A fine trio of signed items from famed 19th-century orator, lawyer, and agnostic philosopher Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899), known as “The Great Agnostic.”
Included is an autograph letter signed “Robert G. Ingersoll,” one page, Washington, D.C., July 17, 1883, addressed to Hon. Thomas Donaldson and members of the Clover Club. Ingersoll poetically declines an invitation, delivering a brilliant reflection on “clover” as a symbol of labor, peace, and domestic happiness: “A wonderful thing is Clover! It means honey and cream—that is to say—industry and contentment… Drop the ‘C’ and you have the happiest of mankind.” A charming example of Ingersoll’s wit and moral lyricism.
Accompanied by an autograph letter signed “R. G. Ingersoll,” one page, on his personal letterhead from Walston, Dobbs’ Ferry-on-Hudson, dated May 17, 1893, to Ruby M. Allen, reading in full: “Here is the autograph, long life to you, Yours always, R. G. Ingersoll.”
Completing the group is an autograph quotation signed “R. G. Ingersoll,” on lined paper, containing one of his most famous aphorisms: “God is an enthroned guess.”
Together, these three pieces capture Ingersoll’s eloquence, humanist philosophy, and personal warmth. A superb collection representing the voice of America’s most celebrated free-thinker and orator of the Gilded Age.