Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2007 Issue
European and American Autographs from David Schulson
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum at work on Mt. Rushmore.
Here is an interesting precursor of things to come. In 1913, sculptor Gutzon Borglum wrote to John Stewart concerning a monument to be constructed between the U.S. and Canada near Niagara Falls. He proposed a 10-foot scale model, although it is not clear how large the actual monument would be. As best we can tell, nothing became of it, but 14 years later, Borglum could be found in South Dakota, beginning work on his masterpiece, the monument at Mount Rushmore. Item 10. $340.
Item 44 is a harmless message attempting to set up a meeting by a renown French physician. However, the man is not known for saving people's lives. Quite the contrary. His reputation as a defender of life is probably less than that of Dr. Kevorkian. It really isn't fair. His aim in inventing the device which bears his name was in making a process which was going to be carried out anyway a bit more humane. This letter bears the signature of Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, inventor of the guillotine. $2,240.
Ronald Reagan established his hard right credentials long before becoming president. In this 1967 letter to a soldier while still serving as Governor of California, Reagan writes, likely of anti-war dissenters, "Let me say the minority of un-patriotic beatniks have at last gotten under the skin of the majority of decent citizens." Beatniks? Weren't they those bohemian, beat generation types from the '50s and early '60s, reading poetry, singing folk songs and listening to jazz? Reagan seems a bit out of touch with his terminology. He probably had them confused with hippies, or maybe someone else who didn't share his philosophy. Item 79. $1,920.
You may visit David Schulson Autographs online at www.schulsonautographs.com, telephone 212-629-3939.
