13 Handwritten Ledgers Letters Frank Baum Syracuse NY 1871- Author of Wizard of OZ/During Theatrical Years Start Price USD 9.99 Current Price USD 4,800.00 Time Left - Bid Count 13 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, December 02, 2008 End Time Tuesday, December 09, 2008 Location Sheridan, OR See more about '13 Handwritten Ledgers Letters Frank Baum Syracuse NY ' Description To my great surprise, I had purchased a group of 5 ledgers and although I’m not exactly sure how or if they are all related, I found some very historical papers between the pages of one of the ledgers. I will describe the ledgers briefly later on in this description but I want to first tell you about the ephemera found. Inside the ledgers there were several pieces of ephemera and 8 pieces in particular really stood out to me which were letters belonging to the Baum family of Syracuse New York. The Baum family was a very prominent and wealthy family but more importantly, Louis Frank Baum was the author of the famous book “The Wizard of Oz.” To give you a better idea of the families background, I found several web sites that describe them and their history; http://books.google.com/books?id=H7OKVbW-A84C&pg=RA1-PA1&lpg=RA1-PA1&dq=%22Benjamin+Ward+Baum%22&source=bl&ots=baNfYqkd2p&sig=7_wIe-ZJx-Z_SKPjhfRiTzIylIw&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result There are also numerous web sites for Frank but one that went into detail can be found at; http://www.literarytraveler.com/authors/l_frank_baum.aspx The era the letters represent are from 1883 when Frank, his Uncle John and Frank’s father, Benjamin Ward Baum, had invested in an acting company. Frank had already begun his career as a playwright and had written a play called “Maid of Arran” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maid_of_Arran Frank’s uncle was the manager, Frank the author and his father of course the financial investor. These letters were written during the time when the play was at the end of it’s popularity and things were on the verge of collapse. Frank’s health was failing and he decided to quit the company. Soon after his uncle, also in ill health, hired a bookkeeper to take his place for the company and it was then that the theatrical company really became financially doomed. One of the web sites I found shows a photo of Frank himself as one of the actors in his play Maid of Arran; http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/motherofoz.htm There are 3 letters from Frank’s uncle to Benjamin, his brother, 1 letter from the Uncle to Frank, two letters from Frank himself to his father, 1 letter from the play’s leading actress Agnes Halleck (and an angry one I might add) to Frank’s father http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/macauley&CISOPTR=202&CISOBOX=1&REC=9 and one cancelled check signed by Frank’s father, Benjamin. I’ve quoted from a few of the letters to give you a better idea of their contents. The first letter actually has a wonderful letterhead of the play itself. This particular letter is 4 pages long and in part says….. “Baum’s Maid of Arran Company; Second Successful Season” St. Thomas January 28th, 1883 B. W. Baum Esq Buffalo N.Y. Dear Bro, Have just received a dispatch from Brown saying he had again changed our date at Syracuse putting us in there the week after the Jubilee Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I am very sorry he has done this for the week after the Jubilee will be a very dull week in Syracuse. Lebanon has treated us very badly the 5th and 6th and the best two nights before Lent would have been worth 500 more to us then the dates we now have. I am very sorry the change was made but it is now too late to correct. Our business has been poor for the past few days with the exceptions of two or three nights owing to the extreme cold weather at Ann Arbor…..(he goes on and lists the amount of money made at each city for each performance and then says)……I have not written you as Frank promised and tells me he writes your every day or two giving you amounts of receipts of each performer. You know about what our expenses are so can tell about how we are doing. If anything new comes up I always tell Frank to write you which he promises me he will do. I don’t want you to feel hard toward me B.W. for I assure you I have your interest more at heart in this matter than my own……Your Aff. Bro. John W. Baum.” (Much more) This next letter is a short note written from Frank to his father on a Montour House letterhead….. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pamontou/monthous.htm “Danville, Pa April 28th, 1883 Dear Father, After considering the matter, I have just given John one weeks notice and leave the company on May 3rd. I shall come to Syracuse and talk with you regarding my future. Your Son, Frank.” The next letter is a 3 page letter from the leading actress. She‘s very upset and also talks about Franks Aunt Katharine who also was an actress in the play…. “Richmond Ind., May 16th, 1883 B.W. Baum Esq. Sir, Am sorry to take away with me the knowledge that you are not a man of your word. We are left here to get home the best way we can. Mr. Frank and his wife sail off at ease and I am left here to get home the best way I can. You told me over and over again no matter what happened I shall never be left, here is the result. You are aware of my revenues and yet you made no effort to keep your word, so be it. Added to this I have been insulted by your sister Mrs. K. Gray to such an extent that I never will forgive and I here in say much, if not all the trouble, has been caused by her. With her soft paw she gives you a dig or some unfortunate third party and it all comes around in such a way that she clears her skirts. Everybody is against her and she has hurt everyone in the company from beginning to end…….I wish I had never seen any of it but I thought you would have kept your word to me, Respectfully, Agnes Halleck.” (Much more) “Pittsfield Pa. may 19th, 1883 (3 page) Dear Frank, I have written several letters the answers to be sent to Syracuse care Sperry Neal & H. Any letters arriving there this week will you please forward to me here as I shall remain here until the middle of next week. Please forward them at once as some of them are important……I shall be very busy for a week or ten days. Shall then come to Syracuse to see if there can be anything done with the play this season. Have you rewritten the play. I wish you would do so at once. Cutting out the two parts and shortening play to 2 ¼ hours. Have not heard from any of the company since the left Richmond. Have you found anything to do yet and what do you think about trying to start the play again this season…….Your Aff. Uncle, J. W. Baum. My kindest regard to Maud, Hattie and all.” The next two letters are from John and consist of 9 pages between the two. They are written to Benjamin and they talk of John being out of work but trying to get the Manager’s position at the opera house. The last letter is not complete. It’s written by Frank to his father, but the first page is not accounted for. It was written in the 1880’s from Brooklyn E.D. At the bottom where Frank signed it he writes “Your Aff Son, Frank, Direct to Lee Avenue Academy of Music, Brooklyn.” He talks about the company and how it’s going. Remember this is not a complete letter. The condition of these letters is not real good, as you can see there is a good deal of foxing and smudges; another thing to keep in mind when purchasing. Now, as far as the ledgers are concerned there are a total of 5 of them. I have no idea how they relate to the Baum papers, if they even do, but since I purchased them all together and found the letters within, I’m selling them as I found them. I tried to find familiar names but only quickly glanced through them, but have described them briefly below; 1) 1885 ledger with handwritten first page that reads “Capsules, Parke Davis & Co. Detroit Mich.” This ledger only has 10 handwritten pages. 2) 1871 ledger that is full of handwritten entries that consist mostly of numbers and names. Some kind of accounting book. This has over 700 handwritten pages. 3) 1911 Munnsville New York Church Building Fund ledger with 40 handwritten pages. 4) 1936 Pharmacy Book with 200 pages of handwritten prescriptions. 5) 1903-1914 ledger with lots of names and numbers. Was partly used as a schoolgirls scrapbook with magazine cutouts. This one has 550 handwritten pages. The ledgers are in a variety of shapes and conditions. The bindings for the most part look good, the covers however are very very worn and the biggest one is in bad shape. This box is very heavy but because they are books I can send it media mail which would be around $15.00 as it weighs about 35 pounds. Please email me with any questions. On Dec-05-08 at 13:04:26 PST, seller added the following information:The auction house I purchased this lot from found another ledger that went with it so there are actually 6 ledgers all together. Also Some of the papers inside this 6th ledger have to do with the N.Y. National Guard and the 51st regiment. There are 4 of those dated 1875 and then an 1869 enlistment document for a Frank Daner. The ledger dates from 1910-1912 and has some very interesting entries as far as "customers" are concerned. It seems to be a business ledger of sorts and lists business such as; 3rd Reg. Rifle Team, Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., Syracuse Journal, Army Service Schools, Adjutant General S.N.Y., Athletic Club and more, including lots of personal names. There are also a few diary type entries, or similar to diary entries. For example, one says.... "To expenses incurred on trip to Oswego N.Y with one inlisted man. To inspect the shooting of Co. D. 3rd Inf. N.G.N.Y. in Bath Match in accordance with orders received in letter from Major commanding 2nd Bat. Inf. N.G.N.Y. and dated Sept 2, 1911...." The ledger has 238 handwritten pages and is also full of loose newspaper clippings. Hope this helps. Place a Bid!