Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Old Series, Vol. 36—New Series, Vol. 10, July 1885Various
Science
Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Old Series, Vol. 36—New Series, Vol. 10, July 1885
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
Efforts to restore the lost treasure were not wanting. It might be
supposed that the possession of such rare tokens of value would have
speedily led to the discovery of their whereabouts. Mr. Mickley himself
intimated that he suspected the quarter from which the depredation had
come. Yet from that day until the present the secret has been as securely
kept as that of the rifling of Lord Byron's letter from a vase at
Abbotsford, or of the Duchess of Devonshire's portrait from the London
Art-Gallery. In fact, the same mild generosity which had always
characterized Mr. Mickley still came uppermost in the face of this trying
disaster. He frequently sought to overlook the misdoings of petty thieves.
A London pickpocket who had successfully practised upon him Oliver Twist's
little game was only prosecuted because his testimony was insisted upon by
the authorities. At the foot of the Pyramids he deplored the chastisement
inflicted by an Arab sheik upon one of his native servants who had
committed a similar depredation. His life-long friend the late William E.
Dubois, of the United States Mint, has stated that "eight or nine years
after the robbery a few very fine gold pieces of English coinage were
offered for sale at the Mint cabinet-rooms. I was so well convinced that
the labels were in his handwriting that I sent for him to come and see
them. He could not deny the likeness, but seemed reluctant to entertain
the subject at all."
During these years of study and research Mr. Mickley must not be thought
of as a strict specialist. Side by side with his fascinating collection of
coins there was an ever-growing library, the extent and value of which
were never appreciated until his death. This accumulation was in itself an
example of his cosmopolitan tastes. It was copious in local history, in
biography, in music, in general literature, in costly and well-preserved
black-letter editions, in illuminated missals dating back to the
thirteenth century, and, above all else, in autographs. Of the latter,
space cannot be spared here for anything approaching a full description.
As some indication of their value, it may be mentioned that a letter of
George Washington (the last he was known to write), dated six days before
his death, was bought by George W. Childs, Esq., for one hundred and
fifteen dollars. A letter of Abraham Lincoln to General McClellan fetched
nearly one hundred dollars. There were also signed autograph letters of
all the governors of Pennsylvania, of all the Presidents, and of all the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. The latter group is rarely met
with complete; and three of the scarcest names alone sold for as much as
all the others put together. There were signatures also of about forty
generals of the Revolutionary war, of both the British and American armies,
and including Lafayette and Kosciusko. Both Napoleon and Josephine were
represented; and the lovers of poetic justice will be glad to know that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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