Curiosities

Featuring news about the historical collectibles market, museum exhibitions, auctions of note, autograph exemplars and signature studies of prominent people of interest, intriguing new items we have acquired which merit special attention, and discussions of general interest to collectors worldwide. If you would like to sign up for our newsletters, you can do so here. Review our Privacy Policy for assurance that we will never share your information.

Pope Pius X Signed Photograph

5.10.24 + Tags:

Vintage authentically signed photograph of His Holiness Pope Pius X, signed beneath photo on thick stock. Pope Pius X (Italian:...

 


17th Century Antiphonal Musical Manuscript

5.10.24 + Tags:

Liturgical musical manuscript on vellum, in Latin, 2pp. approx. 19 x 28 in., hand-painted in red and black with one...

 


Pope Pius VII Bulla Manuscript

5.10.24 + Tags:

PIUS VII (1742-1823) Pope from 1800-1823, taken to France as prisoner by Napoleon from 1809-1813, returning to Rome after the...

 


Heinrich Himmler Autograph Signature

5.10.24 + Tags:

Historical 4x2.25 cut signature on "Reichsminifter des Inn" page signed "H. Himmler" in fountain pen ink. Crease in the center...

 


Antique Map of Alexander the Great’s Conquests

6.28.23 + Tags:

Beautiful engraved hand-colored antique map dated 1732, by the distinguished 18th-century cartographer Emanuel Bowen, depicting the broad and impressive extent...

 


Antique Engraved Map of Italy

6.28.23 + Tags:

Hodiernæ Italæ Tabula 1726 by Edward Wells Original engraved antique map of Italy from 1726, illustrating the main geographical features...

 


Signed Subscription & Sierra Leone Land Grant

6.28.23 + Tags:

Historically important documents directly related to abolishing the slave trade in the then-British African colony Sierra Leone. Exceptionally scarce signed...

 


War-dated Autograph Letter Signed

6.28.23 + Tags:

Particularly scarce and desirable war-dated Autograph Letter Signed to Lieutenant General Brent Spencer, Wellington's 1st Infantry Division Commander & his...

 


Signature

6.28.23 + Tags:

Beautiful florid signature in fountain pen, mounted on paper below small engraved reproduction. WU TING-FANG (1842-1922), also known as Ng...

 


Original Spanish Prisoner Letter

6.28.23 + Tags:

Long before the well-known Nigerian money-transfer scam appeared in email inboxes worldwide, the "Spanish Prisoner" con, having begun in the...