Lot 1217
FELIX FRANKFURTER
(1882-1965) Supreme Court Associate Justice, founder of the A.C.L.U. and a leading exponent of judicial self-restraint. A fine archive of correspondence between Frankfurter and JOSEPH HALL SCHAFFNER. Schaffner (1897-1972) became director of the clothing manufacturing firm Hart, Schaffner and Marx in 1922, and served with Frankfurter on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), possibly from 1950 onward. The CFR was founded in 1921 with the mission to "better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries", is widely considered the most influential think tank and counted among its founding members Herbert Hoover and contemporary dignitaries such as Madeleine Albright and Tom Brokaw. This archive comprises 29 letters of Frankfurter penned to Shaffner from 1927-1964 (12 A.L.S. and 17 T.L.S.); four A.L.S. of Shaffner to Frankfurther 1937-1959; five letters of MARION FRANKFURTER, Frankfurter's wife; and additional letters from Frankfurter's secretary, a few telegrams and letters from unknown correspondents. The letters between Frankfurter and Shaffner reflect their lifelong camaraderie and intellectual acuity, with Frankfurter's largely penned on his Harvard University letterhead and later, Supreme Court letterhead, signed with initials "F. F. ". A few of the letters comprise annotations at the conclusion of letters to him as well. No subject too trivial escapes Frankfurter's gift for erudition and eloquence, making the most mundane topics a pleasure to read; more importantly are his elegant reflections on literature, law and life. In very small part: "...[March 9, 1936] You are as much an old foegy [sic] as I am intimating that secretaries are, like automobiles and telephones, doubtful manifestations of 'progress'. The better they are, the worse for one's character - and still worse for one's ability to find one's way through old files...[May 27, 1937] I have written to Swope [Herbert Bayer Swope, influential journalist, editor and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Reporting] with all the seductiveness that I can command, and we shall see what we shall see...I shall now see what I can do with Elizabeth Ellis [wife of socialite yachtsman Ralph Ellis, a lifelong friend of Frankfurter]...[June 19, 1937] Why didn't I propose something worthy of your talents? For long I have wanted the original pencil draft of the Justinian Code, Plato's notes on Socrates' lectures; for long have I wanted to know the undoubted authorship of the Letters of Junius, and the unquestionable subject of Shakespeare's sonnets. These, just by way of a starter, are some of the commissions I should have given you instead of asking you to turn a simple little Hungarian handspring. Anyhow, the cunning bottles have arrived with their cunning contents. And we shall be drinking your good health...and I hope not always soberly...[June 11, 1937 I sent an inadequate word of thanks...for the Zwachi...They have a quaint custom...in Hungary called Radosh. When you buy a pound of something they throw in something more for good measure...You cleared up a little mystery. A boy who delivered the package said it was from Mr. Shaffner, and just for a moment I was surprised, but then reflected on the pervasiveness of your friendships. But now you can tell me I am the beneficiary of your sinister purpose. So be it. I can stand it if you can...[Aug. 5, 1937] I am glad to see this circular of Weigel's. I am not surprised that the esprit de corps of his staff is what I believe it to be. You certainly gave him some sound advice...I am afraid I hardly conveyed to you the intensity of my interest in the problem which you brought me, and my eagerness to hear of future developments...A damned good time was had by both Marion and me. She paid Jack Viner [Jacob Viner, American economist considered the greatest of his time] a compliment I had rather honestly earn than any other in the world. 'What a thoroughly honest-minded person he is', was her first comment...Talk with him is exhilarating, isn't it?... [Oct. 9, 1937] I have already written Hiram Halle [American businessman who was dedicated to Jewish causes during WWII] how terribly sorry I am that we can't go to his party...[Dec. 17, 1940] How thoughtful of you to write me about the authorship of 'Guilty Men' [a controversial work published in Britain in 1940 under the nom de plume Cato, attacking prominent public figures for their policy toward Nazi Germany]... [Feb. 1, 1949] You are very kind to ask me to do the Herman Vale and of course I would like to do so very much. But with characteristic perception your realize that between what I like to do and what I am able to do these days there is an awful gulf. This office [as Supreme Court Justice] necessarily cramps me in being to say what I want to say because there is hardly an issue of importance as to which utterance by me might not later plague me when it may form some aspect of a future litigation. I would take that chance in the case of Herman but I simply have not the time...I would have to soak myself in order to refresh my knowledge...[Feb. 26, 1941] I am perfectly delighted that Max Radin [notable author and professor of law] is taking on the job....That is a happy picture you painted of Perugina. I have known few fathers who would have had such detached and yet such devoted delight...But then tragedy is at the core of life and courage in meeting it is life's most manly demand..., and more. Shaffner's letters contain equally compelling content, one in particular comprising an 11pp. A. L. (unsigned) to Frankfurter, Apr. 11, 1959, to Frankfurter lauding his speech on his friend, the influential jurist Learned Hand. In small part: "...Rarely in a man's lifetime does he have the privilege in six days of hearing one speech as great as Carl Sandburg's at the twenty-fifth anniversary dinner of the University in Exile, and then read another this morning such as yours made yesterday for Learned Hand. I got to know him a little better than I otherwise might because practically all of the New York Italian black marketeers were taking their bambinos back to Italy post-war to show grampa and grandma. The children ran screaming, yelling, bouncing balls and hurdling steamer chairs all up and down the deck. Judge Hand found a quiet eeyrie on the topmost deck where he would read and I by chance did too. The sensitive and exquisite perception that made you realize how suffocating this occasion could be to a sensitive and modest man was choice. About the execution of it you'll hear enough from others...I'm afraid we didn't do as gracefully by Alvin. There must have been moments when he felt as though he were drowning in a sea of marshmallows...There was no one there that night to dance your nimbledextrous minuet on the needle's point of the inverted compliment with certain implications of enchantment. I contributed myself quite ruthlessly to whatever discomfort Alvin may have felt. But I was determined to the limit of my ability to use the occasion to lift up a whole notch if possible the public recognition of the New School and its Graduate Faculty's stature....The thing which especially pleases me about your performance yesterday is that you were able to be present and participate. I was troubled to learn from Hans Simons [Professor at the New School for Social Research] that though fully convalescent your doctor would not allow you to come to New York...Along with the four speakers, [Carl] Sandburg, [poet William] Bronk, [political scientist and a founder of the New School, Henri] Bonnet, and [German chemist, Herman] Staudinger, the Toastmaster in the person of myself was awarded an honorary degree...". Along with five letters of Frankfurter's wife Marion, also to Shaffner with intelligent social content; three telegrams from Frankfurter to Schaffner, and other miscellany. A wonderful and rare grouping, overall very good to fine condition.
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