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Lee Harvey Oswald

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:7,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD
Lee Harvey Oswald

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Auction Date:2014 Feb 12 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Mother’s Day card from 1959, signed “Love Lee xx,” sent to Marguerite Oswald, 3.75 x 7 closed, with a pre-printed sentiment inside, and signed at the bottom in black ballpoint by Oswald. Reverse is also notated “Ex 266,” indicating this was an exhibit in the Warren Commission report, although it was unpublished. Card comes with its original mailing envelope, postmarked May 7, 1959, addressed by Oswald to, “Mrs. M. Oswald, 313 Templeton Dr., Fort Worth, Texas.” On the reverse, Mrs. Oswald has written several notations, including, “Hon. Herter, U.S. State Dept. Wash, DC,” “Hon. Jim Wright, Congressman 12th Dist. House affair building,” and “Hon. Lyndon Johnston [sic], U.S. Senator Washington D. C.,” written in another hand.

Also included is a 1956 Christmas card to Lee from his mother, signed twice, “Mother.” Card measures 4.75 x 6 closed, with a pre-printed message inside, and signed at the bottom by his mother. She also adds a handwritten note along the top which reads, “Hi—Your first Christmas away from home. Will miss you but happy to know you are in good hands. Be good. Mother.” Written on the back cover at a later date by Mrs. Oswald is, “A card I sent to Lee in 1956. In his sea-bag that he left at home after leaving the Marines in Sept. 1959, Marguerite Oswald.” Reverse is also notated “Ex 268,” indicating this was an exhibit in the Warren Commission report, although it was unpublished. Expected light handling wear, with old tape, scattered toning and soiling, and creases to the Christmas card, otherwise fine condition.

Sometimes described as an overbearing and coddling mother, and other times described as negligent and unconcerned, Marguerite Oswald will forever remain an intriguing character in the story of Lee Harvey Oswald. Despite the varying speculation about the nature of their relationship, with many claiming that he left for the Army so young to escape her overly watchful eye, these letters reveal a loving bond between the mother-son pair. The tender card she sent on his first Christmas away from home in 1956 (which was found in his sea-bag three years later, as he left the country), paired with a sweet card he sent for Mother’s Day—not forgotten by the affectionate son, despite his Army duties and burgeoning plans to head to the Soviet Union—both made their way into the Warren Commission’s investigation just a few years later. Obsessed with her son’s innocence in the Kennedy assassination, Marguerite would later cling to ‘the Volumes,’ as she called the Commission’s published findings, pointing out inconsistencies to anyone who would listen. An insightful pairing of items, predating Oswald’s life-changing move to Russia.