Description:

Bartholdi Frederic

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi ALS with original drawing discussing patent rights for the Statue of Liberty



1pp ALS inscribed in French and signed by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi as “Your devoted friend, A. Bartholdi” at bottom right. The September 12, 1878 letter addressed to Bartholdi’s “dear friend” Georges Glaenzer is inscribed in black pen on unmarked cream stationery. An ink drawing in the upper left corner alluding to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 depicts a prone figure crushed by a pickelhaube helmet. In near fine condition, but with light expected paper folds as well as a 1.5” long discolored tear along left paper edge. The page measures 5.25” x 8.125”.



Bartholdi wrote: “It was unlucky to have missed by so little the opportunity to give you my signature. Isn’t there a way of having my signature legalized here; I seem to remember having heard the mere depositing of it would already warrant its legality while awaiting the official papers. I would like to spend some fifteen days here; I relax while tending to my affairs and I would need a longer stay soon”.



Bartholdi and Glaenzer’s business was of a legal nature and can be established by the date. It is probable that the two were discussing a patent application that would be granted as U.S. Patent No. 10893 just two months later, on November 5, 1878. Bartholdi worked closely with Glaenzer to obtain this design patent for a Statue of Liberty bust originally cast by the Parisian metal foundry Avoiron & Cie. While Bartholdi could make copies in bronze or terra cotta, his manufactory partner was only authorized to make copies in zinc, copper plate, or in a less desirable imitation bronze substitute. Bartholdi was extremely protective of his rights and reproductions. Even with patent protection, bootleg Statue of Liberty souvenirs abounded in both France and the United States.



Both Bartholdi and his correspondent Glaenzer were Franco-Prussian War veterans who fought in the conflict less than a decade before. It might have been this common experience, or the fact that Bartholdi wrote this letter from his hometown of Colmar in the disputed region of Alsace-Lorraine, that inspired his political cartoon.



Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) studied painting, sculpture, and architecture under well-known instructors like Viollet-le-Duc in Paris. Following his service in the Franco-Prussian War, Bartholdi became increasingly interested in sculpting monumental works celebrating resistance against oppression, and Enlightenment ideals like Freedom. Bartholdi later conceived of the design of the “Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World”. The fundraising phase of this process would take years, and indeed long surpass the actual 100th anniversary of the United States. Yet once it was installed in 1886, the massive 151-ft tall copper-clad sculpture of a standing woman would fundamentally change the cityscape.



Georges Auguste Glaenzer (1848-1915) was one of the people who made the project possible. In 1886, Glaenzer was a living in New York as a French expatriate. This Franco-Prussian War veteran transferred his interior decorating business to the United States in 1880, where he beautified the homes of affluent New Yorkers like the Vanderbilts. Glaenzer had numerous extra-professional interests including yachting and architecture. He was a member of the French Commission to the Centennial, and secretary of the French commission charged with fund-raising for the Statue of Liberty.



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