Archives International Auctions - Auction 115 July 28, 2026

Archives International Auctions - Sale 115 85 July 28, 2026 Archives International Auctions www.archivesinternational.com Ephemera - Early California Correspondence California and Oregon 360 360 California State Telegraph Co. 1867 Issued Telegram Message about “Ill Chinaman” California and Eugene City and Portland, Oregon, 1867. Issued telegram message on California State Telegraph Company header, Discusses the “Chinaman” that “came through from the south” and was ill for two (2) days. VF condition with light toning on edges. Chinese workers were extremely important for the building of railroads, roads and construction in the west. Chinese miners tended to live in groups and work claims the Americans had abandoned. Initially, Americans found the newcomers peculiar and would visit Chinese camps for amusement. Then, in 1852, a year of serious crop failure in southern China, 20,026 Chinese flooded the San Francisco customs house. The previous year only 2,716 had arrived. By the end of the 1850s, Chinese immigrants made up one-fifth of the population of the four counties that constituted the Southern Mines. ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $120-180 Ephemera - Historic Scandals & Scams Mosquito Territory (Honduras), 361 361 Honduras. Poyaisian LandGrant, 1834, Class KGrant for 20Acres, I/U Signed by Sir Gregor MacGregor. Mosquito Territory (Honduras), 1834. 20 Acres, I/U, Class K Poyaisian Land Grant, S/N 313, signed by Gregor MacGregor. Black text in English and French, with elaborate coat of arms depicted at top center, featuring English and Scottish flags, faint watermarks at top. VF to XF condition with some toning, splitting, and holes along fold lines. General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 to 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to “Poyais”, a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as “Cazique”. Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor’s invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor’s Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history. He devised a tricameral parliament and other convoluted constitutional arrangements for Poyais, drew up commercial and banking mechanisms, and designed distinctive uniforms for each regiment of the Poyaisian Army. His imaginary country had an honours system, landed titles, as well as a coat of arms. A French court tried MacGregor and three others for fraud in 1826 after he attempted a variation on the scheme there, but convicted only one of his associates. Acquitted, MacGregor attempted lesser Poyais schemes in London over the next decade. In 1838, he moved to Venezuela, where he was welcomed back as a hero. He died in Caracas in 1845, aged 58, and was buried with full military honors in Caracas Cathedral. Fascinating piece of history from a famous con man. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $400-600 362 362 Honduras. Poyaisian Land Grant, 1834, Class I Grant for 30 Acres, I/U Signed by Sir Gregor MacGregor. Mosquito Territory (Honduras), 1834. 30 Acres, I/U, Class I Poyaisian Land Grant, S/N 606, signed by Gregor MacGregor. Black text in English and French, with elaborate coat of arms depicted at top center, featuring English and Scottish flags, faint watermarks at top. VF to XF condition with some toning, splitting, and holes along fold lines. General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 to 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to “Poyais”, a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as “Cazique”. Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor’s invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor’s Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history. He devised a tricameral parliament and other convoluted constitutional arrangements for Poyais, drew up commercial and banking mechanisms, and designed distinctive uniforms for each regiment of the Poyaisian Army. His imaginary country had an honours system, landed titles, as well as a coat of arms. A French court tried MacGregor and three others for fraud in 1826 after he attempted a variation on the scheme there, but convicted only one of his associates. Acquitted, MacGregor attempted lesser Poyais schemes in London over the next decade. In 1838, he moved to Venezuela, where he was welcomed back as a hero. He died in Caracas in 1845, aged 58, and was buried with full military honors in Caracas Cathedral. Fascinating piece of history from a famous con man. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $400-600 363 363 Honduras. Poyaisian Land Grant, 1834, Class G Grant for 100 Acres, I/U Signed by Sir Gregor MacGregor. Mosquito Territory (Honduras), 1834. 100 Acres, I/U, Class G Poyaisian Land Grant, S/N 1189, signed by Gregor MacGregor. Black text in English and French, with elaborate coat of arms depicted at top center, featuring English and Scottish flags, faint watermarks at top. VF to XF condition with some toning, splitting, and holes along fold lines. General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 to 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to “Poyais”, a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as “Cazique”. Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor’s invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor’s Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history. He devised a tricameral parliament and other convoluted constitutional arrangements for Poyais, drew up commercial and banking mechanisms, and designed distinctive uniforms for each regiment of the Poyaisian Army. His imaginary country had an honours system, landed titles, as well as a coat of arms. A French court tried MacGregor and three others for fraud in 1826 after he attempted a variation on the scheme there, but convicted only one of his associates. Acquitted, MacGregor attempted lesser Poyais schemes in London over the next decade. In 1838, he moved to Venezuela, where he was welcomed back as a hero. He died in Caracas in 1845, aged 58, and was buried with full military honors in Caracas Cathedral. Fascinating piece of history from a famous con man. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $400-600