Washington, Einstein and Hemingway Lead Autographs Sale

A June 10, 1779, letter signed by George Washington and written in the hand of his aide-de-camp James McHenry is among the highlights of RR Auction's August Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction which ends August 12.

Sent to New York Governor George Clinton after British forces captured Stony Point and Verplanck's Point, the letter concerns New York militia called into service in response to the offensive. Washington acknowledges the difficulty of keeping the militia away during the farming season and expresses his "warmest acknowledgements for the zeal and alacrity they have discovered on the present interesting occasion."

Scientific material includes two handwritten postcards Albert Einstein sent to German mathematician Chaim Herman Muntz on consecutive days in August 1928 while the two were working on Einstein's unified field theory.

In the first, Einstein reports that a proposed centrally symmetric solution rests on a calculation error, writing that "for the time being, the outlook is bleak for the physical interpretation of the theory." By the following day, he had reconsidered part of the problem: "Your electron is possible if one considers the Hamilton-Function." Months later, his paper On Unified Field Theory acknowledged Muntz for his calculations of the centrally symmetric problem.

A seven-page Ernest Hemingway letter from Havana written May 24, 1933, to Esquire founder Arnold Gingrich, predates the magazine's inaugural issue by several months and includes Hemingway's blunt assessment "Esquire sounds bad to me (as title)."

Writing on Hotel Ambos Mundos stationery, Hemingway also discusses editor Maxwell Perkins and recounts catching 29 marlin swordfish, including seven in a single Saturday. His promised "damned good Cuban letter" anticipated A Cuban Letter, Marlin off the Morro published in Esquire's first issue.

Hollywood material includes a vintage glossy photograph of Marilyn Monroe seated on a large tufted cushion, with the lacy strap of her dark evening gown slipping from her shoulder. Monroe signed and inscribed the photograph in blue ballpoint: "To Mall Dodson, Thanks a million for the wonderful press job you did. Warmest Regards, Marilyn Monroe."

Other highlights include:

• Steve McQueen is represented by oversized Barry Feinstein photographs, a signed contract amendment for Papillon and a handwritten note from the set of The War Lover that begins, "I'm writing in Blood so you will know I'm sincere"
• a Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope poster featuring Tom Jung's artwork and signed by 18 cast and crew members, including Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, James Earl Jones, John Williams, Gary Kurtz, Ralph McQuarrie, Ben Burtt and Phil Tippett
• a Raiders of the Lost Ark poster featuring Richard Amsel's artwork carrying 13 signatures, including those of Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, John Williams, Denholm Elliott (very uncommon on Raiders posters), John Rhys-Davies, Frank Marshall, Lawrence Kasdan, McQuarrie, Ben Burtt and Phil Tippett