When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Offered here is an autograph letter signed by John Bigelow (1817–1911), distinguished American diplomat, lawyer, and author.
Date/Place: Highland Falls, Sept. 26, 1911
Recipient: Albert H. Walker, Esq., author of History of the Sherman Law (1910)
Content: Bigelow requests a copy of Walker’s important book on the Sherman Antitrust Law, just months after the Supreme Court ordered the breakup of Standard Oil (1911).
Signature: Boldly signed in ink, “John Bigelow.”
This letter was written in the final months of Bigelow’s life — he passed away on December 19, 1911 — making it one of his very last known signed correspondences.
---
About John Bigelow (1817–1911):
Co-owner of the New York Evening Post with William Cullen Bryant.
Served as U.S. Consul in Paris during the Civil War, helping to secure French neutrality.
Later Ambassador to France and a key figure in New York intellectual and political life.
Editor and publisher of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography.
Trustee and guiding force behind the New York Public Library.
---
Accompanying Ephemera:
Photograph of Bigelow with printed signature.
Photograph of Bigelow at his desk in Gramercy Park.
Photograph of his birthplace in Malden, N.Y.
Together, these pieces form a small archival grouping ideal for collectors of Civil War diplomacy, antitrust law, or New York history.
---
Condition:
Letter is well-preserved with light expected folds. Signature remains strong and bold. Photos/ephemera are clean and suitable for display.
