Fuller, R. Buckminster

The collection includes 4 TLSs and 2 ALS from Fuller to Billingsley, one with a sketch enclosed, 10 pp., 1945–48 — drawings and blueprints by Billingsley of a Round House based on Fuller's concepts — tearsheets and offprints of articles by Fuller.

A complete listing is available upon request.

As described in catalogue entry.
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.

Oliver Billingsley was a soldier serving in the U.S. Army when he first wrote of Fuller on 3 November 1944.  Fuller answered him with a lengthy letter in which he defined what he meant by the term "dwelling machine."  The two men shared a love of advanced design and invention.  In a letter of 28 November 1946, Fuller includes a drawing and outlines his plans for a new toilet and sanitary system which he plans to pitch to Sperry.  "Am thinking about a new kind of bowl altogether, which has a swiftly revolving interior bowl which immediately centrifuges all wastes as they contact it—sending the water to one level of outlets and dry matter to another, all of them vapor or gas insulated by centrifugal force of the air outside of house.  The solids are still further dehydrated by electric coil, pulverized and either exhausted out of roof vent or collected as fertilizer."  This is a concept Fuller was still trying to realize in his last great project, the Fly's Eye Dome.