ASSOCIATE JUSTICE FELIX FRANKFURTER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/05/1960 - HFSID 250804

FELIX FRANKFURTER
The Associate Justice writes to columnist Leonard Lyons, who has written to him regarding one of Frankfurter's books.
Autograph Letter Signed: "Felix Frankfurter" as Associate Justice, 2p, 6x4 card, front and verso. Washington, D.C., 1960 July 5. On imprinted Supreme Court of the United States, Chambers of Justice Felix Frankfurter card to "Dear Mr. Lyons". In full: "Certainly that book has had to meet no test as severe as yours - to be read between the hours of 4 and 6 A.M. No - your subjecting to a still stiffer test: to make it compete with your sons' favorite TV programs. Caring about the young as I do, I do hope that I may enlist at least their partial interest. You were kind to write me. Sincerely yours". Slightly creased at upper portion of front of card. Fine condition. Accompanied by original mailing envelope, 6x4. 4-cent Lincoln stamp affixed, postmarked Washington, D.C., July 6, 1960. Addressed by Frankfurter to: "Leonard Lyons Esq/c-o New York Post,/75 West Street,/New York City, 4." Imprinted Supreme Court of the United States return address. Ink slightly smudged at three words (all completely legible). Lightly soiled. Minor stain at lower blank margin. Neatly opened at upper edge. Fine condition. The book mentioned in this letter was probably Felix Frankfurter Reminisces, which was published in 1960. LEONARD LYONS wrote "The Lyons Den", a Broadway "gossip column" for the "New York Post" from 1934-1974. Associate Justice FELIX FRANKFURTER (1882-1965) served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1939-1962. As a member of the Harvard Law School faculty (1914-1939), Frankfurter had intensively sought to overturn the murder convictions of two Italian anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Frankfurter did not attempt to define the defendants' guilt or innocence; he considered the Sacco-Vanzetti trial a test case for the objectivity of legal procedure and intolerance of the establishment. Frankfurter's efforts were in part financially supported by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who gave him an annual stipend for legislative research and activities dealing with social and political importance. Frankfurter's liberal reputation was derived from his many involvements: he helped found the American Civil Liberties Union in 1920, and Frankfurter actively supported the Zionist movement and labor unions. He also served as advisor to President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference (1919) and advised Franklin D. Roosevelt during both his governorship and presidency. FDR appointed Frankfurter to the Supreme Court in 1939. While on the Court, Frankfurter emphasized the Court's function to base all opinions on constitutional law instead of personal opinion. Two items.