Most of what I sell comes without content, but over the years I have handled some really good letters. The personal note from US Grant to Schuyler Colfax on the eve of Grant's second inauguration (I know that you are having your problems with the Senate, but I want you to know that I believe that you are an honorable man. Why not come over for lunch after the inauguration tomorrow?), a Southern soldier's account for First Manassas (If you haven't spent hat $20 that I gave you to buy me a pistol in Richmond, don't. I got one off a Yankee. ), and a very literate WWII engineer officer's advice to his wife as his time to return from China neared (Get all of your chores done because for the my first 2 weeks back all you're going to see is the ceiling. ) come to mind. I really regret not having taken time to type them out before they went on to new homes. But back then the Internet did not make publication easy and almost free. Now it's easier, so I'll start adding new ones as I find them.
Note: The above brought forth this fond memory:
SS Pennsylvania, Manila, September, 1898
USS Albany, Vladivostok, July 1919
USS Whitney, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 8 December 1941 (added 3/28/08)
McAlester, OK Internment Camp, May, 1943
HMS Newfoundland, Tokyo Bay, September, 1945