Description:

EDWARD GEIN

(1906 - 1984) American murderer and grave robber. His crimes, which he committed in Plainfield, Wisconsin, garnered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin. Gein was the inspiration for "Buffalo Bill" in the film "The Silence of the Lambs", and "Norman Bates" in "Psycho". Impossibly rare, probably one-of-a-kind signed fingerprint card, 8" x 7 1/4", "Mendota State Hosp.", Aug. 29, 1977, signed in pencil: "Edward Gein". The card, which bears a dark imprint of each finger as well as four fingers of each hand taken simultaneously, also bears the murderer's date and place of birth, hair and eye colors, height, weight, and citizenship. The verso has been stamped twice in red ink: "DECEASED". Typical file holes, else fine. As was the case with all patients at this hospital for the criminally insane, Gein was required to be fingerprinted annually. The facility opened July 14, 1860, as the Wisconsin Hospital for the Insane. It was the first mental hospital in Wisconsin. In July 2010 the institute lost its federal certification for its adult intake unit for "failing to provide adequate treatment for its patients", although whether it could have helped Gein is highly debatable.

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September 11, 2013 11:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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