Violin virtuoso Paganini's signature and strings in June 19 auction

AMHERST, N.H. - Niccolo Paganini was a remarkable Italian violinist and composer (1782–1840) who is generally regarded as the greatest virtuoso in the history of the instrument. A rare Paganini signature and two of the master's legendary strings will be sold by New Hampshire-based RR Auction in an event whose bidding closes on June 19, 2013.

"This remarkable souvenir was presented during one of his two performances in the small German municipality of Elberfeld in May of 1830, at the peak of his career," said a press release issued by RR Auction.

The ink signature and sentiment, in Italian, (translated) says: “Who will keep this forever in the memory of Paganini Niccolo, Elberfeld, with two coiled violin strings which Paganini tied near the bottom."

As Paganini’s fame spread across Europe, so did this tale of his miraculous ability. Rumors swirled that his talent came from alleged dealings with the devil, and his strings became the stuff of legend. There was speculation not only about the spirit the strings held, but also about their origin -- made from the intestines of a former lover, some even suggested. The truth behind the story, though significantly less sensational, underscores his phenomenal talent.

During a performance at the height of his career, it is frequently told, Paganini broke a string on his violin, stopped for a moment to retune the remaining three, and resumed playing. A moment later, another broke, and again he resumed; finally, a third broke, leaving him with only one string, on which he was able to beautifully play the remainder of his piece.

While writing his own compositions, Paganini taught himself to play significant portions on only one string. To boost his reputation, he would begin concerts with weakened strings, anticipating their breaking so that he could awe the crowd with his ‘impromptu’ single-string completion of the difficult works.

“An unbelievable souvenir presentation from the most celebrated violinist of his time,” remarked RR Auction VP Bobby Livingston.

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Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet achieves record $33.8M at Sotheby's

“Selling the Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet for a record-breaking price of more than three times the previous auction record for a carpet has unquestionably been the highlight of my 30 year career. It is gratifying to see the strength of the market for carpets of this quality and rarity. As an auctioneer fielding multiple bids per lot from a global audience of private collectors, institutions and dealers, the experience was thrilling!” noted Mary Jo Otsea, Senior Consultant, Rugs & Carpets at Sotheby’s.

Two bidders battled for the 44ft-ong, majestic Lafões Carpet, eventually driving the price to a remarkable $4,645,000, over three times the high estimate (est. $800/$1.2 million). The morning began strong with five bidders vying for the first lot of the sale, an Ottoman circular carpet, Cairo, Egypt, which finally achieved $785,000, far exceeding the high estimate of $120,000. The sale ended on an equally high note with a Mughal silk rug, the Deccan, probably Hyderabad, India making more than nine times its high estimate of $60,000, bringing $545,000.

About the Corcoran:

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, a privately funded institution, was founded in 1869. It was America’s first dedicated art museum and today is Washington’s largest nonfederal museum of art. It is known internationally for its distinguished collection of historical and modern American art as well as contemporary art, photography, European painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts. In addition, a dynamic schedule of special exhibitions is complemented and enhanced by a range of educational programming, which together seek to enrich perspectives, support the local arts community, and encourage interpretation. The Corcoran College of Art + Design was founded in 1890 and stands as Washington’s only four-year college of art and design, offering BFA degrees in Digital Media Design, Fine Art, Fine Art Photography, Graphic Design, Interior Design, and Photojournalism; a BA in Art Studies; a five-year Bachelor of Fine Arts/Master of Arts in Teaching (BFA/MAT); an AFA in Digital Media Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design, and Photography; and MA degrees in Art and the Book, Art Education, Exhibition Design, Interior Design, Master of Arts in Teaching, and New Media Photojournalism. The College’s Continuing Education program offers part-time credit and non-credit classes for children and adults and draws more than 2,500 participants each year. For more information about the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design, visit www.corcoran.org

Visit Sotheby's online at www.sothebys.com

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Still no takers for antique teddy bear left at UK airport

LONDON (AFP) - Staff at Bristol Airport in southwest England have appealed for help to find the owners of an antique teddy bear left in the departure lounge last year with a photograph dated 1918.

The black-and-white picture shows two young girls and what appears to be the bear. On the back is a handwritten note to "our darling Daddie" from "your loving little daughter and Sonia."

The note is signed Dora - possibly one of the girls - and Glyn, who staff believe is the name of the bear.

The teddy, which has lost one eye, is currently being kept on the desk of the airport's spokeswoman, Jacqui Mills.

Some experts believe the teddy may be a British-made Farnell bear from the early 1900s, while others say it might be either French or German.

After 14 months of inquiries yielded no clues as to the bear's owner, the airport is now appealing for help from the public.

Anyone with information as to the bear's rightful owners can contact Bristol Airport by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Dallas Auction Gallery sells rare Russian vases for $2.7M

DALLAS (AP) — Randy Buttram never gave much thought to the two 4½-foot tall ornate vases that graced the elegant main entrance of his grandparents' Oklahoma City mansion and later were displayed around a fireplace facade at his parents' home.

The vases, which had been packed away for around a decade, turned out to be rare items from Russia dating back nearly two centuries — to the reign of Nicholas I.

They also carried immense value, fetching $2.7 million Thursday in a private sale about a week before they were to be auctioned.

Buttram, 66, of Oklahoma City, remembers as a young boy playing at his grandparents' sprawling Italian Renaissance mansion that included a bowling alley in the basement. He said that the vases were part of the decor in an entryway so grand — complete with twin staircases — that they didn't particularly stand out.

"To me as a child they were just there and that's all," he said. "We did a lot of roughhousing in the house. We're lucky nobody knocked them over."

Officials with Dallas Auction Gallery were evaluating items inherited by Buttram and his brother at their late parents' home when they noticed the top portion of one of the vases lying on a bed had the blue marking of Russia's Imperial Porcelain Factory used during the reign of Nicholas I and the date 1833 printed on it.

The pieces of the vases, which are designed to be disassembled for moving and storage, had been mostly stored in cardboard boxes.

"We saw that and immediately recognized it as: 'This is unbelievable,'" said Scott Shuford, president of Dallas Auction Gallery, which conducted the sale. "I think our eyes kind of bulged out a little bit."

Shuford said the vases generated interest from all over the world in the time leading up to the April 17 auction. He said that the buyer wishes to remain anonymous. The pre-auction estimate for the vases was $1 million to $1.5 million.

As an adult, Buttram began to suspect the vases likely did have some value, but never did he imagine just how much.

Buttram's grandparents, Frank and Merle Buttram, bought the vases in 1928 from the Bernheimer Gallery in Munich while traveling through Europe. Frank Buttram, an Oklahoma native, founded Buttram Petroleum Co., which is still in the family and is now called Buttram Energies Inc.

After the deaths of his grandparents the estate was split between their five children and the vases were among items that went to Randy Buttram's father, Dorsey Buttram. When Randy Buttram's parents moved to a smaller home about a decade ago, the vases were stored. After the death of his mother in November 2011 following his father's 2006 death, Buttram and his brother began to sort through what might be worthy of auction — including the vases.

Buttram said it has been interesting to look through his grandmother's detailed records of purchases on their travels, which included everything from the vases to two pairs of boys' silk pajamas bought in China.

The auction house consulted with the Russian porcelain curator at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg to confirm that the vases were indeed produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory, founded in 1744 to produce items for the Russian royal family.

The auction house said that that research by the curator showed that one vase features a copy of the "The Concert" by Dutch painter A. Palamedes, an artwork from the 1600s currently on display in the Hermitage. Records show the painting was sent to the porcelain factory in 1832 to make a copy on the vase. Experts were unable to identify the painting that was copied on the second vase.

Shuford said they were unable to determine who the vases belonged to in Russia and it's not known how they ended up at the Munich gallery. He said that after the communists seized power in Russia in 1917 items like the vases were often sold off by the new Soviet government.

Buttram's grandparents' mansion located in the Oklahoma City enclave of Nichols Hills was an art museum for a time but is now privately owned again.

As for keeping them, Randy Buttram said he never gave that possibility much thought.

"I certainly really don't have any room for them at my house," he said.

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Dallas Auction Gallery: http://www.dallasauctiongallery.com

Click to view the fully illustrated catalog for Dallas Auction Gallery's April 17, 2013 auction and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet on auction day at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

1909 Honus Wagner baseball card auctioned for $2.1M

The T206 card, originally released by the American Tobacco Co., went for $2,105,770.50 in an online sale, Goldin Auctions said Saturday.

While the company said the price was a record for a baseball card sold at auction, a similar Wagner card in mint condition was purchased for $2.8 million in a private sale in 2007.

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Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

5 tips to help determine the value of an old piano

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB) – A vintage instrument often occupies a special place in a person’s heart and mind, whether it is the heirloom piano from a grandparent’s home or an old piano from church. As such, many people find themselves coming into possession of these antiques as they get passed down or handed off.

Michael Stinnett, owner of the Antique Piano Shop in Tennessee, says the most common question he receives through his website is, “What is this piece worth?”

“The best way to determine the value of your old piano is to get it appraised by a professional,” he said. “However, there are a few things an owner can look for that can give a sense of whether the piano is valuable or not.”

Stinnett offers these five tips to determine the potential value of an antique piano.

1. Age – Piano age is different from car age. A car becomes an antique when it’s 25 years old. However, most 50-year-old pianos are considered modern. In order for a piano to be considered antique, it needs to be closer to 100 years old, and age alone does not make it valuable. The Antique Piano Shop generally deals in instruments built before the Great Depression, although there are some rare pieces built during the World War II years that are considered historically important.

2. Unique qualities – Does the piano have any ornate or custom woodworking? Does it have an interesting or unusual design? Is it made with an uncommon wood or other material? Was it previously owned by or made for a celebrity? An answer of “yes” to any of these questions may mean that particular piano is more valuable than its counterparts.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, pianos were generally offered in different grade levels. For example, a manufacturer would offer “Good,” “Medium” and “Best” grades. The “Good” grades were usually the basic and simple models, often with only two pedals instead of the more popular three pedals, and were usually sold at a more affordable price for the average consumer. The “Medium” grades, which were sold in the largest quantities, were usually a bit more elaborate, larger and offered additional features such as three pedals instead of two pedals. The “Best” grades were extremely elaborate, and would have cost as much as a small house at the time.

3. Brand name – In general, particularly when dealing with pianos made in the 20th century, pianos that cost more when they were originally purchased are worth more today. In theory, brand names with a lot of name recognition like Steinway, Mason & Hamlin, Knabe and Chickering, could potentially have more value than lesser-known brands. In the real market, however, Stinnett says he is seeing lesser-known brand names, often of superior quality, selling for as much or more than pianos from more well-known manufacturers because they are perceived as more rare.

4. Condition – This one comes with a caveat. While a piano that needs a lot of work may not have much “as is” value, it could be worth much more after restoration. However, when determining that value of the piano as it currently sits, condition certainly comes into play. Is the finish coming off? Are the pedals functional? What do the hammers and strings look like on the inside? The answers to these questions can determine how much a piano can sell for right now. Before selling, an owner might want to consider having a professional restore an antique piano, as restoration can significantly increase the value of the instrument.

5. Level of restoration – Similar to condition, the level of restoration can go toward determining the value of a piano. Many people often mistake a piano as being “restored” when in fact only a few cosmetic improvements were made. Since most people don’t know what to look for, especially on the inside, they might be surprised to learn that their piano wasn’t restored at all, but just refinished or painted, which is a far cry from complete restoration. This can mean the piano isn’t worth as much as the owner might have thought.

To learn more, visit the Antique Piano Shop restoration services page at http://www.antiquepianoshop.com/restoration-services/ or the online museum at http://www.antiquepianoshop.com/online-museum.

Group preserves stories behind Arizona's antique quilts

It is compiling the stories behind Arizona's quilts, asking people to bring their quilts to what the group calls documentation days across the state so it can put them into the Quilters Index, an online database for anyone engaged in women's studies, socioeconomic history – or quilting.

“Every woman makes a quilt for a reason. Before women's rights, before women had the right to vote, a voice to speak out, in almost any culture, the only way a woman could speak was through her art, and needle art in particular,” said Jan Hackett, one of 25 documentation volunteers. “So, antique and vintage quilts tell us about the life of a woman and her family.”

The project is not limited to historic creations. Quilts will be accepted for documentation whether they were made 100 years ago or yesterday and even if they were made in another state and brought here, Hackett said.

“Ten years from now, if I'm gone, somebody picks up one of my quilts and then says, ‘Why did she do this?’ ...  And I'm not there to tell the story. I document that quilt, and somebody will know that I chose the fabric for one reason, I chose the pattern for another,” Hackett said. “It tells about who I am.”

Darlene Reid, a 2010 Hall of Fame inductee who helped at a recent documentation day at the Gilbert Historical Museum, said, “The sad thing about women and quilts is they don't document their quilts. The quilter remains anonymous.”

The Quilters Index, developed by the Alliance for American Quilts in partnership with Michigan State University, currently contains records for 45 quilts made in Arizona.

The Arizona Quilt Documentation Project really began in 1986, when 13 women from different parts of the state documented about 2,700 quilts and created an educational program called Quilt-Ed to help teachers use quilt-making to teach history, math, art, language, writing and vocabulary. The group also produced exhibitions and a book called Grand Endeavors.

All that information was only on paper, and the records were donated to Arizona Historical Society Museum, which keeps them in a box.

“Nobody knows about them; nobody knows that they are there,” Hackett said.

The volunteers will be converting those records to the Quilters Index, along with an additional 800 documentations that another group gave to the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott in the 1990s.

The documentation volunteers are also looking for museums around the state that may have quilt groups interested in scheduling a documentation day or presentation.

The documentation day at the Gilbert Historical Museum complemented its annual “Art of Quilting” show, now running through the end of May. Another documentation day is scheduled there on May 11.

Hackett said the volunteer, non-profit documentation project will be ongoing. To help defray some of the expenses, the group is looking for funding and planning fundraising. Another goal is to train volunteers in various parts of Arizona.

“We would like to see documentation days become at least an annual event all over the state,” Hackett said.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-23-13 0705GMT

Bones of contention: Cities joust over King Richard III

Officials in Leicester say the monarch, who was unceremoniously buried without a coffin 528 years ago, will be re-interred with kingly dignity in the city's cathedral.

“The decision has already been made,” said Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby. “All the permissions have been granted and the various authorities involved have agreed that the interment will take place in Leicester.”

Not so fast, says York, a city 100 miles to the north that claims the late monarch as its own.

“Every taxi driver I talk to, every shopkeeper I talk to, they are very excited about it – they want Richard back in York,” said Michael Ormrod, professor of medieval history at the University of York. “There is a view that he is a king for York.”

York City Council said Wednesday it is petitioning the government and Queen Elizabeth II, arguing that “one of the city's most famous and cherished sons” – who grew up in the region and was once known as Richard of York – should be buried in the northern city.

The two cities have launched rival petitions to the government. As of Wednesday, York had the edge, with more than 5,700 signatures on a petition calling for Richard to be re-interred there. Leicester's petition had more than 2,000 names.

Yorkists hope the queen will intervene on behalf of her 15th-century predecessor, though Buckingham Palace says it is not getting involved.

Richard had few links to Leicester, apart from dying in battle nearby in 1485. Historians agree he had strong ties to York.

He belonged to the House of York, one of two branches of the ruling Plantagenet dynasty. William Shakespeare's play Richard III opens with the lines: “Now is the winter of our discontent/ made glorious summer by this son of York” – a punning reference to Richard's brother, King Edward IV.

Richard spent much of his childhood in the county of Yorkshire. As an adult, he ran northern England during his brother's reign, and he is sometimes called the country's last northern king.

Ormrod says there is evidence Richard wanted to be buried in York Minster, the city's medieval cathedral.

York has not always made a noise about its ties to a king who for centuries was Britain's most reviled monarch. Richard was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field by the forces of Henry Tudor, who took the throne as King Henry VII, ending a bloody tussle over the crown known as the Wars of the Roses.

Tudor historians painted Richard as a villainous usurper and accused him of multiple crimes – most famously, the murder of his two nephews, the “Princes in the Tower.”

Richard's supporters hope the discovery of the king's remains will lead to a reappraisal of his reputation.

For those in York who have been keeping Richard's flame alive, this is a bittersweet time.

Mike Bennett, who runs York's small Richard III Museum, said he had been circulating a petition for months – since the reports of the skeleton's identity emerged – “but it's only since the bones have been declared to be him that others have jumped on the bandwagon.”

Still, Bennett will be delighted if Richard comes home to York. It would give a boost to his small museum tucked into a gatehouse in the city walls, where visitors are invited to act as jury in an imaginary trial of Richard for the murder of the Princes in the Tower.

For now, the battle over the royal bones remains civilized. There's no new outbreak of the Wars of the Roses – yet.

“I have many good friends in Leicester,” Ormrod stressed.

The professor would not go so far as to call burial in Leicester an insult – but he said it would, at least, be an irony.

“Leicester was a very big stronghold of the house of Lancaster, Richard's rivals for the throne,” he said. “He was buried almost in enemy territory in Leicester.”

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-WF-02-06-13 1526GMT

Seamstress slips into something comfortable: vintage fashion

FORSYTH, Ill. (AP) – Women gliding down the wedding aisle 111 years ago could seek material assistance if their bodies had been jilted by capricious genetics.

Fashion requirements around 1902 suggested the bride's radiance would be enhanced by a full bosom and that, of course, posed a problem if you didn't happen to have one. The haute couture answer, according to vintage clothing expert Nancy Torgerson, was “bust ruffles.”

Torgerson collects antique clothing, and her Forsyth home is bedecked with fashion statements your great-great-great-grandmother would have been intimately familiar with.

“Bust ruffles were a fashionable feature,” says Torgerson, 71, lifting and dropping some on a silk wedding dress to demonstrate how the ruffles give the illusion of amplitude. “It was called pigeon breasted, which I think is ugly, but at the time it was attractive to them.”

Perhaps nothing shows us as whom we were quite so intimately as the glad rags we used to wear. Torgerson has collected antique clothing, mostly women's, for more than 20 years. A talented seamstress, she started collecting after being asked to make vintage clothing for costumed historical re-enactors. She began prowling antique stores and other emporiums, hunting the genuine article to “make sure I was doing it right” and fell into collecting as easy as slipping into something comfortable.

Her husband, Dick, would accompany her on frequent fabric fishing expeditions and got swept up in the hustle and bustle of it all. So much so, he now collects antique sewing machines.

“I was looking for something to collect. I like anything mechanical, and there were all these old sewing machines,” says Torgerson, 73, who regularly dresses up himself to play a 19th-century Illinois governor who actually lived in Decatur, Richard J. Oglesby, a man to whom he bears a remarkable resemblance. But unlike Oglesby, Torgerson now has dominion over several dozen venerable sewing machines. “And I think the oldest machine I have is from 1860,” he adds.

All these ye olde Singers et al survived the journey down through the years because they were expensive and treasured objects. Nancy Torgerson says wedding dresses frequently persist in the fabric of time because they, too, were precious things. “I didn't start out to collect wedding dresses, but then I found that is what people saved,” she explains. “And they saved them because they were special.”

You can get a taste of what the preserved nuptial styles of yesteryear look like when Torgerson gives a presentation on wedding dresses and accessories from the 19th and early 20th centuries Jan. 27 at Rock Springs Nature Center in Decatur. She'll have plenty of samples for the audience to look at, including several flashy numbers going back as far as 1841 that don't faintly resemble the fluffy white and impractical creations that adorn 21st-century brides.

For a start, many old dresses are not white but in hues ranging from bronze to a brownish red. One silk 1859 number is done in brown and black silk stripes with some added flash coming from accents executed in black velvet. Torgerson points out that the version of the 1859 dress we're feasting our eyes on now has a skirt altered to reflect the hot fashion trends of the 1870s, and thereby hangs a tale: These bridal gowns were reusable, designed to be available for parties, events and other special occasions. Nobody back then wanted to spend a fortune in time and money making a dress you could only wear once, big-bosomed or otherwise.

“A dress like this would have been a very serious investment,” she says. “So wear it once and put it away like we do today? No, no, no.”

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Online: http://bit.ly/V9kyUK

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-01-17-13 2308GMT

VIDEO: A virtual gallery walk with Amer. antiques expert Leigh Keno

NEW YORK - For years you've seen his expert appraisals of American furniture on PBS Television's Antiques Roadshow. Now you can listen and learn insider details about some of the finest early American productions through a series of videos titled "Leigh Likes."

In preparation for Keno Auctions' exciting Jan. 22 auction, which features important American furniture, paintings, folk art and decorative art, Leigh Keno critiques his personal favorites from the sale via informative "highlight" videos. No furniture buyer will want to miss his observations on what makes a piece special, or why a particular piece of furniture was constructed a certain way.

Double-click on any of the videos below to enjoy Leigh Keno's informative series, and don't forget to click on the link at the bottom to visit the LiveAuctioneers online catalog for Keno's Jan. 22 sale:

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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Saco River expects six-figure price for 1865 baseball card

PORTLAND (AP) — Six-figure bids are expected when an auction house sells a rare 148-year-old baseball card that was discovered at a yard sale in rural Maine, the auction house manager said Wednesday.

It's not the same as a modern baseball card, which became commonplace beginning in the 1880s. Instead, it's an original photograph from 1865 of the Brooklyn Atlantics amateur baseball club mounted on a card. The card shows nine players gathered around their manager.

Thibodeau said he's aware of only two such cards in existence, the other at the Library of Congress. Putting a dollar-figure value on it is difficult, he said, but he expects it to fetch at least $100,000 at the Feb. 6 auction. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding for the sale, enabling bidders from throughout the world to vie for the rare card.

"There hasn't been another one that's sold," he said. "When there are only two known in the world, what's it worth?"

Last summer, the auction house sold a rare 1888 card of Hall of Fame baseball player Michael "King" Kelly for $72,000. The priciest baseball card ever is a 1909 Honus Wagner card, which sold for $2.8 million in 2007.

The Library of Congress has had another copy of the Brooklyn Atlantics photograph since the late 1800s, when it took possession of it from a New York court where the photographer, Charles Williamson, had submitted it for copyright.

In its book "Baseball Americana," the Library of Congress calls it the first dated baseball card, handed out to supporters and opposing teams in a gesture of bravado from the brash Brooklynites, who were dominant and won their league championships in 1861, 1864 and 1865.

It's not known how many were produced, but the Library of Congress is aware of only the two copies. A trading card grading firm, Sportscard Guaranty LLC, has authenticated the card as the real thing, said Bob Luce, senior grader at the New Jersey company.

The Maine man bought the card by happenstance. While at a yard sale, he bought a photo album, old Coca-Cola bottles and a couple of oak chairs for less than $100, Thibodeau said.

While looking through the album, the buyer came across the baseball card. He later mailed it to Saco River Auction, having read about the auction house's sale of the 1888 card last summer. Thibodeau did not release the man's name, saying he did not want to be identified.

The rarest card around came from a 1923 promotional set of 30 cards, each with a black-and-white likeness of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, or some other baseball star. The cards were distributed by the Maple Crispette Candy Co. in Canada, and the person who collected all 30 could claim a prize, said Jim Gates, librarian at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

But only one Casey Stengel card was produced among the entire bunch, Gates said, and that card is located in the Hall of Fame archives.

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Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Antique Spitfire plane collapses on UK runway

LONDON (AP) — Airport officials say an antique Spitfire aircraft owned by engine company Rolls-Royce collapsed shortly after landing at East Midlands Airport in central England.

The airport said in a statement the World War II-era plane's undercarriage failed as it touched down Monday afternoon. The pilot was unharmed and the damaged aircraft was towed away.

The sleek-looking Spitfire played a pivotal role in the Battle of Britain, when the single-seat fighter helped beat back waves of German bombers. More than 20,000 were built, although only a few dozen remain in working order today.

Rolls-Royce, which built the Merlin engines used to power the fighters, says it bought this plane in 1996. It typically appears at airshows and corporate functions.

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Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ephemera gift illuminates life in 19th century Alaska

That low-key deposit, from the widow of the late AC President John Larson, is now illuminating life in pre-territorial 19th century Alaska. The collection brings to life a colorful snapshot in Alaska's history -- the era when it abruptly shifted from being a Russian colony to a U.S. territory.

Kegs of lard, 25-pound shipments of dry mustard, barrels of tar and even a new safe were among the items recorded in invoice logs being shipped to the largely uninhabited frontier. The records are all written in immaculate cursive handwriting, showing products delivered by companies such as Taylor & Bender Wholesale Grocers, "sole agents for Dr. Hufeland's celebrated Swiss stomach bitters.''

The Alaska Commercial Company donated the documents last month to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library, which is working to record and parse through the details of the intriguing collection. They provide a deeper understanding of a sometimes blurry period in Alaska history.

Dennis Moser, department head of UAF's Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives, said the collection already includes lots of material from the era, but in "dribs and drabs'' that don't always add up to a larger view of everyday life. A log book of items that were shipped to the port of St. Michael and Yukon River villages in about 1870 provides clarity in a sometimes blurry period.

"It says everything about what people were doing at that time,'' Moser said.

The invoices include the earliest known shipment of "Bost. Pilot Bread'' into Alaska, with 25 cases entering the state on Oct. 4, 1869. Pilot bread -- a sturdy, non-perishable cracker -- remains a staple of rural Alaska diets.

It also showed the powerful link between San Francisco merchants and Alaska in the years after Russia sold the area to the United States. Dozens of companies from the city are represented in the invoice book -- Goodwin & Co., Hawley & Co. Importers of Jobbers and Hardware among them -- providing everything from nails to peanuts for the remote outposts.

Turning over the documents to UAF is important to AC Company president Rex Wilhelm, whose more than 200-year-old company dates back to days of Russian ownership, when it was known as the Russian American Company. Wilhelm has a job steeped in such history that he can trace his title back to the famed fur-trader Alexander Baranov, the first governor of Russian Alaska.

The position has helped make him an amateur historian at AC, working to uncover historic documents from online auctions or old records. For a company that dates back to 1799, he said, there are surprising gaps in its history.

"There's just a lot to look at, but the unfortunate thing is that we didn't have a lot of the heritage materials you'd expect of a company 200 years old,'' Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm actually mailed Larson's widow a decade ago inquiring about old records, but heard nothing until they were dropped off last spring. He said the deeply private woman didn't provide details about how the collection of invoice books, drawings and more than 600 photographs had been stored, but he said it was a thrilling gift.

The collection also includes detailed color drawings of each turn-of-the-century Northern Commercial Company store, with vivid enough backgrounds that the site of each building could still be located today.

"I would think that archaeologists, if they wanted to go back and see where some things could be found, could use them for that,'' Wilhelm said.

Maritime historian J. Pennelope Goforth, of Anchorage, helped facilitate the transfer of the documents between the AC Company and UAF, which will work to preserve the delicate papers and photos.

Moser said the records are particularly fascinating because the significance of items purchased by Alaskans in the 1870s can be easily grasped by modern residents of the state. The AC Company and its predecessors are a big part of that history, he said.

"When you have an institution that has a very deep significance, you want to include them in the story,'' Moser said. "We're excited to get this -- they're an extremely significant player.''

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com

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Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Boston church votes to sell book published in 1640

BOSTON (AP) – Congregants of one of the nation's oldest churches have voted to auction off a 372-year-old hymn book that's expect to fetch $10 million to $20 million at auction.

Members of the Old South Church in Boston authorized the sale of one of its two copies of the Bay Psalm Book, which was published in 1640. It is among the first books ever published in North America, and only 11 copies remain.

Board of Trustees Chairman Phil Stern says the church wants to continue growing its endowment and take care of some “critical capital needs.”

He says although there was loud opposition to the sale, the vote wasn't close, with 271 votes cast in favor and 34 against.

Members also authorized the sale of 19 pieces of Colonial-era silver.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-12-03-12 0333GMT

NY college receives gift of Ansel Adams photos

Among the images is the famous "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico'' as well as several well-known scenes of Yosemite National Park and photographs of artist Georgia O'Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

The College of New Rochelle said that the gift, worth $2.5 million, is from Caryl Horwitz, former director of its graduate art department. Her late husband acquired the collection in the 1980s.

The 75 photographs make up what is known as Adams' Museum Set Edition of Fine Prints, a selection he made beginning in the late 1970s. He created several Museum Sets before his death in 1984.

In March, when the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles acquired 25 of the 75 prints, senior curator Judith Keller said, "The Museum Set is significant in several ways, the first being that it helps us understand how Adams evaluated his work, and how he wanted future generations to view it.''

The gift was made to honor former Sister Dorothy Ann Kelly, who was president of the college while Horwitz was there.

Current President Judith Huntington called the donation "a profound compliment'' to the 109-year-old school, which has a picturesque campus in New Rochelle and five outposts in New York City. The College of New Rochelle was the first Catholic college for women in New York and its School of Arts and Sciences is still women-only.

"This gift has so much meaning to CNR,'' she said. "More than I can describe. Our focus has always been in the arts and the liberal arts.''

She said the college has not decided how or where to display the photographs -- there are security and climate-control issues to solve -- but will try to make the collection available to as many people as possible.

Fifteen of the signed images will be displayed at the college's Castle Gallery for a celebration on Thursday night.

The college said that when Horwitz's husband, Martin Horwitz, a business executive and art collector, bought the photographs, he agreed the collection would one day be donated to a museum or school.

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Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.