Description:

White Stanford 1853 - 1906 Stanford White ALS foreshadowing his murder for his affection for young girls: "have one 18 year old smooth skinned firm breasted little model on tap"

Bi-fold letter, 4.5" x 7", with 4 pages scripted entirely in the hand of Stanford White. Dated "Saturday July 6th" (1895), and signed in full signature as "Stanford White". Light handling marks, expected folds, slight ink smudging.


A highly revealing letter written by White to "Mac" MacMonnies, the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux - Arts school, and who worked extensively to create his architectural masterpieces. White's frenetically scripted letter to Mac flows from thoughts of business to thoughts of a more lurid nature, requesting Mac to arrange to have "one 18 year old smooth skinned firm breasted pretty little model "in tap" for me - I shall be more than ever your friend."

This letter, written 6 years before meeting Evelyn Nesbit (which culminated in a fatal relationship), shows Stanford White's character and manic penchant for sexual conquest. White was a sophisticated collector of all things rare and costly, artwork, and antiquities, White was also a serial seducer of teenage girls. He maintained a multi-story apartment with a rear entrance on 24th street in Manhattan; its interior design was intended to fulfill one primary purpose: to function as an opulent, seductive lair where White and his female conquests could "wine and dine" in seclusion. With an appetite for underage impoverished chorus girls, he brought them up to his apartment, to his 'green hued' room surrounded in mirrors, where he urged them to soar naked on his infamous red-velvet swing, suspended by ivy twined ropes, as prelude to a tumble in the sheets.

His soirees ended poorly when he drugged and 'took advantage' of Evelyn Nesbit, 16 year old super model and pin-up girl, whom he had groomed for months prior to trust him. As his fate unfolded, several year later, Stanford White was brutally shot by Nesbit's husband, Harry Kendall Thaw, who could not emotionally let go of Nesbitt's past. Thaw, in full public view and while in a jealous rage, shot Stanford White point blank in the head. Although witness reports differ as to the exact pronouncements Thaw made, and while the specific wording varies, all share a similar theme: "I did it because he ruined my wife! (Some thought they heard instead "I did it because he ruined my life"), "He had it coming to him!".

An important revealing ALS showing the lurid side of Stanford White's character while in the midst of his incredibly creative, productive years. And a rare letter, which foreshadows the events to come which led to his death. Scarce written entirely in White's hand. Only a few ALS's have ever shown up at auction prior to this example, and none with content even close to this.

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