Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana

Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 2188. Kennedy, John F. An archive of material pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy.

Kennedy, John F. An archive of material pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy

Auction Closed

January 27, 09:56 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

KENNEDY, JOHN F.


AN ARCHIVE OF MATERIAL PERTAINING TO THE ASSASSINATION OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, AMASSED BY FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR EDMUND G. "PAT" BROWN 


Lot includes: Original teletype roll from UPI reporting the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963. Single roll (8 1/2 X 337 in; 216 x 8560 mm) split into three segments; some toning, a few closed marginal tears, a few marginal chips, some loss to top margin. — Kennedy, John F. Typed letter signed ("Kennedy") as 35th President. One page (10 3/8 x 7 in.; 261 x 181 mm) on White House letterhead, 5 November 1963, to Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Governor of California; minor marginal toning, holes where previously stapled, one minor marginal stain. — AP Wire sent directly to the office of the Governor of California, announcing President Kennedy's assassination. Single sheet (6 1/4 x 6 in.; 160 x 153 mm) typed with manuscript notations in ink, 22 November 1963; some toning. — Ball, George. Western Union Telegram to Governor Pat Brown, inviting him to Kennedy's lying-in-state and funeral. Single sheet (5 1/2 x 8 3/8 in.; 140 x 213 mm) typed, 22 November 1963; minor toning. — Ephemera from the funeral and memorial luncheon of John F. Kennedy. 1 mass card, 1 bereavement card with Kennedy family crest, 1 pamphlet (from 3 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.; 84 x 137 mm, to 7 1/8 x 4 in.; 180 x 102 mm).  — Johnson, Lyndon B. Typed letter signed ("Lyndon") as 36th President. One page (8 7/8 x 6 3/4 in.; 225 x 172 mm) on White House stationery, to Pat Brown; holes where previously stapled, one minor marginal stain. — Johnson, Lyndon B. Western Union Telegram to Pat Brown, remarking on the New Year. Single sheet (5 1/2 x 8 3/8 in.; 140 x 213 mm) typed, 1 January 1964; minor toning. — Kennedy, Jacqueline. Typed letter signed ("Jacqueline Kennedy"). One page (9 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.; 235 x 160 mm) on mourning stationery, 26 January 1965, Pat Brown; holes where previously stapled. — 2 vintage black and white press photographs of President John F. Kennedy (from 6 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.; 164 x 234 mm, to 10 x 8 in.; 253 x 205 mm); adhesive residue to verso of one image. 


"DALLAS AP- President Kennedy was shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy. She cried, "Oh, No!" The motorcade sped on." — Associated Press Wire Bulletin, 22 November 1963, 12:39 EST


No presidential death since Abraham Lincoln's affected the nation as Kennedy's assassination did. The news first broke at 12:39 EST with an Associated Press Wire Bulletin announcing that the president had been shot. Just as President Lincoln would have perhaps been better positioned than Andrew Johnson to reunite the cuontry and possibly avoid the racial and other problems that ensued, so JFK would have taken the country in a different direction than Lyndon B. Johnson, most significantly regarding the Vietnam War. 


The material in this archive is unique, as it comes from a single source—then Governor of California, Edmund G. "Pat” Brownand chronicles a country in mourning. The letter from JFK to Brown, written only a few days before his assassination, discusses the former's tax-reform program, which had been languishing in Congress. The letter from Johnson, written just ten days after he assumed office, takes on a more personal tone, with the President writing: "I need your help and support in the difficult days that lie ahead, and I know that I shall find it.” And adding in his hand: “Pat, I'm depending on you in the West." Jacqueline Kennedy wrote to Brown expressing her gratitude:  “It is with the deepest appreciation that I write thanking you for the time and effort you have devoted to the oral interviews for the John F. Kennedy Library...I shall always be grateful to you for the part you have played in this project.”


A remarkable archive of material, marking the assassination as well as the legacy of President John F. Kennedy