Inspection off.
Move the pointer across the plate for a magnified crop, as you would run a loupe over the surface in the viewing room. Using a keyboard, step between the named details instead.
Further plates
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Detail.
Manuscript
Dated 1863
An autograph letter, signed, from a nineteenth-century engineer
Autograph letter signed, two pages, quarto
9 × 7 in. (23 × 18 cm), two pages on one folded sheet
Bidding on lot 64
Bidding has not opened
$600 – 900
- Opens
- Wed, Sep 30, 2:00 PM EDT
- Closes
- Wed, Sep 30, 4:00 PM EDT
- Starting price
- $400
- Opening increment
- $25
There is no bid control on this lot because it is not open. When bidding opens, the next admissible bid will be $400, and the ladder will step by $25 at that level.
Before the sale
- Request the full condition report from the department.
- View the lot in person; the viewing dates are printed on the sale page.
- Leave an absentee bid, or book a telephone line, at least 24 hours in advance.
Demonstration site. Hammer & Co is a fictional auction house; every lot, estimate, bid, result and provenance chain on this site is invented for the purpose of showing the design. No bid placed here is a real bid and nothing here is offered for sale.
Catalogue note
A working letter concerning the setting-out of a bridge abutment, with a small pen-and-ink sketch in the margin. The correspondent is not named in the catalogue because the signature has not been authenticated to the department’s satisfaction; it is offered as a nineteenth-century engineering letter and no more.
Condition report
Good Reported by Peter Lindqvist on September 10, 2026
Old folds, one with a 1 in. separation at the edge. Light browning. The ink is strong and entirely legible. A small paperclip stain at the upper left. Not laid down.
A condition report is an opinion, honestly held, given as a courtesy and not a warranty. It is not a substitute for examining the lot yourself, and the absence of a reference to a defect does not imply that the lot is free from it. Every lot is sold as is.
Provenance
- to date From an American private archive.
Every provenance chain on this demonstration site is invented. No real collection, sale or ownership history is described.
The bidding ladder
Bids step by a published ladder, not a percentage. At $400 the step is $25, so the next admissible bid is $400. The auctioneer may vary the increment at their discretion.
| Bid at | Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 – $199 | $10 |
| $200 – $499 | $25 |
| $500 – $999 | $50 |
| $1,000 – $1,999 | $100 |
| $2,000 – $4,999 | $250 |
| $5,000 – $9,999 | $500 |
| $10,000 – $19,999 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 – $49,999 | $2,000 |
| $50,000 – $99,999 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 – $199,999 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 – $499,999 | $20,000 |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | $50,000 |
| $1,000,000 and above | $100,000 |
