Rare Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Madison That Inspired 'The Room Where It Happens,' from the Musical 'Hamilton;' Gandhi's Famous Quotation; Famous Politician's Documents and America's First Female War Photojournalist Highlight April 28th Auction

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Apr 15, 2021, 09:19 ET

NEW YORK, April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lion Heart Autographs, Inc., one of the world's premier dealers in rare autographs and manuscripts, has announced its Lion Heart Autographs Auction No. 13, to take place on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. EST. The auction will feature two extraordinary private collections that offer an unprecedented opportunity for the public to acquire items in art, history, literature, music and science.

Among the rarest and most intriguing lots is a unique 1790 Alexander Hamilton handwritten letter to James Madison mentioning Thomas Jefferson: the only letter between the two ever to appear at auction and likely the last one still in private hands. The hit song "The Room Where It Happens," from the musical "Hamilton," chronicles the event documented in this remarkable, historic letter. The letter connecting three founding fathers was written when Hamilton, the nation's first Secretary of Treasury, and Secretary of State Jefferson were at odds, until, with Madison's assistance, they resolved their differences and agreed to the Compromise of 1790, which provided for the nation's capitol to be moved to a location on the Potomac River and the passage of Hamilton's resolution that the federal government assume the debts incurred by the states that had fought in the Revolutionary War.

Other highlights in the auction include Mahatma Gandhi's oft-quoted view on faith; Vice-President John Adams presaging Washington's advice that the country avoid "foreign entanglements:" a lengthy letter from America's first female war photojournalist, Margaret Bourke White; an invoice for items to be traded with Indians, signed by William Clark of Lewis & Clark Expedition fame; an unpublished letter by Charles Darwin on bee specimens from Africa; an early letter (1922) from "Great Gatsby" author F. Scott Fitzgerald mentioning his first novel; an early Golda Meir letter confirming her trip to America (1931); and a 1774 document signed by George Washington confirming the sale of a parcel of land from the Shenandoah Tract in Virginia; and a handwritten copy of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," by Robert Frost. There are over 170 lots.