A Dallas, Texas collector who spent decades acquiring and carefully preserving the signatures of every U.S. President from George Washington in 1789 to Barack Obama in 20210 is selling his treasured collection intact. Estimate: $400,000-$500,000.

WILTON, Conn. - Oct. 23, 2024 - PRLog -- Americans will go to the polls on Tuesday, November 5^th, to elect a new president, but a different kind of presidential history might be made less than a week earlier – on Wednesday, October 30^th. That's when University Archives, the Connecticut-based auction house, will offer a complete set of presidential signatures, from George Washington to Barack Obama, all signed while the men were in office.

The group, gathered by a Dallas gentleman who stopped collecting the signatures after Obama's presidency, consists of autograph letters signed; typed letters signed; and signed letters; together with a variety of signed documents. They date from 1789 to 2010 and all show bold signatures.

The online-only auction will begin promptly at 10 am Eastern time and the presidential set, lot #89 in the catalog, has a pre-auction estimate of $400,000-$500,000.

"There are very few complete sets of presidential autographs signed as President, mainly due to the scarcity of William Henry Harrison pieces, as he served just one month in office," said John Reznikoff, the president and owner of University Archives. "Many of these sets reside in institutions and will never be offered to the public."

Mr. Reznikoff added that, based on a census taken by Joseph Rubinfine in 2002 and updated by Seth Kaller in 2023, "it is believed that fewer than a dozen such sets likely exist in private hands, this being one of the very best. A set of presidential signatures as President is thus scarcer than a set of signers of the Declaration of Independence."

The Dallas collector, who wishes to remain anonymous, was described by Mr. Reznikoff as "a man whose passion for history and preservation inspired him to assemble this phenomenal, museum-quality signers set."

All lots in the catalog are up for viewing and bidding now on the newly redesigned University Archives website – www.UniversityArchives.com – as well as LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted.

Here is a link to the catalog on the University Archives website: https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-catalog/rare-autographs-manuscripts-books_E6Q0WAIS7L

For more information please visit www.universityarchives.com. Updates are posted frequently.