Rare ALS in English, three pages on two sheets, 4.5 x 7, December 21, 1882. Letter to "Mr. Brown," describing the Statue of Liberty. In part: "I would be very glad if you could come to Paris somewhat early in the summer, because I am generally abroad during Augustus and September. You will find our grand statue about finished, builded up in the yard of our workshop, towering all around her in the neighbourhood. Also we hope to have the pleasure to see you next year…I have been very affected of the lost of our excellent friend Forney; he has been so good and friendly for me, that I shall never forget his feelings for me. I am sorry with the idea to no more meet him if I come again to Philadelphia." In very good to fine condition, with staining to the last page (which has been mounted to a heavier sheet). Bartholdi refers to the death of John Weiss Forney, a journalist and politician who had been a chief promoter of Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition in 1876, where the torch of the Statue of Liberty was showcased. By 1882, much of the statue had been completed outside of the Gaget, Gauthier & Compagnie workshop on the Rue de Chazelles in Paris, towering over the neighborhood. Three years later it arrived in New York, where it was reassembled and dedicated on October 28, 1886. A charming, rarely seen English letter from the designer of America's most iconic statue.
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