THE WORTHY PURSUIT OF HISTORY When I first started in this field two decades ago, an experienced collector gave me some important advice. “Buy fewer things,” he said, “but make them the highest quality you can.” I took this advice to heart and have devoted the better part of the intervening years searching out the finest manuscripts, ones that cannot be found anywhere else, many of which themselves played a formative role in the chronicles of their times. It is the hunt for these nuggets of history that has made my passion into my business, a passion I enjoy sharing with my customers and fellow avid historians.
Understanding quality: the role of content and importance in letters and manuscripts
Quality depends directly on an autograph’s content or importance, and quality defines value. Thus, measuring the caliber of an item's content or importance is crucial. How can you measure something as subjective as the degree to which these factors are present? Here are the rules I apply (using letters as an example. The same rules pertain for manuscripts, documents, etc.). And since importance and content are usually directly related, I will mainly concentrate on content.
There are three basic levels of content - fair, good and excellent. A excellent content letter is one in which the writer either tells you something of great interest or significance about himself or a primary field of his endeavor, or provides valuable descriptions or information about an important event. An example will show what I mean.
A letter of George Washington saying he is too busy to accept an invitation to dinner may be expensive, but says nothing anyone benefits by knowing, so it has just fair content. A letter of Washington about running his plantation at Mount Vernon would be interesting because it is germane to his life, but since Washington is best remembered for his leadership as general and president (and not as a farmer), it would be considered of good quality. A Revolutionary War date letter of Washington ordering his chief spy to obtain specific detailed information on enemy troop dispositions, has excellent content, as it illuminates the kind of information Washington needed and directly relates to his performance as commander of the Continental Army. This last one also played a role in a historical event of consequence and shows Washington engaged in the duties for which he has become immortal.
However, importance may exist in the absence of content. For example, a signed pay receipt of Meriwether Lewis would have no content, but if it was for his service during the Lewis and Clark Expedition would certainly be important.
Many people collect signed photographs, and even here our concepts of content and importance hold true. We always start with the perhaps surprising proposition that photographs inscribed to a named individual are best. The more handwriting there is on the photograph, the more certain the determination of authenticity. And perhaps the inscription will reveal something important about the writer, as when Harry Truman signs the famous photograph showing him holding the Chicago Tribune with its premature headline 'Dewey Defeats Truman’, saying that this was a memorable moment in his life. It may also illustrate something interesting about the relationship between the signer and the recipient, as in a photograph we once had that was warmly inscribed by Warren Harding to his corrupt Veteran's Bureau administrator, Charles Forbes.
Keep these principles in mind, ask yourself to what degree every item you buy meets them, and you will find yourself able to confidently build a wonderful and historical collection
A Passion for History, an Eye for the Exceptional
We believe this is what separates The Raab Collection. We appreciate not only the manuscript but the history that gave it birth. Every piece we carry has its own story to impart, and we cherish that story and attempt to give it voice. This business started out as my passion and - though it is my business - remains a work of love .
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