LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 October Rare Books & Manuscripts #675  / 

30341

Frederic Bartholdi Autograph Letter Signed

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:270.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
Frederic Bartholdi Autograph Letter Signed
<B>Frederic Auguste Bartholdi Autograph Letter Signed</B></I> “<I>Bartholdi</B></I>” in French, two pages, 4.25” x 7”, separate sheets. To Mr. Spaulding. Paris, April 30, 1888. Translated. In full, “<I> thank you for your kind thoughts but you must excuse me at this time if I cannot come to see you. I am so pressed for time in what I am doing that I can't find time for the day's work. At six o'clock it would be too late to find you. In a few days, I hope to be a little more free and I plan to go away for a short time. But I shall come to your office before my departure to shake your hand. I beg you to please give my respectful compliments to Mrs. Spaulding and accept with her the best wishes of Mrs. Bartholdi.</B></I>” Almost certainly to Henry Spaulding (1839-1905), Treasurer of The American Committee for the Statue of Liberty, who had a home at Maisons-Laffitte near Paris. He had first come to France in 1872 to be in charge of the Paris branch of Tiffany & Co. The Committee was formed in 1877 to raise funds to build the pedestal for the statue of <I>Liberty Enlightening the World.</B></I> Sculpted by Bartholdi, the statue was presented by the people of France to the people of America on July 4, 1884. The statue was then shipped across the Atlantic in 214 crates broken into 350 individual separate pieces and was assembled on Bedloe's (now Liberty) Island in New York harbor on the pedestal paid for by Americans. The Statue of Liberty was unveiled by Bartholdi on October 28, 1886. In 1888, Spaulding sold his stock in Tiffany & Co. and founded his own firm in Chicago, Spaulding & Co., opening a Paris branch in 1889. Penned on Bartholdi's monogrammed stationery. Lightly foxed. Tiny hole in upper blank area of second page. Glue stains and mounting remnants on verso of the second page do not materially affect the letter's appearance. Great Statue of Liberty association!<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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