How much historical document written by John Quincy Adams is selling for

A unique document containing notes written by future President John Quincy Adams in preparation for his first case before the Supreme Court is for sale for $75,000.

In 1804, Adams, then a U.S. senator from Quincy, represented a Boston mercantile firm seeking compensation from its insurer for losses on the high seas.

"What excites me about this piece, it's a kind of bookend on the career of a very important, influential, and not sufficiently appreciated figure," said Nathan Raab, author of "The Hunt for History" and principal at the Raab Collection of Philadelphia, which specializes in the preservation and sale of historical documents.

The "bookend" reference is an apparent nod to Adams' last Supreme Court case, the famous Amistad suit involving a slave rebellion aboard a Spanish ship.

The Case: Head and Amory v. Providence Insurance Co.

In 1800, the Massachusetts mercantile firm Head and Amory suffered a total loss when its merchandise on board the Spanish brig Nueva Empressa was confiscated by the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars, according to the Raab Collection.

Head and Amory had insured the cargo with the Providence Insurance Co., but the insurer denied liability, claiming that Head and Amory had canceled its policy before the loss.

A jury found for the defendant, and Head and Amory appealed to the Supreme Court, hiring John Quincy Adams.

The three pages of handwritten notes show Adams' thorough preparation, including a summary of the facts, legal theories, evidence and citations of legal authorities.

"They are clear, effectively conceived and surprisingly modern-sounding," the Raab Collection's description says.

Adams argued that no proper cancellation of the insurance policy was ever executed. Correspondence between Head and Amory and its insurer negotiating a cancellation did not constitute a binding agreement.

Chief Justice John Marshall, who wrote the majority opinion, was convinced. The case remains a landmark in corporate law.

The Raab Collection and the business of preserving history

Raab said his family's business serves as both a custodian and a conduit for important pieces of history.

"I see a large part of our job as not just the simple buying and selling of these documents but also the stewardship of them, the handing them down to the next generation of collectors, which is precisely what we're doing with this document," Raab said.

Adams' case notes have had a long afterlife. He gave them to his cousin William Cranch, a nephew of Abigail Adams who happened to be the court reporter in 1804. After Cranch's death, Raab said, the document passed out of view, only to emerge in the hands of a Midwestern farmer with an impressive collection of presidential autographs.

"He was older, approaching his 90s," Raab said. "He was looking to find it a new home."

Raab said the $75,000 price tag is based on the content and historical importance of the document.

"There's an art to (pricing). It's not a science," he said.

Adams wrote prolifically during his long career, including many letters, Raab said. Some of the letters sell for as little as a few hundred dollars. But other letters and documents fetch six figures, he said.

Asked which discovery he's found most exciting, Raab said it is too difficult to choose.

"Every day is a new possibility," he said. "The greatest find is the most recent one. I never know what's going to walk through that door."

John Quincy Adams' last Supreme Court appearance: the Amistad case

Thirty-seven years after the Head and Amory case, Adams stood before the Supreme Court for the last time. In his summation of the the famous Amistad case, in which Adams defended the Mendi people of northwest Africa who broke free and overthrew their captors while on board a Spanish slave ship, Adams looked back through the decades to his first appearance before the high court in 1804.

"On the 7th of February, 1804, now more than thirty-seven years past, my name was entered, and yet stands recorded ... as one of the Attorneys and Counsellors of this Court," Adams said.

Adams concluded his speech wistfully, noting the absence of the justices who heard his first case and the waning of his own remarkable career in American politics.

"Where are they all? Gone! Gone! All gone! Gone from the services which, in their day and generation, they faithfully rendered to their country. … (I am) taking, then, my final leave of this Bar, and of this Honorable Court."

"It shows the breadth of (Adams') contribution to the country," Raab said. "The idea that he would be standing, addressing the court all those decades later for the Amistad case and mention this very case. In the interim, he was a member of Congress and a president. It shows you how truly important he was."

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: John Quincy Adams' notes from his 1st Supreme Court case are for sale