[U.S. Navy]. A near-complete collection of autographs from Secretaries of the United States Navy, 1798-1947.

46 letters and cut signatures of the first 48 United States Secretaries of the Navy (lacking Benjamin Stoddert, Secretary of the Navy under President John Adams and Charles Edison, Secretary of the Navy under President Franklin D. Roosevelt). Modern folding case (minor rubbing to covers and spine). Provenance: John Lawrence Sullivan (1899-1982), United States Secretary of the Navy under President Harry S. Truman, 1947-1949 (name gilt-stamped on folding case spine); John William Middendorf II (1924-2025), United States Secretary of the Navy under President Richard M. Nixon and President Gerald R. Ford, 1974-1977.

AN EXTRAORDINARY ASSEMBLAGE OF DOCUMENTS AND SIGNATURES FROM 46 FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARIES OF THE NAVY.

The cabinet position of Secretary of the Navy was created in May 1798 by President John Adams, who established the Department of the Navy in order to counter aggressive maneuvers from France in the undeclared naval conflict now known as the Quasi-War. Until 1949 the position was a separate one within the presidential Cabinet, however due to amendments made to the National Security Act of 1947 it was gradually made subordinate to the Secretary of Defense.

The present lot includes a highly-scarce autograph letter signed by Thomas Walker Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy under President John Tyler, written nine days into his tenure on 25 February 1844. Two days later, Gilmer was killed during the USS Princeton incident. Captain Robert Stockton, in a bid to impress his prestigious guests during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River (among them President John Tyler, his fiancee Julia Gardiner, former First Lady Dolly Madison, and numerous senators), fired a salute from the larger of the ship's two long guns as it passed Mount Vernon. Tyler, who had become president following the death of William Henry Harrison in 1844, was below decks at the time and so escaped injury.

This group was presumably assembled by John L. Sullivan, Secretary of the Navy under President Harry S. Truman. Sullivan was the last Secretary of the Navy to serve while it was still a separate Cabinet position. His most significant contribution to the office was overseeing the advent of naval nuclear propulsion, a development which led Captain Hyman G. Rickover, to christen him "the true father of the Nuclear Navy." Under his supervision the United States developed the world's first nuclear powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, in 1952, though Sullivan was long gone by this point, having resigned in protest during the 1949 "Revolt of the Admirals" conflict.

Property from the Estate of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Rhode Island

This lot is located in Chicago.

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Please email booksmanuscripts@freemansauction.com for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

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Chicago
November 2nd - 4th

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Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536). Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Lot 40

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536).
Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Estimate$6,000 – $8,000

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)
Purple Grackle
(Plate VII)
Quiscalus Versicolor

Estimate$2,000 – $3,000

Williams, Tennessee (1911-1983). Typed letter signed ("Tennessee Williams") to Marilyn Monroe, [New York], 8 February 1956.

Estimate$1,000 – $1,500

Steinbeck, John (1902-1968). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

Estimate$800 – $1,200

Current Bid$500

Status

Open

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). A group of 8 first editions, comprising:

Lot 72

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). A group of 8 first editions, comprising:

Estimate$1,000 – $1,500

Salinger, J.D. (1919-2010). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

Estimate$800 – $1,200

Current Bid$400

Status

Open

[U.S. Navy]. A near-complete collection of autographs from Secretaries of the United States Navy, 1798-1947.

Property from the Estate of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Rhode Island

This lot is located in Chicago.

Please email booksmanuscripts@freemansauction.com for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

You might also like

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536).
Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)
Purple Grackle
(Plate VII)
Quiscalus Versicolor

Williams, Tennessee (1911-1983). Typed letter signed ("Tennessee Williams") to Marilyn Monroe, [New York], 8 February 1956.

Steinbeck, John (1902-1968). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). A group of 8 first editions, comprising:

Salinger, J.D. (1919-2010). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

[U.S. Navy]. A near-complete collection of autographs from Secretaries of the United States Navy, 1798-1947.

You might also like

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536).
Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)
Purple Grackle
(Plate VII)
Quiscalus Versicolor

Williams, Tennessee (1911-1983). Typed letter signed ("Tennessee Williams") to Marilyn Monroe, [New York], 8 February 1956.

Steinbeck, John (1902-1968). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). A group of 8 first editions, comprising:

Salinger, J.D. (1919-2010). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

Lot Description

Condition Report

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You might also like

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536). Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)Purple Grackle﻿(Plate VII)Quiscalus Versicolor

Williams, Tennessee (1911-1983). Typed letter signed ("Tennessee Williams") to Marilyn Monroe, [New York], 8 February 1956.

Steinbeck, John (1902-1968). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). A group of 8 first editions, comprising:

Salinger, J.D. (1919-2010). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

[U.S. Navy]. A near-complete collection of autographs from Secretaries of the United States Navy, 1798-1947.

You might also like

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536). Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)Purple Grackle﻿(Plate VII)Quiscalus Versicolor

Williams, Tennessee (1911-1983). Typed letter signed ("Tennessee Williams") to Marilyn Monroe, [New York], 8 February 1956.

Steinbeck, John (1902-1968). The Grapes of Wrath. New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). A group of 8 first editions, comprising:

Salinger, J.D. (1919-2010). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536).
Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)
Purple Grackle
(Plate VII)
Quiscalus Versicolor

Robert Boyvin workshop (fl. 1480-1536).
Book of Hours, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Rouen, ca 1490].

Audubon, John James (1785-1851)
Purple Grackle
(Plate VII)
Quiscalus Versicolor