Roosevelt Theodore
T. Roosevelt Thanks Friend for Update on Safari Leader, Ex-Forbes

THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Typed Letter Signed, to Carl E. Akeley, November 28, 1914, New York City. On Roosevelt’s personal stationery. 1 p., 6.5" x 7.625". Expected fold, general toning; very good.

In October 1914, newspapers printed a report that Scottish explorer and hunter R. J. Cunninghame, who had led Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909 expedition in Africa, had been captured by Germans in German East Africa (now Burundi, Rwanda, and part of Tanzania) and shot as a spy. On November 23, Carl E. Akeley of the American Museum of Natural History wrote to former President Roosevelt that Cunninghame was “all right & on his way to England intending to have some ‘big game’ shooting on the Continent.” In this brief letter, Roosevelt thanks Akeley for the welcome news.

Complete Transcription

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

THIRTY EAST FORTY SECOND STREET

NEW YORK CITY

November 28th, 1914.

My dear Akeley:

I am immensely pleased. I have been very down-hearted about R. J; and had just written to Tarlton on the subject. You are very good to let me know.

Faithfully yours,

Theodore Roosevelt

Carl E. Akeley, Esq.,

American Museum of Natural History,

77th Steet & Central Park West, / New York

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was born in New York City and graduated from Harvard University in 1880 and attended Columbia Law School. He served in the New York State Assembly from 1882 to 1884, and as president of the New York City Police Commissioners in 1895 and 1896, then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1897 to 1898. After service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, he won election as Governor of New York and served from 1899 to 1900. He ran as Vice President to William McKinley in 1900 and became President in September 1901, when McKinley was assassinated. Reelected in 1904, Roosevelt was President until 1909. A prolific author and naturalist, Roosevelt was instrumental in the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century, helped preserve the nation’s natural resources, and extended American power throughout the world with a focus on a modern navy. In 1912, he again sought the Republican nomination for President, but when the convention chose incumbent William Howard Taft, Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party and outpolled Taft in the general election. The Republican division allowed Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency.

Carl E. Akeley (1864-1926) was a pioneering American taxidermist, biologist, conservationist, inventor, and nature photographer. He served as chief taxidermist at the Field Museum in Chicago from 1896 to 1909. In 1909, he accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on his expedition in Africa and began working for the American Museum of Natural History in New York, a position he held until his death. Akeley joined the Explorers Club in 1912 and served as the Club’s president in 1917-1918. He helped influence King Albert I of Belgium in 1925 to establish the first national park in Africa as a gorilla preserve. Akeley died of a fever in Africa while on an expedition and is buried a few miles from where he encountered his first mountain gorilla.

Richard John “R.J.” Cunninghame (1871-1925) was a British hunter and explorer who explored Africa many times. In 1909, he led Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit Roosevelt on an African expedition, during which they killed or trapped 11,400 animals. Cunninghame saved Theodore Roosevelt’s life by shooting a charging hippopotamus and may have saved him again during some elephant charges. At the outbreak of World War I, he returned to England but was told he was too old and unfit to enlist. He traveled to France to join an American volunteer ambulance corps. The British Army later recruited him to assist with the campaign against the Germans in East Africa. In 1917, he was sent home to Scotland because of recurrent bouts of malaria. There, he married the sister of a fellow explorer.

Leslie J. Tarlton (1877-1951) was an Australian who served in the Boer War. With his partner V. M. Newland, he established a safari outfitting business in Nairobi, Kenya, which flourished from 1905 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. During Roosevelt’s 1909 expedition, Tarlton served as adjutant to Cunninghame in managing the 250-person support team.

Ex-Forbes Collection. Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), the American owner-publisher of Forbes magazine and a consummate collector, amassed one of the most substantial autograph collections of such breadth and depth that it filled a half-dozen residences on three continents. Many of his manuscripts were sold in a series of multi-million dollar sales by Christie's in the early 2000s. The Forbes name is considered to be the apex of provenance, especially when attached to an item like the 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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