Lot 244

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Description:

Ex-President W.H. Taft ALS as S.C. Justice, “I prefer the Bench to Executive office...", Ex-Forbes

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, Autograph Letter Signed, to D. Pierson Ricks, May 26, 1923, Washington, D.C. On “Supreme Court of the United States. / Washington, D.C.” stationery. 1 p., 5.75? x 7.875?. Expected folds; water staining to left margin affecting only one letter; writing and signature clear and dark.

Complete Transcript
May 26th 1923
My dear sir,
I prefer the Bench to Executive office because my tastes are judicial and so is my training. My father was a judge before me.
Sincerely yours
Wm H Taft
D. Pierson Ricks Esq.,
Hanes N. C.



William Howard Taft (1857-1930) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from Yale College in 1878. He received a bachelor of laws degree in 1880 from Cincinnati Law School. After gaining admission to the bar, Taft worked on the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper full time, covering local courts. After a brief stint as an assistant prosecutor, Taft was appointed to the Superior Court of Cincinnati in 1887. In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him as Solicitor General of the United States, a position he held until Harrison appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals, where he served from 1892 to 1900. He was Governor-General of the Philippines from 1901 to 1903, then Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1904 to 1908. In 1908, he was elected President of the United States as a Republican over Democrat William Jennings Bryan. After his defeat in the three-way election of 1912, Taft joined the faculty of the Yale Law School, until President Warren G. Harding appointed him as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1921, a position he held until his death nine years later.

D. Pierson Ricks (1908-1950) was born in North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina. He worked at Hanes Knitting Company and at advertising agencies in Philadelphia, New York, and Winston-Salem. He also wrote for the Winston-Salem Journal and worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. As an author, Ricks wrote approximately fifty stories and novelettes, of which twenty were published. He committed suicide at his home in Winston-Salem.

Ex. The Forbes Collection. Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), American owner-publisher of Forbes magazine, and consummate collector, amassed one of the most substantial and broad collections of such breadth and depth that it filled a half-dozen residences, and sat on three continents. Many of his manuscripts were sold in multi-million dollar sales by Christie's in the early 2000s. The Forbes name is considered to be the apex of provenance when attached to an item like the one above. We are honored to have been chosen by the family to sell at auction the substantial balance of the collection.

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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June 24, 2020 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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