The Raab Collection offers advice that feels disarmingly simple for anyone looking to acquire a piece of history. It applies whether your focus is fine art, rare artifacts, jewelry, or historical manuscripts. “Buy fewer things, but make them the highest quality you can”.
That philosophy has been the grounding pillar of The Raab Collection since its founding in 1989, when Steven Raab, then a practicing attorney with a lifelong passion for history, began building what would become an international business from his living room. What started as a childhood hobby making headlines in a local newspaper, has evolved into an integral part of historical preservation.
Over nearly four decades, The Raab Collection has grown into a global authority in important historical documents and autographs, advising beyond commerce into scholarship and discovery, placing newly surfaced materials with major institutions and private stewards alike. Today, under the leadership of president Nathan Raab, a principal since 2005 and author of The Hunt for History, the company continues to focus on authenticity, historical significance, and long-term preservation, serving clients that range from prominent families and lifelong collectors to institutions such as The Library of Congress and the British Library.
When did you first realize you wanted to dedicate your career to rare historical documents and the preservation of history?
I have been surrounded by history my whole life. My father, who founded The Raab Collection nearly 40 years ago, immersed us in it from a young age. So in a sense I never made the decision officially. It was more a process and one day I woke up and I was doing this full time. It is certainly very rewarding.
What are the most powerful forces currently shaping the rare documents and historical manuscript market?
The market has changed in just my two decades in the business. It began as a more approachable enterprise and the players in it were diverse. You could buy a letter signed by Abraham Lincoln for just a couple thousand dollars. Now each day, it more and more resembles the art market and the ticket to entry has become rather expensive.
How do you define success in your business? Is it driven more by financial performance, cultural impact, preservation, or something else?
From a business perspective, I define success as a customer returning for a second purchase. They now have the collecting bug, and their experience with us was rewarding. Hopefully this will become a long and rewarding passion. From a historical perspective, it is the discovery of a new document, something no one knew existed, a historical discovery, being the first to see something from history.
The Raab Collection sits at the intersection of commerce and stewardship. How do you balance profitability with the responsibility of preserving history?
I don’t see them as mutually exclusive. Our customers are sophisticated stewards of history themselves, and many are public and private institutions. I see them as partners on the same journey.
What keeps you up at night in this business—market volatility, authentication risks, the loss of cultural memory? How do you prepare for those uncertainties?
The bigger-picture risks, I suppose, are the collective loss of appreciation for history. What if people wake up one day and don’t care about George Washington? Don’t idolize Abraham Lincoln? I suppose that’s possible but I think it’s unlikely.
What role do you believe private collectors and businesses should play in safeguarding historical artifacts for future generations?
A huge one. Private collectors, every day, play a fundamental role in passing down their treasures to the next generation, caring for their own artifacts, donating money to help institutions, endowing positions for others to conduct research, sharing their knowledge. And businesses do the same.
Are there any upcoming acquisitions, exhibitions, or projects that particularly excite you right now?
We just acquired two letters of General George Washington during the American Revolution. They relate to Washington’s frustration with the British sympathizers. These have never been on the market before. Their discovery is exciting, especially so as we celebrate the nation’s 250th this year, and we are fortunate to have acquired them.
If you could ask readers to do one thing to become better stewards of history, what would it be?
Pay attention to history. Know it. We didn’t arrive in 2026 in a vacuum.
Our motto is “Worth Beyond Wealth.” Does that idea resonate with you?
It is certainly true that in our business knowing the price of something is not the same as knowing its value. Truly understanding the value of a historical artifact goes far beyond knowing its price and extends into the true understanding of its context, meaning and importance.
