Lot 1092
Bryan, William Jennings (1860-1925) Three-time presidential nominee; Secretary of State. Typed Letter Signed ("W.J. Bryan") as Secretary of State, on letterhead embossed with a U.S. seal and "Department of State / Washington," August 21, 1913, 1 1/3 pp, quarto. To the Honorable Martin H. Glynn in Albany, New York, regarding the extradition from Canada of Harry K. Thaw, murderer of renowned architect and libertine Stanford White. Thaw, a sadistic playboy heir to a Pittsburgh railroad fortune, was the husband of Evelyn Nesbit, a dancer and former girlfriend of White's. On June 25, 1906, the obsessively jealous Thaw shot and killed White. During the trial, the unsavory aspects of White's life were revealed and Thaw was found not guilty by reason of insanity. On August 17, 1913, he fled the asylum to Canada, and four days later, William Jennings Bryan wrote Congressman Glynn: "the case of Harry K. Thaw is not a matter in respect to which the Department is in a position to make a request of the British or Canadian Government. Steps, however, have been taken to bring the matter in a personal sense to the notice of the Canadian authorities with a view to such action as they may find themselves justified in voluntarily taking." In 1915, under pressure from the U.S., Thaw was extradited. A jury found him sane but cleared him of all charges. An excellent letter. It is published in Sanford J. Mock's Document Stories. A Pastiche of Articles, p.204.
Estimated Value $800 - 1,000.
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| Realized $460 |
