President Roosevelt’s personally-owned and -used simple off-white linen handkerchief, folded to an overall size of 4.5 x 3.75, expertly embroidered in white with an ornate monogram, “R,” within an elegant paisley triangular crest. Includes an original White House Official Business envelope labeled in ballpoint in the hand of Oval Office doorkeeper and Secret Service agent William D. Simmons, “Handkerchief F. D. R. left in his desk,” as well as a letter of provenance from Simmons’s grandson on a photocopied letter from President Truman to Agent Simmons, in full: “The purpose of this historical note is to certify that my grandfather, Bill Simmons, served F. D. R. as a secret service agent as well as the above. This explains why the personal handkerchief of F. D. R. came into the possession of grand-daddy. The handwriting on envelope is that of my grandfather. (Ref. Handkerchief F. D. R. left in his desk.)” The phrase “left in his desk” refers to FDR leaving this hanky in the Oval Office just prior to departing in April 1945 for Warm Springs, a trip from whence he would never return. A seminal piece.
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