James, Frank

2 pages (14 x 8 1/2 in; 356 x 215 mm) on a leaf of green-ruled and line-numbered ledger paper, Huntsville Jail, Alabama, 18 March 1884, to his wife, Annie, and son Rob; remnants of hinge at top margin.

2 pages (14 x 8 1/2 in; 356 x 215 mm) on a leaf of green-ruled and line-numbered ledger paper, Huntsville Jail, Alabama, 18 March 1884, to his wife, Annie, and son Rob; remnants of hinge at top margin.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

While in prison, Frank James was a prolific correspondent, and the present letter is a fine example of his epistolary style. James, a member of the notorious James-Younger gang, had been imprisoned since he turned himself in to Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden in the autumn of 1882, a few months after his younger brother Jesse was murdered by Robert Ford. James was subsequently acquitted of all charges against him, and released from prison in Independence. But almost immediately afterwards he was arrested for robbing a federal paymaster general of $5,200 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on March 11, 1881, and incarcerated in Huntsville, from her wrote this letter home.

After exchanging some family news and reporting on his recent visitors, James reported to his family that his chief defense lawyer, former Confederate general Leroy Pope Walker, "says I have succeeded in winning the sympathy of every one that has come to see me, I am very proud of the accomplishment I assure you." James also shares some of Walker's trial strategy: "Genl. Walker says he would rather have you and Rob in that court when he makes his speech than to have two of the best lawyers in the State." He then gives her instructions on how to make the trip to Huntsville in order to arrive in time for the trial. He closes, "I must now say Kiss my boy and love to[o] so farewell hoping to see you by the 7th of April I am Your loving Husband."

James adds two postscripts, first the instruction to "Telegraph me when you leave for this place"; and the second in the margin of the first page: "I had just folded this and in the act of sealing when to my surprise the Huntsville band came under my window and discoursed most elegant music. I take it as quite a compliment Don't you think it is?"

James was again acquitted, when Walker was able to cast doubt on the veracity of the chief witness against him, Dick Liddell. Although James was then charged with committing a robbery that had taken place in 1876, Governor Crittenden issued him a general pardon, and he lived for the next thirty years doing odd jobs and conducting tours of the James family farm.