The Hunt for History
On the Trail of the World's Lost Treasures—from the Letters of Lincoln, Churchill, and Einstein to the Secret Recordings Onboard JFK's Air Force One
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4.4 • 8 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Nathan Raab, America’s preeminent rare documents dealer, delivers a “diverting account of treasure hunting in the fast lane” (The Wall Street Journal) that recounts his years as the Sherlock Holmes of historical artifacts, questing after precious finds and determining their authenticity.
A box uncovered in a Maine attic with twenty letters written by Alexander Hamilton; a handheld address to Congress by President George Washington; a long-lost Gold Medal that belonged to an American President; a note that Winston Churchill wrote to his captor when he was a young POW in South Africa; paperwork signed and filled out by Amelia Earhart when she became the first woman to fly the Atlantic; an American flag carried to the moon and back by Neil Armstrong; an unpublished letter written by Albert Einstein, discussing his theory of relativity.
Each day, people from all over the world contact Nathan Raab for help understanding what they have, what it might be worth, and how to sell it. The Raab Collection’s president, Nathan is a modern-day treasure hunter and one of the world’s most prominent dealers of historical artifacts. Most weeks, he travels the country, scours auctions, or fields phone calls and emails from people who think they may have found something of note in a grandparent’s attic.
In The Hunt for History, “Raab takes us on a wild hunt and deliciously opens up numerous hidden crevices of history” (Jay Winik, author of April 1865)—spotting a letter from British officials that secured the Rosetta Stone; discovering a piece of the first electric cable laid by Edison; restoring a fragmented letter from Andrew Jackson that led to the infamous Trail of Tears; and locating copies of missing audio that had been recorded on Air Force One as the plane brought JFK’s body back to Washington. Whether it’s the first report of Napoleon’s death or an unpublished letter penned by Albert Einstein to a curious soldier, every document and artifact Raab uncovers comes with a spellbinding story—and often offers new insights into a life we thought we knew.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rare documents dealer Raab relates the stories behind his greatest finds in his brisk and entertaining debut. After working in politics and public relations, Raab followed his father into the antiquarian business; in one of his first transactions, he fetched a quarter-million dollars for a collection of Ronald Reagan's letters. Other high-price articles include a section of the first underground electric cable laid between Thomas Edison's house and laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.; the original, unedited recording from Air Force One as JFK's body was flown from Dallas to Andrews Air Force Base; and the fragments of an 1829 letter from Andrew Jackson to Native American tribal leaders. Raab sketches the historical context of these and other items, describes how they came to his attention, and details the painstaking authentication process. The anecdotes share a similar structure, and they all serve to burnish Raab's reputation. His genuine love of history radiates from the page, however, and readers will root for people like Robert Johnson, who saved a piece of Amelia Earhart memorabilia from the trash pile. The result is a thoughtful tribute to the art and business of collecting history.
