Lot 383

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Description:

WARREN E. BURGER ARCHIVE
(1907 - 1995) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1969-86), a strict constructionist in criminal matters. Fine archive of five A.Ls.S., four T.Ls.S., together with a signed photograph, two signed prints and a signed magazine cover all addressed or inscribed to Walter Bitterling of Sacramento, Calif. The group includes some fine content letters written as Chief Justice concerning a variety of philosophical issues. In a T.L.S. of July 27, 1981 he muses on the increasingly rapid news-cycle, in part "...Most of the troubles going on in the world would be much better off if fewer people heard about them. A young man unable to get attention by virtue of his own industry and merit, shoots President Reagan and a couple of weeks later another 'nut' shoots the Pope. If they had had to wait for a sailing vessel to carry that news across to Italy and have it passed by word of mouth, there would have been very little concern about the shooting of President Reagan. By the time the word got there it would be so stale that if the subject came up at all the listener would say, 'Who is Reagan?' So there we are with all these magnificent modern innovations. We can transmit diseases from one continent to another in a matter of hours as we transmit the bad news in a matter of seconds...". In a T.L.S. of July 24, 1986 he comments extensively on the choice of Bill Moyers for "an experimental broadcast on the bicentennial [of the Constitution]... I believe Bill Moyers is planning on at least one more, and possibly two more sessions, and I think he has enough material from the original taping to make up at least one more hour. I hope he has a sense of humor because I wrote him a long-hand note today, after receiving many letters like yours, in which I said I had received many compliments on the fine way the he (Moyers) had conducted the interview, and if he needed any more practice, I was available. The fact is, he is one of the best, in my view, and there are very few in that category, and he is not an 'interviewer' in the ordinary sense. He simply carries on a pleasant conversation. And, having watched him several times with other people, I concluded that he was a good man to start with. As you may remember, he is an ordained Baptist clergyman and was LBJ's press secretary. I would really take a person with the training, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness to be that closely associated with the late LBJ. You may recall that once he complained to a close friend, saying, 'Why is it that people don't like me?' And his close friend was close enough and brave enough to answer, 'Lyndon, you are not a very likeable person'..." In an A.L.S. [n.d.] he tells his friend not to "...let the muckrakers get you down...These birds are like that crowd you had to do battle with in 1947-50 - and just about as ruthless. But they under-rate the common sense of Americans....". Much more good content, too voluminous to quote here. The collection also features an early photograph of Burger as an Army cook in 1924 signed and inscribed as well as an affectionate printed caricature of the Chief Justice signed and inscribed. A few of the letters bear minor faults including damp stains and moderate uneven toning, overall very good to fine condition. A fine insight into the mind of one of the last century's more influential legal minds.

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October 9, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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