The direct descendants of Secretary of War and State Timothy Pickering on selling their treasures from George Washington to Raab: “They were responsive, candid, and seemed to care and be very knowledgeable about the historical documents…. In all, the experience was seamless, educational, and positive.”
One of the things that sets Raab apart is our longstanding reputation for working with families, descendants, and heirs of historical figures and correspondents of historical figures. For nearly 40 years, the families of countless historical figures, including Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Timothy Pickering, Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan, as well as George Washington’s Generals and Albert Einstein’s colleagues have come to us when it was time to sell their historical documents.
That tradition continues, allowing us to bring to market remarkable documents previously unseen by the public or the research community. In 2025, we worked with several families to place their historical treasures in new collections. Below are some highlights.
John Hancock’s Diploma
The location, and indeed the survival, of the original of John Hancock’s Yale diploma–a degree he earned following his Harvard years–was unknown until we discovered it with a descendant of Hancock’s wife Dorothy Quincy’s family. The diploma had been passed down in the family for more than 200 years. It ranks as one of our most important discoveries ever.
To learn more, listen to an audio interview with Nathan Raab about this discovery:
George Washington’s Original Invocation of Executive Privilege
Another major historical find came to us through the descendants of Timothy Pickering, who served as George Washington’s Secretary of State and War. For 225 years, the family had been the stewards of three exceptional letters of Washington, written while president, that dealt with issues of the highest import: Washington’s use of executive privilege, negotiations over the Jay Treaty, and the diplomatic recall of James Monroe.
They chose to sell to Raab “because they were responsive, candid, and seemed to care and be very knowledgeable about the historical documents…. In all, the experience was seamless, educational, and positive,” said one of the family members.
To learn more, listen to an audio interview with Nathan Raab about this discovery:
Albert Einstein’s Defense of His Work on the Atomic Bomb and His Work as a Professor in Berlin
On two occasions this year, we were contacted by the heirs of people who had been close to Einstein and kept documents signed by him.
The family of physicist Herbert Jehle had long kept two important Einstein signed documents in their possession: one, a statement signed by Einstein in which he defends his role in the development of the Atomic Bomb and his letter to President Franklin Roosevelt; and two, a letter showcasing Einstein’s evolution as a scientist, a pacifist, and a moralist, reflecting his deep ambivalence about the nuclear weapons race that he helped usher in.
Through the direct descendants of a student who took classes with Einstein at the University of Berlin, Raab also acquired a course registration booklet signed by Einstein and several other important scientists between 1914 and 1926. This remarkable piece was not known to have survived and had never before been offered for sale.
To learn more, listen to an audio interview with Nathan Raab about this discovery:
Tolkien Letter on His Literary Characters
Raab acquired a fascinating, unpublished letter of J.R.R. Tolkien from the heirs of the recipient, a fan who wrote to the celebrated British author. Tolkien’s reply mentions several of his characters from his Lord of the Rings series, musing on his invention of the names and how they’ve been used in the public sphere.
To learn more, listen to an audio interview with Nathan Raab about this discovery:
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Work to Get Women the Right to Vote
In upstate New York, a family had passed down for generations two membership certificates from the Women’s New York State Temperance Society signed by renowned women’s rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. When the descendants of the recipients reached out to Raab, we were excited to be the first outside of the family to see the certificates, which are the only such documents signed by both women we have found ever having reached the market.
To learn more, listen to an audio interview with Nathan Raab about this discovery:
The Crowninshield/Stuyvesant Family Archives, Spanning Generations
Occasionally a family contacts us about an entire archive of historical documents. Such was the case when we heard from the heirs of Benjamin Crowninshield, an early American merchant and privateer who was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President James Madison. This sizable archive contained an unpublished trove of documents detailing the family’s shipping business (later acquired by the Peabody Essex Museum); a privateer’s commission signed by Madison and Monroe during the War of 1812; and a privateer’s capture booklet; as well as a smaller archive related to another family member, Civil War Naval hero Moses Sherwood Stuyvesant (later acquired by the Huntington Library). In all, there were 300+ documents, never before seen, fresh to collectors and scholars – a major discovery.
To learn more, listen to an audio interview with Nathan Raab about this discovery:
Do You Own a Historical Letter or Signed Document from a Notable Ancestor?
If you are a descendant or heir of a notable family or of a serious collector, you have been a steward of history. You have stored and maintained these pieces of history and have a sense of obligation to see to it that they are cared for and cared about. If the time has come to consider finding another home for them, you can read more about the process of selling to Raab in our informative PDF, or email us directly at [email protected].
