TLS signed “Charles A. Lindbergh,” two pages, 8 x 10, Long Barn, Weald, Seven Oaks letterhead, June 13, 1936. Letter to Dr. John Zwick at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, in full: “Thank you very much for your letters of 28th May and 3rd June. I have just returned from a trip to France, where I saw Dr. Carrell and went over a few of the details in regard to setting up and demonstrating the apparatus at Copenhagen. If it is at all possible, I am planning on going to Copenhagen several weeks in advance to make sure that all necessary facilities are available for satisfactory operation, and that there has been no breakage in shipment. I understand from Dr. Fischer that both direct and alternating currents are available, but only at 22o volts. I am writing again to Dr. Fischer, and it may be necessary for me to cable you to have a suitable motor made and sent to Copenhagen to operate the rotating valve. If it is at all practicable, however, I will arrange to obtain a motor in Denmark. Thank you very much for sending such detailed lists. They are already of great assistance. Also for sending the new leather valves. I am glad you have been able to solve the difficulty we had previously.”
Following the sensationalism that surrounded the kidnapping of his son, Lindbergh and his family escaped to Europe. It was while living in France that Lindbergh began studying the perfusion of organs outside of the body with Nobel prize-winning French surgeon Dr. Alexis Carrel. Lindbergh had expressed an interest in the field when, in 1930, his sister-in-law had developed a fatal heart condition. It was this interest that led him to develop a glass perfusion pump, named ‘The Model T,’ which is credited for opening the door for future heart surgeries. Carrel and Lindbergh summarized their studies in the 1938 book The Culture of Organs, although it would be decades before an artificial heart would be built.
Though both made tremendous contributions to the field of medicine, it must be noted that they shared a far less noble association as well. Carrel was a known Nazi sympathizer and believed in eugenicism, in particular the elimination of, what he believed to be, inferior races through forced euthanasia, sterilization, and imprisonment. Anne Morrow Lindbergh recorded many conversations between her husband and Carrel in her diaries, detailing their extensive conversations about racial purification.
This letter, giving insight into the medical research process, serves as a fascinating look into the more noble pursuits of both men. In very good condition, with intersecting folds (with a small hole to each page where they intersect) and scattered light staining at folds on second page. RRAuction COA.
