Vintage autograph album, 1930s–1940s, comprising approximately 67 items removably affixed (with photo corners) to the pages of a leatherette-bound 11 x 12.5 scrapbook. The signed items represent a range of politicians (including Presidents Hoover through Eisenhower and their associates), cabinet members, military figures, and other Washington notables, and include cards, slips, FDCs, TLS, and more. The album is enhanced by scores of unsigned photos, secretarial letters of transmittal, and other items of related ephemera. The signers include: Franklin D. Roosevelt (card), Eleanor Roosevelt, M[issy] A. LeHand (FDR’s personal secretary and mistress), Douglas MacArthur (FDC), John N. Garner, H[enry] A. Wallace, Harry S. Truman (terse ANS on the bottom of a 1945 TLS requesting an autograph, “No cards enclosed” ), Cordell Hull, Harold D. Smith, H[enry] Morgenthau, Envoy Scott Land, George M. Cohan (attractive pencil signature on card), Homer Cummings, James A. Farley, Claude A. Swanson, Harold T. Ickes, Claude R. Wickard, Wendell Willkie, Daniel C. Roper, Harry Hopkins, Frances Perkins (Secretary of Labor and first female cabinet member), Jesse Jones, Hugh S. Johnson, Henry L. Stimson, Charles Edison, Frank Knox, Alexander Vandegrift, James Forrestal, Frank C. Walker, Frank Murphy, W. H. Woodin, George H. Dern, Robert H. Jackson, Francis Biddle, Dean Acheson, Thomas Dewey, E. P. Stettinius, William D. Leahy, Bernard Baruch, William H. Davis, Tom Connally, Joe T. Robinson, Omar Bradley, Guy Gillette, Joseph W. Byrns (two), Kenneth S. Wherry, Robert Taft, Arthur Vandenberg, Wallace H. White, William B. Bankhead, Sam Rayburn, J. A. Krug, Chester Bowles, James F. Byrnes, Paul V. McNutt, Herbert H. Lehman, Lewis B. Hershey, W. F. Halsey and Chester Nimitz (on the same attractive FDC with a color cachet picturing both), E. J. King, Dwight D. Eisenhower (on a FDC with a cachet picturing battle scenes at Remagen Bridgehead), G[eorge] C. Marshall, Alben W. Barkley, H. H. Arnold (FDC), and Herbert Hoover (1939 TLS: “In view of the shifting situation both in our country and abroad I do not wish to commit myself to any public addresses at this time.”) A beautifully presented and preserved collection that was obviously one determined young collector’s labor of love! In fine condition, with scattered mild toning, soiling, and handling wear, and a few minor brushes. The vast majority of the items are clean, fresh, and ready for display if desired. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
