On Dec. 8, Alderfer Auctioneers and Appraisers conducted their December Fine and Decorative Arts Auction, which included a large section of political, historical ephemera, and autograph offerings. With strong bidding from the floor, internet platforms, phone and absentee bids, several important and historic items were sold at impressive prices.
A letter copy book belonging to Jonathan Williams (1751-1815), first superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy and grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin, soared to $35,965.80. In the age before computers and copiers, persons who conducted extensive business and personal correspondence needed to keep manuscript copies of the letters they sent so they could be referenced at a later date. The best way to do this was to hand copy the letters into a blank book as they were written. The letter copy book sold was kept by Williams while serving as a commercial agent for the United States Navy in France, during the American Revolution. The copies of the letters contained in the book dated from January of 1780 to February of 1785. The condition of the book, missing its covers and spine, contained an array of historical content within its pages. The recipients of the copied letters included a who’s who of early American history, including Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Morris, and others. While much of the content related to business, various letters were much more personal in content and gave a window into the thoughts and events that were then happening in the world and in America at that time.
Additional historical items that crossed the block were an autographed document signed by founding father Benjamin Franklin, an autographed document fragment by noted scientist and mathematician Isaac Newton, an 1846 travelling map of Texas/Oregon/California, and numerous 19th and early 20th century presidential campaign items, among other historical ephemera.
The Benjamin Franklin autographed document realized $8,061.30. The vellum document, a land indenture signed by Franklin on Feb. 2, 1763, while serving as a Justice of the Peace for Philadelphia, showed its 253-year age. However, Franklin’s signature was strong and bold at the bottom of the document.
The rare autograph of Sir Isaac Newton sold for $8,540. Newton, a famed 17th/early 18th century English physicist and mathematician, is remembered by many for the legendary apple falling from the tree onto Newton’s head story. While likely embellished and changed over time, Newton’s contribution to mathematics, the sciences, and the understanding of the world cannot be underestimated. The document fragment was part of a donation register signed by several other notables. The fragment’s provenance included a sales receipt from Goodspeed’s Bookshop in Boston dated 1963.
The folding map titled “A New Map of Texas Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining” that was published in Philadelphia in 1846 realized $1,586. Maps of this type were used by many as they travelled West in search of riches in the gold fields of California. 
Alderfer Auctioneers and Appraisers will conduct their next Fine and Decorative Arts Auction on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, with a section of significant historical ephemera being offered, including Civil War diaries and other important documents. 
For more information, call 215-393-3000 or visit www.AlderferAuction.com.