Incredible vintage matte-finish 11.25 x 14.75 portrait, boldly signed and inscribed in fountain pen to Herbert Hoover’s Secretary of State Henry Stimson, “To Henry L. Stimson in remembrance of his sojourn in Rome with feelings of sincere friendship. Mussolini, Roma, 14 Luglio, 1931, IX.” Some silvering to edges, as well as portions of inscription, otherwise fine condition. Accompanied by photocopies of July 1931 articles in the Chicago Daily Tribune and The New York Times (described below).
The photo was originally presented to Stimson by Foreign Minister Dino Grandi at the train station in Rome as Stimson and his wife prepared to depart for Paris aboard Mussolini’s train. “‘Good-bye,’ smiled the secretary, raising his arm in Mussolini’s Roman salute to Foreign Minister Dino Grandi, while Mrs. Stimson blew kisses to the Eternal City at the end of their week’s visit,” the July 15, 1931, edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune reported, continuing, “As a final gift, Il Duce sent Mrs. Stimson a huge basket of orchids and to Secretary of State Stimson he sent a large autographed photograph of himself as a memento of their cordial and satisfactory interviews.” That same day, The New York Times published Mussolini’s inscription on the photograph here offered as well.
Just four years later, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, ignoring a plea from Franklin Roosevelt through Stimson’s successor, Cordell Hull, “expressing [Roosevelt’s] earnest hope that the controversy between Italy and Ethiopia will be resolved without resort to armed conflict…a world calamity the consequences of which would adversely affect the interests of all nations.” World reaction to the invasion, especially in Europe, drove Mussolini closer to Hitler. On May 22, 1939, the two countries signed the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy.
Truly one-of-a-kind, and certainly one of the finest signed Mussolini photos in existence, this silver gelatin print forms an uncomfortable link between the United States and its future enemy: Mussolini. History would prove that the sentiment of “sincere friendship” would not last. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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