Exceptional ALS signed “Charles A. Lindbergh,” one page, 6 x 9.25, on letterhead of the Hotel Trinity, Los Angeles, March 7, 1927. Lindbergh writes to A. C. Roessler in East Orange, New Jersey. In full: “I have forwarded your letter concerning carrying mail on the New York to Paris flight to Mr. H. H. Knight, 401 Olive St., St. Louis, Mo., and advise that you communicate with him direct.” Accompanied by several photos, newspaper pages, and clippings (with vintage examples) related to Lindbergh and his flight. Mild handling wear with a few minor wrinkles, otherwise fine condition. On May 21, two months after this letter, Lindbergh entered history when he landed the Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, becoming the first person to fly across the Atlantic solo. The man Lindbergh refers to, H. H. Knight, was one of the financial backers for the flight, but the letter’s recipient, A. C. Roessler, is the far more colorful character. Roessler (a pseudonym, his real name was Albert Roe) was a peculiar, unpleasant, and controversial early stamp dealer, paranoid and antisocial to a fault, maintaining a passion for anonymity so intense that no photos of him are known to exist. But in philatelic circles he was a prolific writer whose knowledge of printing served him well as he began producing airmail cachets at the dawn of US airmail service in 1918. By the mid-1920s he was acknowledged as the largest dealer of airmail covers in the country. No one knows how Roessler obtained his information on new airmail routes, experimental flights, and first flights, but he apparently had contacts in high places and would offer Lindbergh $1000 to take a bundle of covers on his epic transatlantic flight. The letter offered here is Lindbergh’s reply to Roessler’s lucrative deal and displays Lindbergh’s keen distrust of Roessler’s offer. Four years later Roessler would face his downfall, falsifying cancellations on covers intended to be taken on board the submarine headed for the North Pole on the failed Wilkins-Ellsworth Polar Expedition. Roessler was arrested and plea-bargained his two year prison sentence, but his customers deserted him, he closed shop, and simply vanished, dying in poverty and obscurity in 1952. An outstanding glimpse into the underbelly of early airmail philately and one of its most notorious players! JSA/John Reznikoff Auction LOA and RRAuction COA.
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