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NEW YORK — A letter by George Washington fetched more than $3.2 million at a New York City auction, setting what auction house Christie’s says is a record price for a letter by the first president. Washington’s 1787 letter to a nephew argues for ratification of the newly drafted Constitution. The buyer at Christie’s on Friday was not identified. The previous record for a Washington letter was $834,500 in 2002.
Earlier, a handwritten poem by Edgar Allan Poe titled “For Annie” sold for $830,500, a world record for a 19th-century literary manuscript. Also by Poe, a rare first edition of his first book, “Tamerlane and Other Poems,” sold for $662,500, the highest price ever paid for a 19th-century book of poetry.
