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Marc S.I was not aware that his signatures were so relatively common for an 19th century HOFer. My favorite 19th century item in my collection is the hand-written Contract Extension on Philadelphia National BallClub stationary to then Phillies Phenom Chas. Ferguson. Unfortunately, this one page piece was not signed by Ferguson, but it features a beautiful Wright signature, and it is completely hand-written by him. I like the piece for many reasons: That Ferguson was one of the Phillies first stars (before typhoid fever took him away...), that it speaks to the history of baseball's greatest team of futility, the Phillies, and that it is ex-Halper, as I had the privilege of viewing his collection in late 1992/early 1993. It is still one of my favorite items - and I paid a lot of money for it from Sotheby's. I imagine it has to be worth a few thousands dollars to this day. What I struggle with is how to best preserve/display such a piece. (e.g. to be able to display it but ensure that there is no degredation of the contract.)
MS