Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction June 2024
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/25/2024
Much more desirable and rarer than a cut signature, this official Military Commission has been witnessed in vintage ink by the namesake of our most treasured trophy. Although he never took in a championship game, Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, Governor General to Canada and the Earl of Derby, purchased for the price of ten guineas a trophy bearing his name for presentation to the amateur hockey champions of Canada. The Stanley Cup has since become the symbol of professional hockey supremacy. As Lord Stanley died in 1908 his autograph is usually absent from even the most complete of Hall of Fame collections. This wonderful and scarce find is an antique 12" x 16” official government document on thick linen parchment that has been elegantly signed at the bottom as “Fred Stanley” and dated April 29, 1878. The document promotes John Edmund Jones to the position of Second Lieutenant. The future Lord Stanley has co-signed - as Secretary of War, an office he held from 1878 to 1880 - along with Officer Commanding in Chief, Prince George Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904). There is minor wear and expected fold lines to the parchment, with the signatures showing light fading but displaying wonderfully.
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