Price: $1,500.00
Unbound. Autograph Letter Signed ("J. Cooley"), dated 16 March 1852, from Cream Hill, Connecticut on blue paper. One page. Folded as mailed, lightened at the folds, else fine, with small pencil drawing laid in. Envelope with West Cornwall, Connecticut cancellation is present. The 11-year-old Cooley dutifully sends a letter to his cousin in Philadelphia, urging him to visit New York when they are both out of school. He encloses two drawings (only one of which is present here): "They are not very good as I have only taken lessons this term." Most intriguingly, he mentions: "This morning the boys had a nice game of football. There are some large boys in the school one of them is almost nineteen years old." The official date of birth for American football is 1869, and perhaps Cooley refers to either a form of soccer or rugby, but doesn't specify which, if either.
Item #395217
