Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections

W.H. Auden Autograph manuscript poem, "Elegy for J.F.K.", signed, 1 page, 8vo (205 x 140mm), headed stationery of 3062 Kirchstetten, Austria, lightly creased "...Remembering his death How we choose to live Will decide its meaning..." Auden agreed to write an elegy for President Kennedy when dining with Stravinsky in January 1964. He completed the poem a month later and Stravinsky set it for baritone and three clarinets. The piece had its premiere in Los Angeles on 6 April, conducted by Robert Craft. It was first published in the Sunday Times on the anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination, 22 November 1964. The poem was subsequently included in the collection About the House (1965). PROVENANCE Sale in these rooms, 20 July 1989, lot 159

View 1 of Lot 93: W. H. Auden | Autograph manuscript poem, "Elegy to JFK", 1964

w. h. auden | autograph manuscript poem, "elegy to jfk", 1964

A collection of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> books relating to the assassination of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=John%20F.%20Kennedy&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John F. Kennedy</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 14 volumes.</li></ul> A superb collection of first edition, first printing books relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Includes the following:<ul><li>Gerald R. Ford Portrait of the Assassin – Inscribed by Ford to the half-title ’To Paul Hartunian/As sole surviving member of Warren/ Commission I fully endorse two basic/ conclusions of Commission/ Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin./ The Commission found no/ evidence of a conspiracy/ foreign or domestic/ Gerald R. Ford/11/8/1994’). </li><li>Report of the Warren Commission – Signed without dedication to the front endpaper by Gerald Ford (Gerald R. Ford).</li><li>JFK – Signed by Oliver Stone to the title page.</li><li>‘Untitled JFK Project’ – Typescript, signed to the first page by Stone.</li><li>Charles McCarry The Tears of Autumn – signed to bookplate on the front endpaper.</li><li>Sloan/Hill JFK – The Last Dissenting Witness – Inscribed by both authors to the title page.</li><li>Norman Mailer Oswald’s Tale – Signed without dedication to the front endpaper.</li><li>Corsi Who Really Killed Kennedy? – Signed to bookplate on the front endpaper; </li><li>Gerald Posner Case Closed– Signed to the half-title page; </li><li>Menninger Mortal Error.</li><li>Jim Marrs Crossfire.</li><li>Len Deighton The Assassination of President Kennedy.</li><li>Don Delillo LIBRA – Uncorrected Proof signed by DeLillo.</li><li>James Ellroy American Tabloid – signed to the title page and L. Fletcher Prouty ‘JFK.’</li></ul> A superb set of some of the best theories concerning one of the biggest moments of the Twentieth Century. Lyndon B. Johnson appointed House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford to a seven-member “President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.” The commission was chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren and included two Senators, two Congressmen, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the former director of the World Bank. Ford was assigned responsibility for preparing a biography of Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963), whose murder at the hands of Jack Ruby two days after he killed Kennedy left many unanswered questions. The Warren Commission interviewed more than five hundred witnesses and submitted its report to President Johnson on September 24, 1964. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President Kennedy. The Commission published its 889-page report in November 1964 (the second book in this collection being this), along with twenty-six volumes of supporting documents. The evidence and conclusions of the Warren Commission have been the subject of intensive review and examination, both fact-based and otherwise. Conspiracy theories abound, including accusations that Ford intentionally altered a part of the final report to support the “Single Bullet Theory,” the Commission’s conclusion that a single bullet fired by Oswald penetrated both President John F. Kennedy’s neck and Texas Governor John Connally’s torso and wrist before lodging in Connally’s thigh. The conspiracy community seized upon this change as evidence that the Commission covered up the evidence of two bullets and two assassins. Three subsequent U.S. government investigations in the 1960s and 1970s agreed with the Warren Commission’s conclusion that two shots fired by Oswald struck President Kennedy from the rear, and one of those shots also struck Connally. A subsequent investigation suggested that another unknown assassin fired at the President but missed; this conclusion is disputed. The 1991 Motion picture ‘JFK’, directed by Oliver Stone explored the last theory. Ford later remarked, “No. 1, Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin. And two, the commission found no evidence of a conspiracy, foreign or domestic. And in my judgment, there has been no new evidence that would undercut those two conclusions, Oliver Stone notwithstanding.”

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