The Alfred Shepard Boote Autograph Collection.

Description:

The Alfred Shepard Boote Autograph Collection. Mostly c. 1941-1946. An extensive collection of over 700 autographs on cards, letters and photographs of United States and foreign government officials, leaders in military, science, entertainment, sports, radio, and literature. Highlights include: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover (three autographs),Harry Truman, J. Edgar Hoover, Henry Wallace, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gen. John J. Pershing, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Gen. George S. Patton, Gen. Omar Bradley, Adm. Harold R. Stark, Adm. Raymond Spruance, J.M. Wainwright, Gen. James H. Doolittle, Adm. Chester Nimitz (two autographs),Adm. William F. Halsey, Sgt. Alvin York, Eddie Rickenbacker, William Tecumseh Sherman, Thomas E. Dewey, Jeannette Rankin, Helen Keller (two autographs),Albert Einstein, Grace Coolidge, Bess Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Lord Harrison, Edith Roosevelt, Edith Bolling Wilson, Mary T. Norton, John N. Garner, Charles Gates Dawes, Ransom E. Olds, Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Booth Tarkington, Jimmy Durante, Rube Goldberg, Chic Young, Eddie Cantor, Mary Pickford, Jack Benny, Ginger Rodgers, Boris Karloff, Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, Walt Disney, Mary Martin, Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Lee J. Cobb, Ole and Chic Johnson, Ray Bolger, William Powell, Lowell Thomas, Francis Scott, Gypsy Rose Lee, Jimmy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Harry James, Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Arthur Fiedler, Agatha Christie, Upton Sinclair, Thornton Wilder, Ethel Merman, John Bradley, Norman Rockwell, Babe Ruth, St. Louis Browns 1943 baseball team, Yankees baseball team, members of the House of Representatives and Senate from most states and territories, United States Supreme Court Justices, mayors of major American cities and many more, five organized binders, and two folders of loose items.

Provenance: As a boy of 12 years in 1941, Alfred "Shep" Boote began collecting autographs by sending personal letters to government dignitaries, entertainment icons, sports figures, authors, and other luminaries of the 1940s. They would answer his letters with their signature and would often return the 3-cent stamp he used to send his letter. Most of his collection was assembled over just a few years.

A market research executive by profession, Shep had an experiential career. He earned his Columbia PhD so he could be a college professor before retiring. In retirement he wrote two novels: An Evil Trust and House of Dead Dreams. Shep passed away in 2017 at age 88.
Estimate $3,000-5,000


Items may have wear and tear, imperfections, or the effects of aging. Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.

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