Andrew Carnegie Hand Written Signed Letter Dated 1896 Signature Autograph

This listing is for a rare letter, hand written and signed by the great industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835???1919). The letter is on a piece of paper from the Royal Pionciana Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. It is dated July 26th, 1896, only two years after the famous hotel opened. The paper was cut in half at one time, so only part of the letter remains. It measures about 2 3/4" x 8" inches. Please see the photographs below, and feel free to contact us with any questions. We are contracted to sell to the highest bidder and cannot end the listing early. This autograph is from the collection of an award winning Vermont stamp collector and historian. The winning bidder will have 14 days in which to have it inspected. We will accept a return for a full refund during this time, provided that the item is returned in the same condition as which it was received. After 14 days we will no longer be able to take any returns. We have a low opening bid price, so don't miss your chance to add this to your collection.

Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 - August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He was also one of the highest profile philanthropists of his era; his 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and stimulated wave after wave of philanthropy.

Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States with his very poor parents in 1848. Carnegie started as a telegrapher and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He built further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million (the equivalent of approximately $13.5 billion in 2013), creating the U.S. Steel Corporation. Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education and scientific research. With the fortune he made from business, he built Carnegie Hall, and founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others. His life has often been referred to as a true "rags to riches" story.