The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-05-07

NEW YORK. May s.--Foilowtng
sensational disclosures made today.
the sale of americana from the IL
brary of the late Benson John LOSING.
artist. author and historian. sched-
Aled to begin on Thursday afternoon
NJ the Anderson galleries. may be halt
ed. The sale announced AR "one Of
the most notable Of recent years, has
attracted the attention OF Bibiiophiles
all ever the country.
The Andersen Auction company la
irrreceipt Of letter from the COVER
nor OF virginia. in which he states
about one third OF the SOC Items com
prising Part ! of tho saie ara the
property nf~tha atate nj FfrEsris=s-sa-
Dispatches from Richmond state
that the manuscript. which include the
rarest specimen Of handwriting and
autographs OF famous men and wom-
en-. were taken from the State library
-cf Virginia. II tn thought fiiat they
were distracted during the Ciyil war
following the evacuation of the capt
tai OF the Confederacy. For years
Virginia authorities have been search
Ing for them.
A despatch from Richmond states
that an Assistant Attorney General and
the State Librarian are on their way
10 New York 10 take legal action for
the recovery of the rarities.
In statement issued today the An
dcr~on company says:
we have received letter from the
governor Of Virgins. stating that he
. has reason to believe that about one
third or the three hur dred items coai-
p0G.--ax 4hA-kala- 1a,ss+.tfsses s-a&1*r- &-~cT
the property Of the State Of Virginia.
In This letter the governor gives no
rrasons for this belief which is an
p~rently hased upon the internal eNa-
siences afforded by the letters. them
sefves. inafiy or which were addressed
to the governor Of the State Of VIZ
gin.s.
Tossing Visited Virginia.
II In known that MIR Lossing vts-
itrrf Virginia about the time of tho
efose Of the Civil war for the purpose
of acquiring historical Information.
He was tho bearer of letters from
General Grant and the SECRETARIES OF
fhc, war and navy departments. The
lettsr from General Grant bore an
endorsement from President Lincoln.
s.Tnese letters conferred authority to
pass the military lines and directed all
afscers ia EepdeE all due assistance 70
SIR. Losing I'm the pursuit OF his mis-
saicn.
:. Mrs Ioss'nr died ct THE Ridge"
year ago. For twenty years the old
ecitoiar's books and papers had laid in
the little library. while the dust slow
" formed a canopy ever priceiess lit
ernrv treasures. Three months ago
his heirs and executors determined to
rescue the treasures from obiis ION. and
Arthur SWAMI the Anderson Com
pAny's expert on books and manu-
AnEinfs. WAS called an.s-.--,.A4...-..4.
n ssEggsSss4. Napere iu-CarAd For. -.
s. Mr.. Swami found that much OF the
memorabilia had received scant atten-
tion. For example, one OF the items
. claimed by the State OF Virginia, was
found buried In = stack Of old news-
papers. This proved TO be the most
It c0nsisted OF two faded pieces Of
paper covered with the handwriting OF
Washington. The rien,orai'da they
bore were measurements q Washing
tons estate at Mount Vernon.
Among the rarities claimed by vfr-
g1nia are most Of the twenty-fiv doc
sirnents and ietter$ Of Washington. In
Guiding the original manuscript OF the
circular letter of twenty-o1c pages
which Washington wrote to Governor
BENJAMIN Harrison. OF Virginia ON
taking leave of the army. June IL. 1888:
i've PAPERS bearing the signature OF
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