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Lot 104
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JFK assassination House bullet trajectory & medical illustrations
JFK assassination House bullet trajectory & medical illustrations
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Description:

Kennedy John 1917 - 1963 Two important detailed original medical illustrations prepared for the House Select Committee on Assassinations detailing the trajectory of the first bullet that struck John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963: the infamous "single bullet" that not only struck the President, but Governor John Connally as well. A highly desirable and unique assassination relic, and one of the most iconic images of the investigation of the President's murder

A pair of original and very dramatic 10" x 12.5" medical illustrations, accomplished with ink, gray wash, and tape, depicting the trajectory of the first bullet that struck John F. Kennedy set against profiles of the President's head and shoulders produced for the 1978 hearings on the murder of John F. Kennedy by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Both drawings, rendered by medical illustrator Ida G. Dox of Bethesda Maryland (who signs the lefthand drawing "Dox"), are housed in a 25" x 15.5" mat bearing her credit on the verso. Both illustrations are covered by a sheet of heavy art paper bearing a stamped note: "DO NOT TOUCH SURFACE OF DRAWING". Offered with a 10" x 8" photograph of Washington D.C. police test firing Oswald's rifle on a shooting range. Beside some minor marginal wear to mat, both drawings are in extremely fine condition.

The drawings come from the estate of Cecil W. Kirk (1938-2011) a police officer, investigator and photography expert who served with the DC Metropolitan Police from 1960 to 1980. In 1978, Kirk, as head of Mobile Crime Laboratory and Photographic Services, testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations as a photography expert. The illustrations were published in the House Select Committee on Assassinations' 1979 report. The illustrations appear as Figure 12 on page 100 of Volume 7 of the Appendix to Hearings Before the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The illustration at left shows Kennedy in profile with the structure of his spinal column, lungs and trachea filled in over which Dox has sketched the trajectory of the famous "single bullet" that struck the President in his upper back. (The bullet exited Kennedy's throat and continued onward to strike Governor Connally in the back.) The drawing clearly shows the hole in Kennedy's neck where doctors at Parkland Hospital performed a tracheotomy that obscured the exit wound. Dox also took care to illustrate the outline of Kennedy's suit and tie (the bullet was believed to have grazed the President's tie knot).

The drawing to the right, simpler in style in showing only Kennedy's basic profile, demonstrates three possible angles for the bullet's trajectory as it entered Kennedy's back and exited from his neck. The three positions were rendered as there was some question as to Kennedy's exact position when the bullet struck. Because this bullet then struck Governor Connally after exiting the President's neck, the trajectory was critical to proving the "single bullet theory" that was derided by critics.

According to photographic expert Cecil W. Kirk, for whom these drawings were produced, there was no need for the bullet to "zig-zag" as Kennedy was seated at such an angle. In his 1978 testimony, Kirk said: "The bullet which passed through the president's upper torso was moving downward at about 5 degrees relative to the president assuming him to be sitting erect. Nothing that combination of leaning slightly forward, and 'hunching' forward as well, added 11 to 18 degrees and then including the 3 degree slope of the street -- the combined inclination of the trajectory is found to have been from 19-26 degrees downward from the gun to the president. The middle of this range was used. The shot which pierced the President's upper torso and neck traveled along such a path that, if it continued, with only small deflections, could hardly have failed to strike Gov. Connally."

In her own testimony before the committee, Dox explained the methodology for producing the illustrations: "The autopsy photographs were copied by placing a piece of tracing paper directly on the photograph, then all the details were very carefully traced. Later on, while working on the final drawing, I had to have the photograph in front of me at all times. In this way I could be constantly comparing and looking back and forth at the drawing and the photograph so that no detail could be overlooked or omitted or altered in any way. That is the way the copies were made and the tracings were made from the originals ... This was a series of composite reconstructions which means several sources were used to arrive at the final product. This was also done, of course, in very close consultation with the medical panel, especially Dr. Michael Baden, and the sources that were used were, for instance, the photographs and X-rays of the President taken at autopsy and others that were taken when he was alive. These were superimposed and compared so that the right proportions would be arrived at. The findings were several -- so then different drawings had to be used to illustrate these. In another instance, one of the frames of the film taken during the motorcade was photographed and the outline of the President's head was used so that the drawing would have the head of the President in the position that the medical panel decided was necessary ... "

Ida Gladys Dox (1927-2013) was a professional medical illustrator and senior author of several major medical reference works including Melloni's Illustrated Dictionary, Attorney's Illustrated medical Dictionary, as well as other standard medical reference works and for many years she served on the staff of Georgetown University School of Medicine. She also testified as an expert witness in the House Select Committee on Assassinations in their investigations on the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King.

The images appear profusely on line in internet searches, of course most references show reproductions from these sketches. Here are the originals.

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