(ROOSEVELT THEODORE) Roosevelt Edith Kermit Pair of letters

Sale 2517 - Lot 201

Price Realized: $ 375

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

(ROOSEVELT, THEODORE.) Roosevelt, Edith Kermit. Pair of letters regarding the family's preferred portrait of the late president. Autograph Letters Signed to Edward Bok. 2 and 3 pages, about 7 x 4 1/2 inches; minimal wear and light toning. Oyster Bay, NY, 18 and 21 May [1919?]

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Edward Bok, the longtime editor of Ladies' Home Journal, was apparently planning an article on the late president and had written to Mrs. Roosevelt regarding the family's favorite portrait. On 18 May, she responded "the picture we like is the Lazlo portrait" but "it may not be entirely suited for your purpose. . . . Perhaps the Sergeant portrait in the White House would be better, tho' we do not care as much for it. The photograph which we all like is a head by Pirie MacDonald, but perhaps you prefer a full-length picture." 3 days later she followed up: "If you write to Pirie MacDonald . . . he will send the one we prefer. . . . I am quite sure the Pirie MacDonald head will make a fine picture. It is a wonderful likeness." She refers to the well-known portrait which was used as a frontispiece to one of Roosevelt's last books, The Great Adventure, published in 1919. She adds: "I do not know of any one of the family who is writing articles about Mr. Roosevelt. My sons are writing their war experiences, which must be the foundation for the rumor of which you speak."