Lot 267

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Lot 267
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Marina Oswald 26 Times SIGNED & INSCRIBED Warren Commission Book Set, With Superb Association To An Important Testifier
Marina Oswald 26 Times SIGNED & INSCRIBED Warren Commission Book Set, With Superb Association To An Important Testifier
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Description:

Marina Oswald 26 Times SIGNED & INSCRIBED Warren Commission Book Set, With Superb Association To An Important Testifier, An Amazing New Find of Extreme Importance

An important association, signed and inscribed full set of 27 books on the Warren Commission Hearings (26 volumes of testimony and exhibits; and the "Report"  of the overall findings and conclusions)  Twenty-five books are signed by Marina Oswald as "Mrs. Marina Oswald"  or "Marina Oswald", and 10 of these volumes  include her unique inscriptions to the Fords. (One of the 10 books has a large inscription by Marina without her signature). The full set was originally owned by Declan Ford and his Russian wife, Katherine, who had a close relationship with Marina Oswald. Marina Oswald most usually shied away from signing anything Kennedy related, and also after the assassination signing her name as "Marina Oswald" . This 27 volume set contains her signature and/or inscriptions on the front paste downs on EACH of the 26 volumes of testimonies and exhibits (not the later issued single summary). Each book is in near fine condition in blue cloth with gilt titles and a gilt presidential seal to the front. A few have an slight fading to the spine cloth, an occasional corner bump or rubbing and "The Report" volume having a shaken binding with the mull exposed. Each volume is stamped to the top of the page block by Declan Ford with his ownership stamp "DECLAN P. FORD". Marina's signature on anything Kennedy related has brought substantial collector's interest with even a simple First Day Cover of John Kennedy signed to the front by Marina Oswald recently selling over $3,000 at auction. Special sets with multiple signatures have sold in the $25,000 range at auction but nothing of this magnitude as ever appeared before. This set offers the signatures and inscriptions of the closest person to the assassin on a monumental undertaking devoted to that person. The most marvelous and important association. 

The inscriptions  are translated and listed below, and are found within the designated volumes:

Vol 1. There are good people in this world / for Declan P. Ford/ From Marina Oswald/ Dallas, Dec.31, 1964

This Russian proverb is typically used as an expression of gratitude when someone in trouble receives unexpected help.

Vol. 4. It’s better to have $100, than to have a hundred friends (especially in America).  The original Russian proverb, “Rather that getting your hands on 100 rubles, get yourself  a hundred friends” is nonsensical. 

Vol. 5. At the moment, the weather in Dallas is quite nice /Mrs. Marina Oswald

 Vol 6.  I feel bad for George Bouhe - he ran into trouble through no fault of his own (literally, “suffered for nothing”) / Mrs. Marina Oswald

George Bouhe fled Soviet Russia in 1923, and came to the US a year later.  An accountant and banker, he eventually settled in Dallas. In 1962, an acquaintance from Ft. Worth told him that a man by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald had approached him seeking a job as a Russian translator and asked Bouhe to evaluate Oswald’s skills. Bouhe, a doyen of Dallas’s small Russian speaking community, had a reputation of a person always ready to help newcomers from Russia to adjust to their new country. He eventually arranged some job interviews for Oswald, and introduced Marina, who spoke little English at the time, to several Russian-speaking local ladies. Marina particularly liked Bouhe because both of them grew up in St. Petersburg / Leningrad, and loved that city.

Vol. 16. I am sitting on a cherry tree / Unable to stop munching / Uncle Lenin tells children/ Listen to your Mom - In USSR, children are taught this poem in kindergartens / Mrs. Marina Oswald, Dallas, Dec. 1964 

Vol. 17. Declan: my heartfelt thanks for helping to keep this weak body in good spirits. / Mrs. Marina Oswald 

A wordplay on the Russian proverb a healthy mind in a healthy body

Vol. 21. I particularly liked Mr. Warren, Mr. Dulles and Mr. Rankin /Mrs. Marina Oswald 

Mrs. Oswald is talking about the key members of the Warren Commission appointed to investigate the JFK’s murder (Earl Warren, Allen Dulles, J. Lee Rankin).

Vol. 23. Have fun reading the depositions Ok? / Marina Oswald

Vol. 24. I am surprised at Declan - what does he need these “selected works” for”? / Marina Oswald

“Selected works” is probably an ironic reference to the autographed pages produced by Marina at the Declan Ford’s request. Ford, who had appointed himself Marina’s business manager, likely thought that Marina’s autographs could become valuable. 

Vol. 26. I hope nothing like this will happen again in our sinful world / Mrs. Marina Oswald

An important signed and inscribed full set of books on the Warren Commission Hearings. The Fords were two of several people who seemed to put their routine lives aside to assist in sequestering - shepherding Marina Oswald through her own life in the year before and during a surprising number of years after the arrest and sudden death of Marina's husband, Lee Harvey Oswald. Russian born Katherine Ford befriended Marina in 1962. Marina spoke very little English at the time and was raising a child (later two) in pretty difficult circumstances. Her marriage to Oswald was quite rocky - he could not find a steady job, and had difficulties supporting the family, and occasionally mistreated and physically abused his wife. Not surprisingly, Marina came to rely quite heavily on support of Fords and a few other members of the small Russian-speaking Dallas community. To this capacity, Marina Oswald had even lived in the Ford home on two different occasions in November 1962, and for a period following February 12, 1964.

Ex. The Declan Ford Estate.

Shown below are several sections of Declan Fords Testimony to highlight the nature of their relationship with the Oswald's. His full testimony, along with that of his wife Katherine's is found within Volume 2. This set of signed books will be also accompanied by a photocopy of Declan Ford's complete testimony:

Mr. FORD. I first heard of them, I think, from either George Bouhe or maybe from Max Clark who lives in Fort Worth but I think it was George Bouhe. He had mentioned the name of Lee Oswald and briefly described his history, his story of his going to Russia, attempting to give up his American citizenship, and later returning from Russia with a Russian wife and child, and living in Fort Worth, and we were, my wife is Russian and we were interested in meeting her. George Bouhe, I think, at the time was attempting to help Lee Oswald find employment...

Mr. FORD. I can't remember anybody, any specific statement from anybody, but I have discussed it with people like both my wife and George Bouhe and I don't remember if I discussed it with the Mellers or not but it seems I have heard this from several different people about just about everybody who knew them, the Oswalds, this was one of the things that people were leery about in dealing with him was his reputation for being a Communist.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did he have that reputation in the community?
Mr. FORD. Yes, I think he had that reputation of either--not being a member, say, of the Communist Party, but his political ideas were either Marxist or Communist or something he had derived from reading Karl Marx, I suppose...

Mr. LIEBELER. At the party at your home on the 28th of December, did you have any conversation with Oswald?
Mr. FORD. Said "hello, how are you," to he and Marina, and after that, I can't remember Oswald talking to anybody there except one guest, a Japanese girl. Yaeko, I forget her last name; my wife will remember. As nearly as I can remember she was the only person in the whole party that he ever bothered to talk to.

Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember whether Oswald was drinking that evening?
Mr. FORD. I fixed one drink for him, in a little liqueur glass full of liqueur. As far as I remember he never touched it.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever observe Oswald smoking?
Mr. FORD. No.

Mr. LIEBELER. And you don't remember any discussion about Oswald after he left that evening?
Mr. FORD. No; after he left that evening, I don't recall any discussion of him.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever have any conversations with De Mohrenschildt about Oswald?
Mr. FORD. I don't remember any specific conversations with George De Mohrenschildt. I may have.

Mr. LIEBELER. What was your impression of Oswald at this time as far as his relations with the other members of the Russian community were concerned, and generally?
Mr. FORD. My impression was that he didn't want his wife to associate with them, and that he resented any aid or help people tried to give either he or his wife. I might say, I know, I have heard other Russian people there, for example, would take Marina to a grocery store and buy a load of groceries for her and take her back, and one girl that went by and found the baby had a fever and nobody was taking it to the hospital and she took Marina and the baby to the hospital for some medical treatment for it, and I had the impression that Lee Oswald resented this.

Mr. LIEBELER. You gained that impression from conversations that you had?
Mr. FORD. From conversations with other people, yes.

Mr. LIEBELER. Is there any--
Mr. FORD. I was also going to say--
Mr. LIEBELER. Pardon me.
Mr. FORD. I think during the period of 1962 that George Bouhe, for example, thought it would be helpful for Marina to learn English and he tried to encourage her.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Harris at the party at your place on the 28th of December?
Mr. FORD. Oh, yes; I had conversations with them.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you hear of an incident where Mrs. Harris was trying to teach English to Marina at the party and certain American customs and Oswald objected to it?
Mr. FORD. I didn't observe it. She may have tried to teach her some American customs. I don't remember hearing Oswald say anything about it, Lee Oswald say anything about it....

Mr. FORD. Well, I heard a few times or my wife had heard something about Marina living in Irving, but never actually saw either one of them until after the assassination. Then the first contact we had with Marina was, I believe, my wife tried to get in touch with her, either invite her to come to my house or to tell her that once things had been cleared up, the investigation had been cleared up, to feel free to come by, and let her know she still had friends.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did anybody suggest to you shortly after the assassination that Marina should come and live with you?
Mr. FORD. No.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever express any hesitancy to anyone in connection with any suggestion that Marina should come and live with you?
Mr. FORD. I don't remember ever expressing it. If somebody had mentioned it the afternoon or next day after the assassination I probably would have been a little bit hesitant about it. But I don't remember saying anything to anybody.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did there come a time when Marina moved into your home after the assassination?
Mr. FORD. Yes; but this was in February of this year.

Mr. FORD. Yes; we have discussed it some after, I believe, Marina came to stay with us, and I expressed the doubt that Lee Oswald was the one who took a shot at Walker.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any basis for expressing that doubt?
Mr. FORD. The only basis for it was that there was a story in one of the newspapers that they could not identify the bullet taken out of the wood in Walker's home as having come from a gun that Lee Oswald owned, it was too badly destroyed and they couldn't be sure it was the gun, the same gun, that shot the bullets at President Kennedy and Governor Connally.

Mr. LIEBELER. So on the basis of that newspaper story you expressed doubts as to whether Oswald was actually involved in the Walker incident?
Mr. FORD. Well, I expressed the doubt. It was possible that he really wasn't the one who took a shot at General Walker but just claimed he did and this to me would not be surprising.

Mr. LIEBELER. Why do you say that?
Mr. FORD. Well, I think, my opinion of Lee Oswald is that he would do anything to gain attention for himself, draw attention to himself, make not necessarily a hero out of himself but just a well-known person. He wanted attention. He wanted to be a big shot.

Mr. LIEBELER. And you think in an attempt to do that he might claim he had been the one who shot at Walker where, in fact, he was not the one at all?
Mr. FORD. It is possible, I think it is possible.

Mr. LIEBELER. Do you have any other reasons for thinking that Oswald is the kind of person who would claim to do something that he hadn't done just to get attention drawn to him?
Mr. FORD. Well, yes; I think he was erratic enough in his behavior throughout his whole life to indicate that. Of course, I have read a lot about his life since the assassination, so it is not all opinion I formed prior to the assassination. It is hard for me to distinguish which things I thought before the assassination from those I have thought about since the assassination.

Mr. LIEBELER. In that respect let me ask you this question: Were you surprised when you heard that Oswald had been charged with the assassination?
Mr. FORD. Yes, I was.

Mr. LIEBELER. Did you think on the basis of your knowledge of him before the assassination that he would have been capable of such a thing?
Mr. FORD. No; I wouldn't have thought so prior to the assassination and when I first heard he was picked up, I first thought, well, as I said to my wife, "This nut has gone down and got himself mixed up just to get some publicity."

Mr. LIEBELER. Representative FORD. You said that to your wife?
Mr. FORD. Yes; that was my first opinion. When I heard that Lee Oswald was the man arrested, and I said I think I said, "This idiot has got himself arrested and got himself mixed up to get some publicity".

Our consignor Purchased these volumes from an heir of Declan Ford

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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