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About Us |
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History In Ink® grew out of a passion for historical autographs. Its founder, lawyer Rick Schnake, has collected historical letters, documents, and signed photographs for some 30 years. The business is a natural extension of Rick’s hobby and his own love for history.
Rick’s collection began with a special Christmas gift from his brother—a letter by President Harry S. Truman, a fellow Missourian whom Rick had long admired. “He told me to find one and he would buy it for me,” Rick says. “Those were the days before the Internet made searches easy. So I went to the public library and found some dealers listed in the New York City telephone directory. I called one and requested a catalog. When I got it, I was hooked. It amazed me that things like that were actually available for people to acquire.” Since then, his personal collection has grown to include many American presidents, Supreme Court justices, British monarchs, and others. “It is both exciting and a bit humbling,” Rick says, “to be able to hold in your hands letters, documents, and photographs that important historical figures actually took the time to write or sign.” History In Ink® features both unframed and beautifully framed historical letters, documents, and signed photographs. For the framed displays, Rick creates the designs and does the matting and framing himself to insure quality. He often works with clients to custom frame pieces created especially for them. “A dealer should be a collector first and foremost,” Rick says. “I feel like a kid at Christmas when I get new inventory items. I can hardly wait to open the mail. “I really would like to keep many of the pieces that I sell. But I also like to see the enjoyment that others get from them, especially the framed pieces. It is gratifying to be able to help them experience that.” As a collector himself, Rick appreciates the importance of personal service. He enjoys becoming acquainted with his clients, their interests, and their budgets in order to help them to find just the right pieces to build or complement their collections. Rick is a member of the Professional Autograph Dealers Association; The Manuscript Society; the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, under which he is UACC Registered Dealer # RD281; and the German Autograph Club, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Autographensammler e. V. He strictly adheres to the codes of ethics of all of these organizations. Rick is also a partner in the Springfield, Missouri, law firm of Neale & Newman, L.L.P., concentrating in appellate practice and intellectual property. He and his wife, Kelly, have one son, Christian. |
