LETTER WRITTEN BY VARINA DAVIS, WIFE OF CONFEDERATE PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DAVIS, PRAISING A SEWING MACHINE: “IT HAS ARRIVED SAFELY WITH ONLY ONE OR TWO TEETH SCRATCHY AND IS, AS MY COOK PRONOUNCED IT ON SIGHT ‘A DAISY’”

VARINA DAVIS (1826-1906). Davis was the First Lady of the Confederate States of America as the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis.

ALS. 2 pgs. 5.5” x 9”. March 24, 1887. Beauvoir, Miss.  An autograph letter signed “Varina Davis” to “My dear Mr. Leon”: “I was as profoundly delighted as astonished by the reception of the sewing machine so kindly presented by you – It has arrived safely with only one or two teeth scratchy and is, as my cook pronounced it on sight ‘a daisy’ – It is the simplest and lightest machine I have ever seen. I never before could work on a foot machine, but this gives me no trouble at all. I learned at once to use the different parts, the threading process, etc. Then it is so very pretty – but what shall I say of the basket. It is lovely and decorative in the extreme beside a great convenience to put work in. The whole house gathered to see it unpacked, but my Daughter finished her community in praise of it by saying ‘I like my bear much better.’ The hope of a visit from you which you kindly hold out to us is much prized by us all – then you can XX a good many things which my daughter is thinking of painting – She is going to Chattanooga for a short visit very soon, but she will be at home again before you come I am sure. Mr. Davis has not felt very strong this spring, but is not ill – You must not delay your visit long enough to throw you into the melting season in the north, for I believe that is your XX season there…”. This letter was written by Varina who would outlive her husband and spend the last years of her life as a writer in New York City friendly with Julia Grant and Booker T. Washington. The letter mentions her family’s acquisition of a sewing machine; though invented nearly a century earlier, sewing machines were not marketed to middle-class consumers until the 1860s. The identity of the recipient is unknown, but the letter is in excellent condition and a great post-Civil War artifact.

VARINA DAVIS, WRITING FOR JEFFERSON, STATES “I HAD SHIPPED TO YOU FROM NEW YORK SOME BOOKS WHICH I RECOLLECTED YOU DESIRED TO SEE…GENL WINFIELD SCOTT’S BOOK WAS ONE OF THEM & BUCHANAN’S ADMINISTRATION WAS ANOTHER”

JEFFERSON DAVIS (1808-1889).  Davis was a Senator from Mississippi, Secretary of War and President of the Confederate States of America.

VARINA DAVIS (1826-1906).  The wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Varina was a powerful partner for her husband.  After the war, she helped him write his memoirs and, after his death, she carried on his memory.

ALS. 3pg. 7” x 9”. September 2, 1882. Beauvoir.  An autograph letter signed “Jefferson Davis” but completely in the handwriting of his wife, Varina.  Davis wrote to an unnamed correspondent: “We have been an unusually long time without hearing from you, & that is not a case for the application of the maxim that no news is good news.  Your friend Maggie has been very ill.  Mrs. Davis went to Memphis to nurse her – after seven weeks she became better & is here now with her children the sea air has I think improved her & I hope she will soon be well again.  Minnie is well & does not complain of our solitude though the change is certainly a great one from the crowded boarding school in Germany.  Mrs. Davis has not been as well for sometime past as when you last saw her.  Of my own health I have nothing agreeable to say yet nothing alarming to report.  I hope William is with you & that his companionship relieves the dull hours, if indeed you ever have such.  I am always thankful that I had the opportunity to see you last year & long for a renewal of the pleasant & instructive conversations which cheered my days when with you.  The flood of last spring seriously injured my planting prospects, but we still hope to make more than half a crop.  Corn being an entire failure upon the cut worms which usually about in unplowed land.  In the early part of May last I had shipped to you from New York some books which I recollected you desired to see.  As I never advised you of the shipment I hope they were received & that you did not know to whom to make an acknowledgment.  Genl Winfield Scott’s book was one of them & Buchanan’s administration was another both bearing on some of Jere Black’s statements & touching questions about which you are specially informed.  With the united love of our household.  I am with regards to Williams if he is with you & to good Marie who I take it will never leave you, as ever Your devoted friend Jefferson Davis”.  The letter is on “Beauvoir” letterhead and the paper has light blue lines.  Some of the purple ink is fainter than other parts, and the letter is in fine condition.

LETTER WRITTEN BY WINNIE DAVIS, “FIRST DAUGHTER OF THE CONFEDERACY”

VARINA ANNE “WINNIE” DAVIS (1864-1898). Davis was a daughter of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, First Lady Varina Davis.

ALS. 4pgs. 4 ½” x 6 ¾”. March 21, 1887. Beauvoir. An autograph letter signed “Varina Anne Davis” to “D.P. Leon”: “I have been trying ever since my return to Beauvoir to find words to express an adequate sense of my delight over the beautiful bronze you sent me but finding that at the end of three weeks I am as unable as ever to tell you how much gratified I am both with the intense beauty of your present and with the kind thought which prompted your sending of it. I shall be obliged to say simply I thank you most heartily, mu good friend, and am please beyond measure, it is above criticism! Mother and Father are both pretty well indeed. Father has I think enjoyed remarkable health for this season, spring is a bad time for him normally. Sister and her little people are out in Colorado and we hear very good accounts of their health and general wellbeing with the exception of my sister who had a tussle with a runaway horse which strained her arms and cut up her hands so that she was quite ill for two weeks. In your last letter to my mother you promise soon to come again to Beauvoir, do come now not to disappoint us as we all look forward with great pleasure to your visit. With renewed thanks for the beautiful bear and with kindest regards in which Mother and Father join me”. Unmarried, Davis was a writer and confidante of her parents at their home in Mississippi, Beauvoir. This letter was written during a decade, starting with 1881’s The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, that saw Jefferson Davis and his family rehabilitate their images and become icons for the Confederacy and the Lost Cause. Jefferson Davis frequently traveled across the South to attend soldier reunions, despite poor health alluded to in this letter. Ironically, it was being caught in a rainstorm at an 1898 Confederate Veterans' Reunion in Atlanta, Georgia that killed Winnie. “Sister” is Winnie’s only sister, Margaret Howell Davis (1855-1909), who moved out to Colorado Springs in 1885. Margaret was the only child to outlive her mother, Varina Davis. The identity of the recipient is unknown, but the letter is in excellent condition and a great post-Civil War artifact.

A SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF 1932 OLYMPIC CHAMPION AND LPGA STAR BABE DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS

BABE DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS (1911-1956). Zaharias was an American athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She succeeded in multiple sports but is best known as a professional golfer who won 10 major LPGA titles.

PS. 6 ¼” x 9 ¼”. N.d. N.p. A photograph signed “Best Wishes ‘Babe’ Didrikson Zaharias”. The black-and-white image, which was cut from a magazine, shows Zaharias holding a large trophy. It is in good condition, with several visible folds. Since it was removed from a magazine, the edges are uneven.

MRS. EDISON’S BOOK, AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE

MINA MILLER EDISON (1865-1947).  Mina Edison was the second wife of Thomas Edison; after his death, she remarried to Edward Everett Hughes.

Book. 3 ½” x 5 ¼”. 1905. London.  Aucassin and Nicolette by Andrew Lang with drawings by Gilbert James.  It was published by George Routledge & Sons Ltd in 1905 in London.  Aucassin and Nicolette is a medieval French fictional story.  It has green leather boards with “Mrs. Edison Hughes” gilt stamped on the front cover.

FORMER FIRST LADY MAMIE EISENHOWER WRITES TO AMBASSADOR BLAIR’S WIFE IN COPENHAGEN

MAMIE DOUD EISENHOWER (1896-1979). Eisenhower was First Lady from 1953 to 1961.

TLS. 1pg. August 3, 1962. Cologne, [Germany]. A typed letter signed “Mamie Eisenhower” as former First Lady, on her personal letterhead. Eisenhower wrote to Catherine Blair, the wife of U.S. Ambassador to Denmark William McCormick Blair, Jr., at the American Embassy in Copenhagen: “Dear Mrs. Blair: It was wonderful to return to beautiful Copenhagen last evening although as I am sure you know our hour stopover was all too short. Thank you very much for your sweet thought in sending via the Ambassador, your exquisite and fragrant flowers. This particular bulb is a great favorite of mine and I was delighted with your thought. We all missed seeing you, but send you our warmest wishes for happiness in the days ahead. Sincerely, Mamie Eisenhower”. In fine condition with minor ink smudges in the bottom margin, the letter has a small mounting remnant on the verso.