REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/19/1932 - HFSID 87367

RICHARD E. BYRD
The famed polar explorer signs a letter to "Bim", detailing his wife's unfortunate stay in the hospital, and asking his friend to keep it confidential
Typed letter signed: "Dick", in black ink, 1 page, 8½x11. Boston, Massachusetts. January 19, 1932. In part: "Dear Bim: Mrs. Byrd is in the hospital again, this time with an abscess on her eye. I am asking you to keep this absolutely confidential, as it is her wish and I shall trust you to do so. I know you are a man of honor. What Mrs. Byrd want me to do, I like to do to the best of my ability and she doesn't want it to get out anywhere that she is sick, because it would eventually get in the papers and then that gets all over the country, as you know". On May 9, 1926, Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888-1957) and Floyd Bennett became the first to fly over the North Pole. Both were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Scholars have raised questions about whether or not Byrd actually reached the North Pole but all have agreed Byrd thought he had reached the North Pole. In 1929, Byrd established the "Little America" Antarctica base and flew (indisputably) over the South Pole. He was promoted to Rear Admiral upon his return in 1930. On his Antarctic expeditions in the 1930s, Byrd discovered Marie Byrd Land and the Edsel Ford Mountains. Still exploring in his late 60s, he commanded the Operation High Jump (1946-1947) and Operation Deep Freeze (1955-1956) operations. JAMES B. POND ("Bim"), who had become the nation's premier lecture agent, had established his agency in New York in 1879. In addition to Byrd, his notable clients included Mark Twain, P.T. Barnum, Thomas Nast, James Whitcomb Riley, Henry Stanley and Booker T. Washington. Normal mailing folds. Fine condition.