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AE Monthly

AE Reviews

 
Many Autographed Documents from David Schulson

The latest autographs from David Schulson.


By Michael Stillman

We recently received Catalogue 135 from David Schulson Autographs. Offered are autographs from a diverse group of well-known personalities - artists, musicians, actors, political leaders, scientists, physicians, humanitarians, and others. Some are just signatures with perhaps a short inscription, often on a photograph. Others are longer documents or letters which provide some insight to the thoughts of the noted person. There is a good mix of Europeans and Americans represented, along with a few Asians. Here are a few of the signed items available in this latest catalogue from David Schulson.

Item 9 is a sheet of paper with four signatures from Nobel Prize winning Danish physicist Niels Bohr. Bohr was one of the major contributors to the theory of the structure of the atom and quantum mechanics. But, why would someone sign his name four times on a sheet of paper, one on top of the next? The answer is simple. Bohr was testing out a new fountain pen. Priced at $1,800.

From four signatures we go to three drawings. On a page from a screenplay, famed actor Marlon Brando has drawn three faces. While the drawings are not signed, they come with a letter of authenticity from Brando's assistant and one-time girlfriend Pat Quinn. Item 11. $1,500.

Item 41 is another drawing from a giant of film, and in this case, a very familiar image. It is the famed profile self-portrait of Alfred Hitchcock. Anyone who has ever seen a rerun of his classic 1960s television series will instantly recognize the Hitchcock profile. This drawing is signed by the master. $1,375.

"The Sargasso Sea is one of the unexplored mysteries of the world. Though discovered as soon as North America no one has ever yet explained its unfathomable depths for the weed is so thick that niether [sic] stream nor sail can find its way to the center..." Indeed, the Sargasso Sea is a large dead area in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by swift moving currents, but calm and inhospitable to most life, save for the thick seaweed floating on the surface. The quoted text comes from a school essay by a 13-year-old boy in 1899, and you might think with such interests he would grow up to be a famous naval commander. Wrong. The young writer was none other than George S. Patton, Old Blood and Guts himself, brilliant and independent-minded U.S. Army General from World War II. The essay is boldly signed by Patton (would he do it any other way) and contains several corrections made in ink by his teacher. I'm not sure Patton appreciated being corrected. Item 69. $3,850.

Many Autographed Documents from David Schulson

Ho Chi Minh, in his "Uncle Ho" role.


She was the epitome of style and elegance, perhaps like no other woman. After all no other woman like her had ever been married to the President of the United States. Half a century later, the nation is still fascinated with her. Item 50 is a long letter from Jacqueline Kennedy, circa 1955, while still a senator's wife. It is seven pages long, written on hotel stationary while she was in Rome. It was written to a couple evidently interested in working for the Kennedys as butler and maid. Mrs. Kennedy writes in detail about their living habits and frequent travel, and explains the requirements of the positions. She notes, "My husband is in politics -- and often has to work late at his office... As our life is fairly hectic -- it would be nice to have people with us who knew our habits..." The letter is signed, "Mrs. John F. Kennedy." $3,850.

Here is a photograph that will stir few pleasant memories for Americans. It is a grandfatherly-looking photograph of Ho Chi Minh, placing a scarf around the shoulders of a young girl (like it was some sort of girl scout sash). Ho was a revolutionary who became the leader of what was then North Vietnam in 1955 after independence from France was achieved. In the 1960s, the United States, supporting his rival regime in South Vietnam, went to war against Ho and his Communists. Little need be said about that war. It dragged on for many years, and in 1975 the last of the Americans left, certainly not in victory. Ho didn't live to see it, as he passed on in 1969. This photograph displays the Vietnamese leader in his "Uncle Ho" image, a view still held by many Vietnamese today. Others see him as a mass murderer. This photograph, in keeping with the image Ho preferred, is inscribed, "Best love from Oncle Hochi Minh." Item 42. $6,500.

David Schulson Autographs may be visited online at http://schulsonautographs.com, or called at 973-379-3800.