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

by Nathan Raab, Luke Barr

Overview

Nathan Raab, America’s preeminent rare documents dealer, describes his years as the Sherlock Holmes of historical artifacts—questing after precious finds and determining their authenticity—and he shows us what the past can tell us about the present.

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she became the first woman to fly the Atlantic; an American flag carried to the moon and back by Neil Armstrong; an unpublished letter written by Albert Einstein, discussing his theory of relativity.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 shares some fascinating stories about his professional exploits: 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 Whether it’s the first report of Napoleon’s death or an unpublished letter penned by Albert Einstein to a curious soldier, every document and artifact Raab uncovers comes with a spellbinding story—and often offers new insights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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501198908
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Nathan Raab is one of the world’s most knowledgeable and respected experts in historical documents. His writing has appeared in The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and he frequently writes a column, “Historically Speaking,” for Forbes.com. The author of The Hunt for History, he lives with his family in Pennsylvania.

Luke Barr is the author of Ritz & Escoffier and the New York Times bestseller Provence, 1970. The former features editor at Travel + Leisure, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two daughters.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Part I Apprentice

1 Early Days: Babe Ruth and Teddy Roosevelt 1

2 Lessons from My Father 13

3 What Is It Worth? 27

4 The Gold Medal, the Top Hat, and the Martini Shaker 39

5 The Auction Game 57

6 The Art of the Fake 71

7 The Real Ronald Reagan 81

Part II The Hunt

8 The Mystery of the Washington Survey 89

9 Taking the Reins 103

10 The Report of the Death of Napoléon 113

11 Provenance, or Where's This Stuff Been Hiding? 123

12 Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein 135

13 "I Know You Think Women Are the Pets of Society" 145

14 Thomas Jefferson's Library 155

15 The JFK Tapes 165

Part III The Meaning of History

16 The Legacy of MLK 181

17 Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears 195

18 Smuggled Out of Nazi Germany 207

19 Vein of Gold 225

Epilogue 233

Acknowledgments 237

Index 239

Editorial Reviews

01/06/2020

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. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

A leading dealer in historical documents and artifacts delivers a delightful account of his business....As skilled in satisfying readers as clients, Raab knows how to tell a story, chronicling how descendants of great historical figures invite him to their homes and reveal treasures...Though the anecdotes are unconnected, they are unfailingly entertaining.”

—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“In another life, I want to be Nathan Raab living with our most celebrated heroes of the past. In The Hunt for History, we get a first-hand look at a time traveler, document detective, and historical harvester as he mines for—and often procures—lost treasures.”

—Dan Abrams, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Lincoln’s Last Trial and Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense

“For those who collect—or just care about—the artifacts of history, Nathan Raab offers a compelling account of his wide-ranging adventures: absorbing journeys into the past that teach valuable lessons. A terrific feat of storytelling, The Hunt for History will forever change the way you think about the events that have shaped our current reality.”

—Daniel Weiss, President and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

“With his love for rare artifacts and long forgotten treasures, Nathan Raab takes us on a wild hunt and deliciously opens up numerous hidden crevices of history. What a rollicking ride this book is. What a statement about why we love history.”

—Jay Winik, New York Times bestselling author of 1944 and April 1865

“A thrilling work of detection through the eyes of an expert, with false leads, forgeries and scoundrels—a fast and fascinating read.”
—Jonathan Harr, New York Times bestselling author of A Civil Action and The Lost Painting

“A tale of instinct, passion, patient research, and addictive interest—all animated by a son’s admiration for his father. Like John Hancock writing in large, bold letters, I would mark this book: ‘Highly recommended.’”

—Harold Holzer, National Humanities Medal Winner and author of Lincoln at Cooper Union and Lincoln and the Power of the Press

“Forget National Treasure—Nathan Raab’s historical adventures make him the Indiana Jones of rare document dealers....Not content to preserve history, here Raab makes some of his own in a detective story that will fascinate every collector and remind us all why history is too important to leave to the historians.”
—Richard Norton Smith, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Thomas E. Dewey and His Times and other works of history

“Worth reading for its tales of buried treasure and dogged detection. It‘s also keenly perceptive on the alchemy by which ink-and-paper relics become portals to the past, bringing history thrillingly alive.”
—Benjamin Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar

“Fascinates with its stories of tracking down rare artifacts from America's past....Raab’s track record as an antiquarian, restorer, curator and field-researcher is extraordinary.”
—Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University and author of American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race

“An absolutely riveting book that will have you experiencing moments of great significance as if they were occurring right in front of you...Perhaps Raab’s greatest talent is showing the importance of history—why it can teach us so much and fire us with inspiration.”
—Andrew Carroll, New York Times bestselling author of War Letters and Letters of a Nation

“Raab’s account underscores the richness of our heritage, adding intriguing footnotes to the history we thought we knew.”
—Susan Eisenhower, President of The Eisenhower Group and author of Breaking Free and Mrs. Ike

From the Publisher

01/31/2020

In this part detective story, part history lesson, Raab (The Hunt for History; "Historically Speaking" column, Forbes.com), with cowriter Barr (Ritz & Escoffier), describes how his parents ventured into the autograph and memorabilia business in the mid-1990s, encouraging him to join them. Raab shares his experiences tracking down documents, performing extensive research, and delivering news, both good and bad, to people uncertain if their items have significant historical value. Here, readers gain insight into the adventures of a real-life treasure hunter; Raab's exploits will remind readers of Indiana Jones or Benjamin Gates of the National Treasure film series. They'll be amazed by the artifacts Raab comes across, including many that have been passed down from generation to generation. VERDICT With several chill-inducing moments combined with engaging writing, this book will hold readers' interest until the last page. May be of particular interest to fans of Antiques Roadshow or American Pickers.—Rebecca Kluberdanz, Central New York Lib. Resources Council, Syracuse

Library Journal

★ 2019-11-11
A leading dealer in historical documents and artifacts delivers a delightful account of his business.

Raab, who writes the "Historically Speaking" column for Forbes.com, begins with an account of his education under the guidance of a father whose fascination with antiquities persuaded him to give up a prosperous legal career. "I had found my way to the emotional yet intangible heart of this trade in history," he writes. "I came to understand what binds people to the physical traces of our history and its great men and women, why these artifacts and pieces of paper have such power. This isn't an easy lesson, and no one can teach it to you. You have to learn it yourself." The author emphasizes that it's not a career for the faint of heart, requiring a scholar's knowledge of history, a keen nose for fakes (a thriving industry), genuine-but-not-priceless items (many famous people's letters were signed and often written by a secretary), and a sense of what will sell to collectors. A Benjamin Franklin letter discussing the Constitution brings a king's ransom; another apologizing for arriving late for a meeting would attract far less interest. As skilled in satisfying readers as clients, Raab knows how to tell a story, chronicling how descendants of great historical figures invite him to their homes and reveal treasures. A survey report signed by the young George Washington looked like a bonanza until Raab's research turned up another, identical including the corrections—and then another. An undistinguished collection of John F. Kennedy memorabilia included a tape of lost recordings from the plane carrying Kennedy's body to Washington, D.C., after his assassination. In that case, the author's joy was cut short when a government lawyer called him to demand it. The book also contains plenty of sad tales about certain family heirlooms, preserved for generations, that turned out to be reproductions.

Though the anecdotes are unconnected, they are unfailingly entertaining.

Kirkus Reviews