ALS signed “xxx Lee,” one lightly-lined page, 5.75 x 8, January 20, [1962]. Letter to his mother, Marguerite. In full (spelling and grammar retained): “I hope you received my last letter of Dec. 27. As I than said we shall recive the exit visas to leave the country in march or early April. Right now what we need is money for the tickets maybe you can try the Red Cross in Vernon about that they should notify the American Embassy, Moscow, for information. We received your package of magazines on about New Years thanks a lot for them, Today I also received a post card from you. The weather is very cold and wet here, how is it in Texas. Marina is feeling fine and sends her love. Did you recive the tea and candy from us? If so how did you like it. That’s all for now. Write soon.” This letter was an official exhibit (No. 191) in the Warren Commission investigation into JFK’s assassination and, like most of the exhibits, is protectively soft-laminated. In fine condition, laminated as described, with a mild shade of toning and a few light creases.
Oswald had written to his mother at the beginning of January on the same subjects—the status of exit visas for himself and his then-pregnant wife, Marina, and their need for assistance in order to purchase tickets back to America. Despite financial struggles, this was an optimistic time for the newly wed Oswalds, as they had finally been granted visas after spending months dealing with roadblocks and bureaucracy. In December, he had dispatched a dramatic, desperate letter to Senator John Tower in which he begged, ‘I have unsuccessfully applied for a Soviet Exit Visa to leave this country, the Soviets refuse to permit me and my Soviet wife…to leave the Soviet Union…I beseech you, Senator Tower, to rise the question of holding by the Soviet Union of a citizen of the U.S., against his will and expressed desires.’ Now, just a month later, he is able to return his focus to arranging his return trip and chatting with his family—his mother had indeed received the tea and candy mentioned, which Marina had sent her at Christmastime (sold in our February sale, lot #284). Marguerite brought these up during her testimony before the Warren Commission, saying that she had received ‘wonderful gifts’ of ‘a box of tea, very fine tea’ and ‘a box of candy for Christmas that has a Russian Santa Claus on it.’ All together, this is a spectacular Oswald letter that touches upon everything occupying his mind at the time. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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