(Estate of John F. Lewis). (Letter from Heldburg Fortress). Joseph Friedrich "The Unfortunate", alternately "The Magnanimous." Autograph Letter Signed. Heldburg, (Germany): 28 January, 1564. Written to his father Emperor Frederick III during his 50-year imprisonment under Charles V. Folio, docketed on verso. Manuscript text in brown ink, altogether evenly toned.

The ALs above is but one of the many important manuscripts which John Frederick Lewis, a highly regarded philanthropist, lawyer, and early 20th-century collector, used as primary source material for a comprehensive genealogy of his forbears. His chronological narrative was meant to chart the various world-historical developments and circumstances which ultimately led to the confluence of Mr. Lewis' Continental ancestors and those of the Mayflower Colony, and it extended even to his own lifetime. Housed in altogether fifteen portfolio volumes, the project was the culmination of decades of painstaking research and discerning collecting of the highest order. Most of the manuscripts in Mr. Lewis' collection have not appeared at auction for a century, or more, as evidenced by the clipped catalog descriptions which accompany them.