GUTZON BORGLUM - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 11/26/1925 - HFSID 284923
Price: $1,000.00
GUTZON BORGLUM
His angry TLS (1925), to someone who has not kept his promise of financial
support
Typed Letter signed: "Gutzon Borglum", 1page 6x9½. San Antonio,
Texas, 1925 November 26. On letterhead of the Hotel Menger to Curtis
Freshel, New York City. In full: I regret very
much that I have not received from you some payment on the account of our
agreement as you promised would be done. I have had a very difficult time during
the past two years, carrying on the big work and financing it myself and the
only reason for making the offer that I did to you was on the consideration that
I should receive five thousand dollars within thirty days. You assured me that I
could depend upon that. It seems hardly fair that there should not have been
even a thousand dollars paid on account. I have taken steps to play a big part
in the restoration of the good name of Tom Paine in history but I will not
possibly have any courage to undertake what I agreed to if I am to receive no
support at all. Yours sincerely". Borglum (1867-1941, born
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum in St. Charles, Idaho), already famous for
creating the great head of Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, was commissioned
to begin work on a "shrine of democracy" in 1927. After selecting Mount
Rushmore as its site, he began work on 60-foot-high heads of Presidents
George Washington (unveiled in 1930), Thomas Jefferson (1936), Abraham Lincoln
(1937) and Theodore Roosevelt (1939), chosen to represent epic symbols of
America. Borglum, who developed innovative stone-working methods to accomplish
the massive project, died in 1941, leaving his son Lincoln to complete the
finishing details. Curtis Freshel made a fortune from inventing and
marketing flavorings for vegetarians. Borglum did sculpt a gilded statue of
Thomas Paine, but the commission came from Paine biographer Joseph Lewis, who
donated it to the people of France. The statue arrived in Paris shortly before
World War II, was hidden from the Germans during the Occupation, and stands in a
Paris park today. Horizontal fold creases. Paperclip crease and stain at
upper left margin. Small chip at lower right edge. Two ½ slit tears at left
margin. Vertical crease ½ from left edge. Overall, fine
condition.
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