History In Ink - Genuine historical autographs from American and world history

Scrawls, scribbles, and signatures are more than stains on a page. Like snapshots, they capture moments, preserving the pieces of thought that form the grand puzzle of human experience. They reveal the breadth and depth of personality and emotion. They are truly History In Ink.

“Men don’t change,” President Harry S. Truman observed. “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.” The letters, photographs, and documents of the famous and influential people of the past are great teachers. The words, the handwriting, and the signatures connect us with yesteryear and bring history to life.

Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, among others, collected historical letters and documents. Queen Victoria was an avid autograph collector, and years later her great-grandson, King George VI, requested Truman's signature for his daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II. Today there are thousands of autograph collectors worldwide.

We want to share with you the thrill of owning a genuine piece of history. So please browse through our site.

Featured Items

Jimmy Carter

President Carter’s passing on December 29, 2024, marks the end of yet another era in American presidential history. President Carter was widely respected for his humanitarian work and for his personal integrity and his common decency. He will be missed. We are offering two outstanding letters by President Carter, which we highlight here:

Jimmy Carter - scarce handwritten letter, with a huge, bold full signature, sending thanks for the gift of a fishing rod, 10-2-1989, unframed

Jimmy Carter - excellent content typed letter signed in which the former President explains his commitment to the worldwide work that he and Mrs. Carter were doing through The Carter Center, 3-15-1991, unframed

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Madame Chiang Kai-shek Archive

We are privileged to offer an archive of personal letters by Madame Chiang Kai-shek spanning the years from 1959 to 1975. The letters range from routine to outstanding political and philosophical content. Madame Chiang remains as relevant and popular as she was when she died at age 105 in 2003. Click here to see them on our World History page, or Contact Us to inquire.

Queen Elizabeth II

Beautiful large document in which The Queen appoints a consular officer in Germany, 2-14-1996, unframed

Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway signs a photo to one of his hosts during his 1959 trip to Spain to gather new material on bullfights, which led to his last published work before his death, Life magazine’s “The Dangerous Summer,” unframed

Learned Hand

Previously unoffered archive of drafts of Hand’s remarks at the dedication of a bust of Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter at Harvard Law School, expressing Hand’s own view of the proper role of a judge, 1960, unframed

John F. Kennedy

A new discovery: the last color photograph of JFK before he left Andrews Air Force Base on his fatal trip to Texas on November 21, 1963

Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo J. Wilder

Exceptional archive of contracts and deeds for the sale of Rocky Ridge Farm, where Laura wrote all of the Little House books, unframed

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Recent Additions

1776 Connecticut Revolutionary War Pay Warrant - in the crucial year of 1776, the Connecticut committee authorizes payment for caring for a sick soldier in General Israel Putnam’s regiment, unframed

Chiang Ching-kuo - Archive of letters by Chiang, the son of Chiang Kai-shek who served as Premier and later President of Nationalist China, and notes by his wife, Faina Chiang Fang-liang. Click here to see them on our World History page, or Contact Us to inquire.

Frances Folsom Cleveland - very nice signed Executive Mansion card, unframed

Grover Cleveland - signed Executive Mansion card likely from Cleveland’s first term, unframed

[King Edward VII] - very fine condition invitation to the King’s 1902 coronation, together with printed portraits of the King and Queen Alexandra, unframed

Dwight D. Eisenhower - presidential letter by Eisenhower during his recuperation from abdominal surgery to the Ward Master at Walter Reed General Hospital, where Eisenhower was treated, 7-14-1956, unframed

Mamie Eisenhower - typed letter signed as First Lady thanking the Ward Master at Walter Reed Army Hospital for his and the staff’s help during her hospitalization for a hysterectomy, 8-30-1957, unframed

Charles W. Fairbanks - scarce handwritten letter by Theodore Roosevelt’s Vice President commending “the Golden Rule as a rule of action,” 5-17-1898, unframed

Gerald R. Ford - Easton Press special leather-bound edition of President Ford’s autobiography, A Time to Heal

Walther Funk and Richard Walther Darré - important association Nazi Party biography of Funk, Nazi Minister for Economic Affairs, with Funk’s letter sending it to Darré, Nazi Minister of Food and Agriculture, who has signed and dated the book

James A. Garfield - autograph note signed early in the pivotal year of 1876, when Garfield’s political power was on the rise, 2-25-1876, unframed

John Glenn - vintage signed photograph of Glenn in his silver Mercury astronaut spacesuit with an early form of his signature, unframed

Warren G. Harding - The White House card attractive for framing with a nicely centered black ink Harding signature, unframed

William Henry Harrison - partial autograph letter signed in which Harrison, the 1840 Whig presidential candidate, suggests funding to spread the circulation of a friendly newspaper, which some of his supporters in Congress abused their franking privilege to mail free, ca. 1840, unframed

Ulrich von Hassell - rare signed book from the personal library of the Nazi diplomat, a dissident executed for his role in the assassination attempt on Hitler, boldly signed by von Hassell with his handwritten note about how he received it, and with his personal bookplate affixed below his handwriting and signature

Howard Hughes, Sr. - autograph letter signed by the father of the reclusive billionaire to the corporate secretary of his company, 3-28-1916, unframed

John F. Kennedy - Kennedy signs an excerpt from his declaration of the New Frontier, a campaign brochure quoting his acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic convention, unframed

Robert Todd Lincoln - bold handwritten letter as Secretary of War forwarding telegrams from Illinois state officials, 9-19-1883, unframed

George C. Marshall - mesmerizing signed portrait of Marshall, as a five-star general, by famed photographer Philippe Halsman, unframed

Queen Mary of Teck - early autograph letter signed in which the future British queen, consort of George V, asks for help with a garden party for friends and neighbors, unframed

William McKinley - short but rare autograph note signed, with an uncommon full signature, the closing of a letter that President McKinley wrote to his wife, Ida Saxton McKinley, unframed

Golda Meir - 8” x 10” photograph of Meir answering reporters’ questions in Los Angeles as part of her official 12-day visit to the United States as Israeli Prime Minister, unframed

Sir Oswald Mosley - in the midst of the Great Depression, the British politician, soon to turn fascist, says that he may speak on “The Economic Position of Britain,” 1-9-1931, unframed

Gamal Abdel Nasser - early letter by Nasser, sending his autograph, three years after the revolution that overthrew Egyptian King Farouk I, 5-11-1955, unframed

Barack Obama - virtually pristine bank check signed with a full “Barack” signature, 9-27-2002, unframed

Ronald Reagan - captivating glossy black-and-white photo of a grinning Reagan, nicely inscribed and signed, unframed

John Tyler - very nice autograph letter signed as President introducing the 16-year-old son of a prominent former Senator to the United States minister to France, 9-28-1841, unframed

Queen Victoria - letter to The Queen from Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, with Queen Victoria’s signature approving his proposed appointment of a Major General as commandant in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, 3-12-1852, unframed

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Featured Collections

The Justice Tom C. Clark Collection

We are privileged to offer the personal autograph collection of Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark. Justice Clark served as Attorney General of the United States from 1945 to 1949, when President Harry S. Truman appointed him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Shortly after he arrived at the Court, Justice Clark began assembling a collection of autographs of Supreme Court Justices that included those of his colleagues and extended back into the 19th Century. The collection includes personal letters that Justice Clark received from other Justices, including those congratulating him on his appointment to the Court, and internal Supreme Court memoranda among the Justices—material that is extremely rare on the autograph market. None of this material has ever been offered for sale before.

click here to see the items that we are currently offering from the collection. They include a congratulatory handwritten letter from Justice Stanley F. Reed, two typed letters by Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson (1-4-1950 and 1-27-1950), extremely rare handwritten internal Court memoranda from Justice Harold Burton to Justice Clark and between Justices Clark and Reed regarding cases, internal handwritten notes from Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and Justice James C. McReynolds, an official Supreme Court document signed by Justice Willis V an Devanter, and signatures of Justices Joseph R. Lamar, McReynolds, and Mahlon Pitney.

Autographs From the Estate of Llewellyn E. Thompson, Jr.,

The United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union Under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson

This outstanding Cold War collection of letters and documents had never before been offered for sale on the autograph market until we offered it. It contained letters from five American Presidents—Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon—as well as First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, and Jacqueline Kennedy and others such as Robert F. Kennedy, Hubert H. Humphrey, Dean Rusk, and even Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin.

Thompson was one of the greatest and most important American diplomats of the 20th Century. He was the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, under Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. A man with velvet gloves but a backbone of steel, he played a critical role in dangerous times. His advice to Kennedy as a member of the ExComm during the Cuban Missile Crisis was largely responsible for avoiding nuclear war with the Soviet Union. He was also with Johnson at his 1967 summit with Kosygin at Glassboro, New Jersey, and advised Nixon on and represented the United States in the negotiations over the SALT I treaty.

click here to see the remaining items from this special collection.

Here you will find History In Ink—beautifully framed and unframed letters, documents, and signed photographs as well as signed books and other autograph items. You will also find much more: Our listings include biographical information and often explain the historical context of the autograph item itself. We also offer information on caring for historical autographs and links to several interesting and helpful web sites.

History In Ink^® offers a wide variety of historical autograph material, both framed and unframed, for sale in a broad range of prices. We give you personal service to help you find just the right piece to help build your collection or give the perfect gift to a history buff. If we do not have it in stock, we are always glad to help you find it.

We specialize in the autographs of United States Presidents and First Ladies, Supreme Court justices, European royalty, and World War II military. We also have items from many other notable persons in American and world history. Those include statesmen and world leaders; presidential cabinet officers; members of Congress; military figures from the American Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and other conflicts; artists; authors; inventors; scientists; aviators and astronauts; and personalities from law, business, politics, vintage entertainment, and occasionally vintage sports.

We take care to make our framed displays some of the best—wonderful conversation pieces for the home or office. They include one or more photographs or portraits and usually include one or more engraved plates identifying the person and, if appropriate, the event. Most of our unframed items can also be framed.

We also offer several payment options to make it as easy as possible for you to build your collection or give the perfect gift. We can ship both framed and unframed items virtually anywhere in the world.

We always enjoy talking about autographs, so please email us with your questions, comments, and suggestions. Give us your wish list, and sign up for our email list so that we can tell you about new items as we offer them.