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The January 2013 Collector’s Series Sale
537 French Revolution: Document Collection - A fascinating quartet of Documents Signed, all from the
later revolutionary period and the days leading up to Napoleon’s rise to power. Features a partly engraved
Document Signed by Voulland, Legendre, and other members of the Committee of General Security,
Paris, 30 thermidor, an II (August 17, 1794). The document concerns a petition from the minister
of the Republic of Geneva concerning two prisoners that the Committee has arrested who are being
held in Luxembourg. Just a month earlier, the Committee had secured the execution of Maximilien
Robespierre, bringing an end to the Reign of Terror and establishing its own somewhat more moderate
rule. With a beautiful partly engraved DS, 2 pages, 14 germinal, an 5 (April 3 1797), on stationery of
the 2nd Division of the Army of the North, from the president of the Council of War. Also with a document
from the Municipality of Chaumont, Haute-Marne, 9 pluviose, an III (January 28, 1795); and
one from the 7th Military Division, 13 fructidor, an VI (August 30, 1798), requesting a military commander
for the department. All in VG condition or better. Est. 300-400
538 Fur Trade: [American Fur Company: Vanderburgh’s Death] Interesting autograph letter signed by
John Catron to Robert Campbell in St. Louis. He explains that “Wm. H. Vanderburg the clerk of the
American Fur Co. drew a Bill of Exchange on P[ierre] Chouteau Agt for said Company in favour of
George Ennis for the sum of $473.50...for furs my Brother [Minatree Catron] sold to the Am. Fur
Copy...with the instructions to pay me the money. Mr. Chouteau has refused payment and the Bill is returned
protested...Ennis informs me that you had a draft or Bill...drawn by same Vanderburgh as clerk
of Am Fur Co on same Chouteau for a large amount” and wants to know if Chouteau protested that,
too. Vanderburgh had become one of the AMF’s top men in the Western Department, running its trapping
operations with Andrew Drips. They had recently been chasing Tom Fitzpatrick and his men
through Blackfoot country. The day after this letter was written, Vanderburgh and a handful of trappers
were ambushed by about a hundred Blackfeet. He and one other man were killed. Vanderburgh’s body
was never found. (Image) Est. 400-500
539 Fur Trade: [Campbell, Robert] Three very early letters to Campbell in St. Louis, all 1825, from business
colleagues. The first, from Cape Girardeau, MO, is from James Keyte on April 30, sending goods
up the Mississippi on the Phoenix. Keyte writes again on May 9, this time from Wheeling, (now WV),
during a trip East. Because of low water, he will skip Pittsburgh, and will take the mail stage to Baltimore.
Keyte’s instructions to Campbell about their stores suggests that he is in the position of authority. Eventually
Campbell would become one of the richest men in St. Louis.The third, from Philadelphia, is from
Robert Wiley on May 25, while he is apparently being visited by Keyte, who carried the letter back to
St. Louis. He reports that business is slow, and “nearly every species of merchandise has advanced in Value
in consequence of which country dealers have curtailed their orders.. A few years like the present would
convert the whole of you southern & western folks into nabobs...Your time is coming.” All letters suffer
from condition problems.In 1832, Keyte would found the town that still bears his name, Keytesville,
Missouri. The year 1825 would later see Campbell’s first expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in the
company of Jedediah Smith of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Est. 200-300
540 Fur Trade: Mountain Men Series of Books, “The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far
West,” LeRoy R. Hafen. Glendale, CA, Arthur H. Clark, 1965-72. 11 vols. 8vo, brown cloth with gilt
spine. All with Risvold label on front pastedown. These are in fine condition, almost as-new. [11] Est. 500-750
541 George IV King of the United Kingdom (1762-1830, reigned from 1820); his father’s illness required
his regency from 1811 until George III’s death; though clever and talented, his excesses, his outdated
political stances, and his often cruel treatment of his estranged wife severely damaged his popular reputation.
Grand Manuscript Document Signed “George R” as King, 1 page, on vellum, large oblong
folio, Windsor, September 20, 1825. Also signed by Foreign Secretary “George Canning.” George appoints
Peter Lacroix “to be Our Consul at Nice, hereby giving and granting unto him full Power and
Authority by all lawful means to aid and protect Our Merchants and other Our Subjects...that has trade
to or reside at Nice.” Large wax and paper royal seal at upper left. With 1,15 revenue stamp at left. Some
stiffness and toning at folds, otherwise VG. George IV would make Canning Prime Minister in 1827,
but he would soon die in office, serving just 119 days, shorter than any other Prime Minister. (photo -
page 60) Est. 250-350
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