Sold For $23,750
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Superb original glossy 4.5 x 2.75 photo of the Capone family, picturing Al Capone posing with his wife, Mae, their son, Albert Francis ‘Sonny’ Capone, and Sonny’s wife, Ruth, in front of Capone’s Palm Island mansion in Miami Beach, signed and inscribed on the reverse in bold fountain pen, “To my dear friend Dr. K. Phillips from Al & Mae & Sonny & Ruth, Al Capone.” The reverse is stamped “17” and dated in pencil to “1941.” In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
The recipient, Kenneth Phillips, was the primary physician for both Al and Mae Capone when they lived in Miami, Florida. Phillips, who had been with the family since 1927, first treated Mae for her syphilis before also tending to her husband, whose neurosyphilis, a consequence of the disease going untreated, significantly impacted Capone's mental capacity. In 1942, after mass production of penicillin was started in the United States, Capone was one of the first American patients treated by the new drug. Though it was too late for him to reverse the damage to his brain, it did slow down the progression of the disease.
The Marc and Mary Perkins Collection.
