R&R Auction Company’s July sale includes a remarkable selection of more than 40 items from Signers of the Declaration of Independence, including a superb and significant example of arguably the most familiar autograph in American history: that of John Hancock.

The auction also features two other important items of 1776 date. One, an official appointment from brewer-cum-Signer Samuel Adams, is also notable for an annotation specifically negating the authority of King George III. The other, an order authorizing commanders of American ships “to make Captures of British Vessels and Cargoes,” is signed by Continental Congressman John Jay, who would later become the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Other standouts among the items to be offered are exceptional letters from Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, Theodore Roosevelt, Sigmund Freud, N.C. Wyeth, Virginia Woolf, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and others; a superb first-edition copy of The Grapes of Wrath inscribed by John Steinbeck; an original Charles Schulz drawing featuring nine Peanuts characters; and an outstanding set of Beatles signatures from the set of the film Help!

R&R Auction Company’s next auction begins on June 30 and ends on July 16. Bids are accepted online or via telephone, fax, or e-mail. For information or to consign to future auctions, visit the R&R Web site at www.rrauction.com or contact Elizebeth Otto at elizebeth@rrauction.com.

Posted: 07|10|08 at 10:03 am. Filed under: US News.