Merchandise Mart to showcase historic Lincoln, Hamilton documents

Merchandise Mart to showcase historic Lincoln, Hamilton documents
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Merchandise Mart to showcase historic Lincoln, Hamilton documents

Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln History Come to Life in Exceptional Showing of Rare Documents & Original Letters.  Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Ill, May 18-21, 2017

The Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show at the historic Merchandise Mart will offer an opportunity to view and purchase fine objects from throughout the nation and world at the four-day show, May 18-21, 2017.

For the first time it will feature a collection of rare documents and letters from Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln, from the Historic Documents and Legacy Collections of Seth Kaller, Inc., White Plains, NY (www.sethkallerinc.com).

“We’ll be showing a significant part of our Alexander Hamilton Collection, including a somewhat erotic handwritten letter from A. Hamilton to Eliza Schuyler in 1780, and a mere teaser for the astonishing Alexander Hamilton Collection. We will also highlight Abraham Lincoln documents, and a selection of other items from our inventory,” says Kaller, an acknowledged leader in the field of historical documents.

The show kicks off Thursday evening May 18 with a preview benefiting the Illinois Executive Mansion Association, from 6 to 9 p.m., hosted by former Governor James R. Thompson.

Original Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Eliza Schuyler, 1780, from Seth Kaller Inc., on view at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show, May 18-21, 2017.

Original Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Eliza Schuyler, 1780, from Seth Kaller Inc., on view at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show, May 18-21, 2017.

Synopsis of Items from the Seth Kaller Collection, on exhibition at the show:

  • Even for Treason, Lincoln Can’t Fire an Appointee of N.Y.’s Governor: Abraham Lincoln Autograph Letter Signed…-
  • Eliza Hamilton Dockets a Statement Sent to Her Husband.  Manuscript Document Sent to Alexander Hamilton…
  • Thomas Paine Fights Foreign Interference: No King for America!  Thomas Paine Autograph Letter Signed…
  • The Only Lincoln Letter to his Fiancée Mary Owens Still in Private Hands—Long on Politics, Short on Love.  Abraham Lincoln Autograph Letter Signed, 1836.
  • Abraham Lincoln—Lengthy and Attractive Signed Legal Brief.  Autograph Manuscript Signed
  • Hamilton Asks His College Roommate and Two Other Friends to Pay Their Share for Surveying a Speculative New York State Land Investment. Alexander Hamilton Autograph Note Signed on larger document…
  • Harper’s Weekly Original Civil War Newspaper Showing President Lincoln Commissioning General Grant.  Original Civil War newspaper…

Detailed Collection Information:

The Alexander Hamilton Collection is a Show-Stopping Gathering of Highly Important Original Letters, Documents and Imprints (or, the Genius, Passions, Foibles and Flaws of our Founding Fathers).  Visit with the orphan immigrant founding father who fought for independence, founded our financial system, and fostered a government capable of surviving internal factions and foreign foes.  The collection contains hundreds of documents from leaders, soldiers, citizens and the press, written when the Revolutionary War and Founding were current events. The Collection includes powerful letters and documents of Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Aaron Burr, among many others.  See highlights here, or 156-page catalog here. The collection is priced at $2,300,000.

Even for Treason, Lincoln Can’t Fire an Appointee of N.Y.’s Governor.  In a complex matter involving allegations of treason, President Lincoln responds to a lawyer informing him that he has “no power to remove a Lieut. Colonel appointed by the Governor of New York.”  $22,000
Eliza Hamilton Dockets a Statement Sent to Her Husband.  A “Communication” sent to Alexander Hamilton, praising attorney Egbert Benson, who was instrumental in negotiating the land claim which New York had made to Vermont. Settling the land dispute was a congressionally mandated prerequisite for Vermont joining the Union as a state of its own, rather than being divided between New York and New Hampshire. $2,400

Thomas Paine Fights Foreign Interference: No King for America!  Paine asks a publisher for the source of a report, that Britain was behind a proposal “among the most influential federalists” recommending that the Duke of Clarence be made King of America (including Canada). This letter is a prime example from Paine’s campaign against any challenges to American democracy and independence. Paine responds to the report, “This might have been easily answered by saying We have blackguards enon of our own.”    $55,000

The Only Lincoln Letter to his Fiancée Mary Owens Still in Private Hands—Long on Politics, Short on Love.  In this highly important 1836 letter to his fiancée, Lincoln complains of his physical and mental health, and delves into Illinois politics.
    “The new State House is not yet finished, and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing. The Governor delivered an inflamitory political message, and it is expected there will be some sparring … as soon as the two Houses get to business…
    The opposition men have no candidate of their own, and consequently they smile as complacently at the angry snarls of the contending Van Buren candidates and their respective friends, as the Christian does at Satan’s rage….
    Though I belive I am about well now … other things I can not account for, have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low, that I feel that I would rather be any place in the world than here…. Write back as soon as you get this, and if possible say something that will please me, for really I have not been pleased since I left you. This letter is so dry and stupid that I am ashamed to send it, but with my present feelings I can not do any better…”
Lincoln’s letter may have revealed more than he intended. Owens later lamented his deficiencies “in those little links which make up the chain of a woman’s happiness.”    $390,000
Abraham Lincoln—Lengthy and Attractive Signed Legal Brief.  670 words in Lincoln’s hand in a case heard by Judge David Davis, soon to be Lincoln’s campaign manager, his U.S. Supreme Court Justice appointee, and the administrator of Lincoln’s estate.   $11,500
Hamilton Asks His College Roommate and Two Other Friends to Pay Their Share for Surveying a Speculative New York State Land Investment.  In 1795 Hamilton and three friends purchased 21,800 acres in Herkimer County, New York. Hamilton’s quarter interest was worth about $9,000 at the time of his death.  $13,500
Harper’s Weekly Original Civil War Newspaper Showing President Lincoln Commissioning General Grant.  Contents include scenes connected with General Custer’s movement across the Rapidan (centerfold) and views of Mobile, Alabama; Louisiana Governor Michael Hahn. March 26, 1864, complete, 16 pages.   $120

The Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show will debut at the recently renovated and historic Merchandise Mart in the heart of downtown Chicago on the 7th Floor over the weekend of May 18-21, 2017. The show will feature 100 premier national and international exhibitors presenting fine antiques, decorative and fine arts reflecting all design periods from ancient to 20th century modern. For additional information visit:  http://www.chicagoantiquesartdesign.com/

About Seth Kaller Inc.

Seth Kaller has acquired and represented some of the Nation’s most important documents including all six copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and all five copies of the 13th amendment to have come on the market in the last 20 years.  Seth Kaller, Inc. * Historic Documents & Legacy Collections, 235 Main St., Suite 510, White Plains, NY 10601;(914) 289-1776   www.sethkaller.com   seth@sethkaller.com

Note to Media: Interviews with Seth Kaller featuring historic documents from Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln are available – in studio and at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show – for arrangements contact: Risa Hoag, GMG PR, risa@gmgpr.com; 845-627-3000

Photo:  Original Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Eliza Schuyler, 1780, from Seth Kaller Inc., on view at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show, May 18-21, 2017.

Ray Hanania
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