Presidents and World Leaders
Rare Books by Presidents & World Leaders for Sale Online
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Rehnquist Supreme Court oversized color photograph signed by all nine justices
JOHN PAUL STEVENS, Sandra Day O’Connor.
Rehnquist Supreme Court.
1986.
William Rehnquist Supreme Court oversized photograph signed by all nine justices. Group portrait taken on the occasion of the investiture of William Rehnquist being elevated to Chief Justice, and Antonin Scalia’s investiture. Signed by John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, William H. Rehnquist, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Byron R. White, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and Harry A. Blackmun. The photograph, 13 inches by 10 inches. Matted and framed to an overall size of 21 inches by 23 inches.
Price: $5,200.00 Item Number: 48050
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"He expressed the unconquerable spirit of the nation": rare limited edition Spode bone china Winston Churchill plate
[CHURCHILL, Winston S.].
The Churchill Plate.
Stoke-on-Trent, England: Spode, .
Rare limited edition Churchill Spode bone china plate. One of a limited edition of five thousand numbered plates commissioned by Thomas Goode and Co. Ltd. of London, this is number 860. The plate features a portrait of Churchill flanked by rampant lions and surrounded by a botanical gilt border. Founded by Josiah Spode in 1770, Spode pottery is renowned for perfecting the technique for transfer printing in underglaze blue on fine earthenware and credited with developing, around 1790, the formula for fine bone china that was generally adopted by the industry. In fine condition. The plate measures 10.5 inches in diameter.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 117035
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Rare Bush v. Gore United States Supreme Court Ruling Document Page; signed by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and John Paul Stevens
[GINSBURG, Ruth Bader; Stephen Breyer; John Paul Stevens].
Bush v. Gore United States Supreme Court Ruling Signed Document Page.
Washington, D.C: Supreme Court of the United States, December 12, 2000.
Rare first page from the Bush v. Gore United States Supreme Court ruling signed by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and John Paul Stevens. One page, printed. Double matted. The entire piece measures 15 inches by 12.5 inches. Desirable signed by cultural and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 118035
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"A neat Texas souvenir for a real Texas girl graduate": First Edition of Proceedings in the House of Representatives on the Occasion of the Reception and Acceptance From the State of Texas of the Statues of Sam Houston and Stephen D. Austin; inscribed by Lyndon B. Johnson
[JOHNSON, Lyndon B.].
Proceedings in the House of Representatives on the Occasion of the Reception and Acceptance From the State of Texas of the Statues of Sam Houston and Stephen D. Austin.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905.
First edition of this collection of addresses delivered on the occasion of the placing of the statues of Texas statesmen Sam Houston and Stephen D. Austin in the the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol Building. Presentation copy, inscribed by the 36th President of the United States and Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson on the pastedown. “For Miss Dorothy Nell Heffington, A neat Texas souvenir for a real Texas girl graduate – From her Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson.” In very good condition. A unique example.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 110670
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First edition of Letters of Feodora Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg From 1828 to 1872; inscribed by Queen Victoria
[QUEEN VICTORIA],.
Letters of Feodora Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg From 1828 to 1872.
London: Spottiswoode & Co, 1874.
Rare first edition of the collected letters of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Queen Victoria’s half-sister. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by Queen Victoria on the half-title page in the year of publication, “To Arthur Phelps from Victoria Reg Sept. 5 1874.” Princess Feodora was Queen Victoria’s maternal half-sister, and lived with the young Victoria at Kensington palace. Twelve years younger than Feodora, Victoria was devoted to her elder sister, and they continued to correspond throughout their lives. In near fine condition with rubbing to the extremities. Rare.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 117104
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Rare Ostrich Egg engraved with a portrait of George Washington and the Great Seal of the United States; from the library of Lloyd Millard Bentsen
[WASHINGTON, George].
George Washington and Great Seal of the United States Engraved Ostrich Egg.
Rare ostrich egg engraved with a portrait of George Washington, the Washington Coat of Arms, the Great Seal of the United States, and the Masonic compass and trowel. Mounted on a decorative brass stand. From the collection of former four-term United States Senator Lloyd Millard Bentsen who ran as the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket and served as the the 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton. As a primary architect of the Clinton economic plan, Bentsen contributed to a $500 billion reduction in the deficit, launching the longest period of economic growth since World War II. More than 5 million new jobs were created during his tenure as Secretary. Bentsen was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. In fine condition. A unique piece of Americana and with noted provenance.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 119684
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"The longest letter signed and entirely in the hand of John Adams obtainable": Exceptionally rare 16-page autograph letter signed by Founding Father John Adams defending the ultimate necessity of American sovereignty
ADAMS, John.
John Adams Autograph Letter Signed.
1809.
Exceptionally rare 16-page autograph letter signed by and entirely in the hand of Founding Father John Adams defending the ultimate necessity of American sovereignty and its precedence over international alliances. Sixteen pages, entirely in the hand of John Adams and written on both the recto and verso of each page, the letter is dated January 9, 1809 and addressed to Speaker of the House of Representatives, Joseph Bradley Varnum. Although France and America shared a strong alliance which proved crucial to winning the Revolutionary War, at the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, Washington's fear that American involvement would weaken the new nation before it had firmly established itself created tensions and a new war between England and France broke out in 1793. The British Navy soon began targeting French vessels and trading interests across the Atlantic, and although many Federalists thought that America should aid its ally, Washington proclaimed that the United States would be “friendly and impartial toward the belligerent parties.” The Neutrality Proclamation was ignored by Britain and angered France, which then allowed its navy and privateers to prey on American trade. To protect American sailors and merchants without provoking Britain, in March 1794, Congress passed a 30-day embargo, which it then extended. Britain, the strongest sea power, began to seize American ships suspected of trading with France, and stepped up its practice of impressment. From 1806-1807, the British navy, in desperate need of men to oppose Napoleon, forced roughly 5,000 American sailors into service on the pretense that they were deserters. In 1807, King George III proclaimed his right to call any British subjects into war service and claimed that Britain had full discretion to determine who was a British citizen. The crisis reached one peak for America in June of 1807 when the HMS Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia. Three American sailors were killed, eighteen were wounded, and the Chesapeake surrendered after firing only one shot. The Leopard seized four American seaman, claimed as deserters from the British navy, and hanged one of them. Jefferson and Madison, his Secretary of State, responded with the Embargo of 1807, a ban on all American vessels sailing for foreign ports. Meanwhile, Russia allied with Napoleon and pressed Denmark to turn over her fleet. In September 1807, Britain preemptively bombarded Copenhagen and seized the Danish-Norwegian fleet. While Jefferson’s Republicans still generally favored France, a schism grew in the Federalist party. Men like Timothy Pickering downplayed impressments while focusing on trade and access to British manufacturing. On October 16, 1807, King George III aggravated already high tensions with American following the British attack of the USS Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia by issuing a Royal Proclamation expanding the British right to impressment (the King’s right to call any British subjects into war service and determine their citizenship). News of the King’s Proclamation arrived in the United States in December 1807 and, lacking military options, President Jefferson proposed an embargo to ban all U.S. exports on American vessels in order to protect American sailors’ lives and liberties, despite its potential to cripple American trade. The Embargo Act was signed on December 22, 1807, causing immediate economic devastation. In protesting the Embargo, rather than wrestling with the difficulty of defending American sovereignty, some opponents chose to declare the legality of impressments as defined by King George’s Royal Proclamation. John Adams’ former Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, took a leading role in fighting the embargo, arguing that Jefferson was using it to draw America closer to Napoleon’s France. Given the devastating economic effects of the embargo, Pickering’s message found a wide audience. Adams, on the other hand, recognized the dire threat the King’s Proclamation posed in denying America the right to determine its own rules for citizenship and in December, took his arguments to Speaker of the House Joseph Varnum. As he stated in the present letter, “He [Pickering] thinks that as every Nation has a Right to the Service of its Subjects, in time of War, the Proclamation of the King of Great Britain, commanding his Naval Officers to practice Such Impressments, on board, not the Vessells of his own Subjects, but of the United States, a foreign Nation could not furnish the Slightest ground for an Embargo! … But I Say with Confidence that it furnished a Sufficient ground for a Declaration of War. Not the Murder of Pierce nor all the Murders on board the Chesapeake, nor all the other Injuries and Insults We have received from foreign Nations, atrocious as they have been, can be of such dangerous, lasting, and pernicious Consequence to this Country, as this Proclamation, if We have Servility enough to Submit to it.” Adams suggested repealing and replacing the Embargo Act with one that allowed international trade with all but the belligerents, while building up the navy. Varnum asked to publish it. Before assenting, Adams completely reworked his argument, mustering all the reason and rhetoric at his disposal into a stirring defense of sovereignty and citizenship, resulting in the present letter. On March 1, 1809, Congress repealed the Embargo Act, following Adams’ suggestion to replace it with the Non-Intercourse Act which allowed trade with all nations except Britain and France. In fine condition. A remarkable piece of early American history illustrating the second President of the United States’ impassioned devotion to the pursuit of American liberty. The longest letter signed and entirely in the hand of John Adams obtainable.
Price: $125,000.00 Item Number: 121560
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First edition of Ronnie and Nancy: A Very Special Love Story; signed by both Ronald and Nancy Reagan
ADLER, Bill. [Ronald and Nancy Reagan].
Ronnie and Nancy: A Very Special Love Story.
New York: Crown Publishers, Inc, 1985.
First edition of Adler’s account of one of America’s great romances, inscribed by Ronald Reagan as President and First Lady Nancy Reagan. Octavo, original half-cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by Ronald and signed by Nancy Reagan on the half-title page, “To Preston Long – with our appreciation and warmest friendship. Nancy & Ronald Reagan Jan. 27 1986.” The recipient, Preston H. Long, was a supporter of Reagan and was appointed by Reagan as a Member of the American Battle Monuments Commission in July of the year the present volume was inscribed. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by James K. Davis. Jacket photograph by Harry Benson. Examples of this title signed by the Reagan’s are particularly uncommon.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 114871
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"And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning": First Edition of The Inaugural Poem; Inscribed by Maya Angelou
ANGELOU, Maya [Bill Clinton].
On the Pulse of Morning: The Inaugural Poem.
New York: Random House, 1993.
First edition of the poem that Maya Angelou read at the Inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton on January 20, 1993. Small octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “____ ____ Joy Maya Angelou.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 3972
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"And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning": First Edition of The Inaugural Poem; Signed by Maya Angelou
ANGELOU, Maya [Bill Clinton].
On the Pulse of Morning: The Inaugural Poem.
New York: Random House, 1993.
First edition of the poem that Maya Angelou read at the Inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton on January 20, 1993. Small octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by the author on the half-title page, “Joy Maya Angelou.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket, name to the endpaper.
Price: $700.00 Item Number: 46442
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First Edition of Kofi Annan's We The Peoples: A UN for the 21st Century; Inscribed by Him to John Whitehead
ANNAN, Kofi.
We The Peoples: A UN for the 21st Century.
Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2014.
First edition of this work, in which Annan writes about the lessons of history he learned during his service as Secretary-General. Octavo, original boards. Edited by Edward Mortimer. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page to John Whitehead and his wife, “To John and Cynthia With friendship and much affection Kofi Annan 27-10-14.” John Whitehead was a banker and civil servant, and a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In April 1985, Whitehead was asked to become Deputy Secretary of State, to Secretary George Shultz, and served until January 1989. During this period, he was Acting Secretary of State when Shultz was away from Washington and took a special interest in relations with Eastern Europe, the United Nations, and with various administrative reforms in the U.S. Department of State. Whitehead was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Reagan. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 59016
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From the Library of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
ARMSTRONG, E. (Jacqueline Kennedy).
Lorenzo de’ Medici and Florence in the Fifteenth Century.
New York: G. P. Putnan's Sons, 1896.
First edition of Armstrong’s authoritative biography on Lorenzo de’ Medici. Octavo, original boards, top edge gilt, frontispiece with tissue guard, illustrated. From the library of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with the adhesive residue retaining the silhouette of the Sotheby’s “The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis” bookplate on the second free endpaper. In good condition with a large tape repair to the spine.
Price: $350.00 Item Number: 90383
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First Edition of In China; Inscribed by Eve Arnold to Henry Kissinger
ARNOLD, Eve (Henry Kissinger).
In China.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
First edition of this monograph on China. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author to Henry Kissinger, “For Henry Kissinger in whose giant footsteps I followed in China, and it was a tough act to follow! All good wishes, Eve Arnold.” Arnold is referring to the slow opening throughout the 1970s of Communist China to Westerners, an opening famously managed on the United States end by protean Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, in collaboration with Presidents Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford. Kissinger would later write his classic work On China, detailing his experience with China.
Price: $1,150.00 Item Number: 5313
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First Edition of James Baker's The Power of Diplomacy; Inscribed by Him in the year of publication
BAKER, III.
The Power of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1989-1992.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995.
First edition of this work by the former Secretary of State. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page in the year of publication, “To Jeff Johnson James A Baker III 10/2/95.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by One Plus Studio. Written with Thomas M. DeFrank.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 116877
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First Edition of Balfour's A Fragment on Progress; Inscribed by Him
BALFOUR, Arthur James.
A Fragment on Progress. Inaugural Address Delivered on his Installation as Lord Rector.
Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1892.
First edition of Balfour’s Inaugural Address delivered on his installation as Lord Rector . Octavo, bound in full calf with Balfour’s signature stamped in gilt to the front panel. Presentation copy, inscribed by Arthur James Balfour on the front free endpaper, “‘B. Mallet, with the kindest regards of Arthur James Balfour. 18.8.92.” The recipient, Bernard Mallet, later Sir Bernard Mallet, was a civil servant who served as Balfour’s private secretary. Later, he was Registrar General and President of the Royal Statistical Society from 1916 to 1918. He married Marie Adeane, who at various times was a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria and had two sons, one of whom was Sir Victor Mallet, the diplomat. In very good condition.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 117521
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First Edition of Balfour's Nationality and Home Rule; Inscribed by Him to Sir Harry Kottingham Newton
BALFOUR, Arthur James.
Nationality and Home Rule.
London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1913.
First edition of this work by the British Prime Minister and issuer of the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Octavo, bound in full tan russia by Harrods Ltd., original printed wrappers bound in, marbled endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “H. K. Newton, with the kindest regards of Arthur James Balfour Ap. 1914.” The recipient, Sir Harry Kottingham Newton was a Conservative Politician, M.P. for Harwich from 1910-1922. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 116882
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"The Breath of an old-fashioned nosegay": First edition of the Crum Elbow Folks; lengthily inscribed by Sara D. Roosevelt
BARNES, P.R. Foreword by Sara D. Roosevelt.
Crum Elbow Folks.
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1938.
First edition of Barnes’ classic tale of the small Quaker settlement of Crum Elbow with a foreword by Sara D. Roosevelt. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by Sara D. Roosevelt on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “Sept. 1938 For W. French Cyrus Paris – from Sara D. Roosevelt – This is a story of the ‘Friends’ who lived until lately in ‘Crum Elbow’ about a mile East from Hyde Park.” In very good condition.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 100315
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Bernard Baruch Signed Portrait to Humorist Harry Hershfield
BARUCH, Bernard M.
Bernard Baruch Signed Portrait.
A portrait of Bernard Baruch signed to humorist Harry Hershfield. It reads, “For Harry Hershfield who radiates sunshine and good feeling wherever he goes with appreciation and best wishes from one who has basked in that sunshine BM Baruch 1952.” Hershfield was an American cartoonist, humor writer and radio personality. He was known as “the Jewish Will Rogers”. He also was a columnist for the New York Daily Mirror. His books include Laugh Louder, Live Longer and Now I’ll Tell One. As a comics artist he is best remembered for his newspaper comic Abie the Agent. The image measures 7.75 inches by 10.75 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 22.5 inches by 18.5 inches. A nice association, uncommon with such a warm inscription.
Price: $1,100.00 Item Number: 71053
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"We need only Israeli lists. Too many small political groups can only affect our stability": Rare Autograph Letter Signed by David Ben-Gurion to Eliahu Eliachar
BEN-GURION, David.
David Ben-Gurion Autograph Letter Signed.
1965.
Autograph letter signed by and entirely in the hand of the founder of modern day Israel and first prime minister David Ben-Gurion. One page, text in Hebrew, addressed to Eliahu Eliachar, a notable Sephardic Zionist and Member of the Knesset, the letter reads in full, “Greetings, We don’t need separate political lists – not those of independent Yemenite or Sephardic political parties. Those lists can only distort/falsify the democratic process in our country and the process of integration as well. We need only Israeli lists. Too many small political groups can only affect our stability. The only way to resolve it is to change our voting system from relative voting to local voting. With great respect D. Ben-Gurion.” One of Ben-Gurion’s most ambitious goals in the first years of statehood was the unrestricted absorption of entire communities of newly-arrived Middle Eastern and North African Jews into the Ashkenazi-dominated Israeli society. Hundreds of thousands of new immigrants fled the inhospitable environment rising in the Islamic countries between 1948 and 1954 in the wake of the burgeoning Arab-Israeli conflict, settling in the economically-ravaged war-torn state. Other European Jewish communities from Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland were also transplanted to the Jewish State where they were forced to reside in transit villages and immigrants camps and became involved in domestic political in-fighting and became vulnerable to enticements from anti-establishment political groupings. Ben-Gurion feared that the plethora of small political parties could potentially destabilize Israel’s precarious democracy and advocated for a radical change in Israels electoral system with a two-party governing system, as opposed to the European proportional representational system. Above all, Ben-Gurion advocated for the swift unification of the numerous ethnic groups and the creation of an integrated singular Israeli identity. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable, offering a unique glimpse into the great leader’s political thought.
Price: $5,000.00 Item Number: 104802
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"Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence": Limited First Edition of Israel: A personal History, Signed by David Ben Gurion
BEN-GURION, David.
Israel: A Personal History.
New York: Funk and Wagnalls Inc, 1971.
Signed limited first edition, one of 2000 copies. Signed beneath the photographic frontispiece by David Ben-Gurion. Thick quarto, original full dark blue morocco, watered silk endpapers, top edge gilt. Fine in a fine slipcase.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 109079