Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull (1806)
Hamilton fanatics and American history buffs, mark your calendars: you have the chance to own a piece of Alexander Hamilton’s personal history thanks to an upcoming auction at Sotheby’s in New York, Alexander Hamilton: an Important Family Archive of Letters and Manuscripts, due to be held on 18 January. The auction will include hundreds of documents that have been passed down in the founding father’s family, such as notes for president George Washington’s third annual address to Congress in October 1971, love letters between Hamilton and his wife Eliza and even a lock of Hamilton’s hair with a letter of presentation from Eliza, all estimated at $15,000-$20,000. The most expensive lot listed so far is a paper with Hamilton’s official appointment in 1777 as General George Washington’s aide-de-camp, stating he is “to be respected and obeyed as such”. With an estimate of $150,000-$250,000, it makes an $850 ticket to the musical seem like pocket change.