Vintage glossy 5.5 x 7.75 photo on an 8.5 x 11.5 mount, signed and inscribed in fountain pen on the mount, “To Huntington Wilson with the regards of Theodore Roosevelt, Jan. 30th 1909.” The image is of the 1908 painting of Roosevelt by the noted Hungarian-born British artist Philip Alexius de László (1869–1937), the original of which now hangs in the Cabinet Room of the White House. The inscribee, Huntington Wilson, had a few weeks earlier been appointed by Roosevelt as Ambassador to Romania. Though Wilson took the oath of that office, he instead stepped in as Assistant Secretary of State, a post he would maintain until the early months of the Wilson administration. In very good condition, with a hint of toning and trimming to edges of mount (well away from writing), and a few unobtrusive wrinkles and surface marks to image. A most uncommon and arresting image with a notable association! LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
