Description:

Lindbergh Charles

Charles Lindbergh Shows Concern Over Unauthorized Photographs of Him and His Wife

Single page typed letter signed, 8.5" x 11". Dated "October 26, 1939". Signed by Charles Lindbergh as "Charles A. Lindbergh". Fine condition with expected folds.

Charles Lindbergh had been making headlines and appearing in newspapers, periodicals, and magazines since his skyrocket to fame from obscurity in 1927. That was when he won the Orteig Prize, making a nonstop flight from New York to Paris. By 1927, Lindbergh even appeared in Time as their First Man of the Year cover. However, not all of the publicity surrounding the Lindberghs were related to his achievements. Lindbergh's historic flight and extraordinary celebrity status also led to tragedy. In March 1932, his infant son Charles Jr. was kidnapped and murdered in what the American media called the "Crime of the Century" and which was described by contemporaries as "the biggest story since the Resurrection." The case prompted the United States Congress to establish kidnapping as a federal crime once the kidnapper had crossed state lines. By late 1935, the hysteria surrounding the case had driven the Lindbergh family into voluntary exile in Europe, from which they returned in 1939, the year of this letter.

Lindbergh once again appeared on the cover of Time in 1939. On May 15th of the same year, and apparently against the wishes of the Lindberghs, Life magazine came out with a full cover photo of his wife, captioned "Hero's Heroic Wife" (an image of this magazine cover is shown in this listing but is for review only and is NOT sold with the letter). Apparently the Life cover and the photo itself were never approved by the Lindberghs. This comprises the bulk of the content of this offered letter, shown in part below:

" … we would prefer to not have our photographs sold to anyone. As a matter of fact, I am writing Harcourt, Brace and Co. to find out how LIFE magazine obtained the photograph which they used on their cover. This was done without authorization from us and against our general instructions about such matters ... ".

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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