Washington sources have stated that a rare signed photo of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi fetched nearly $42,000 at an auction in US, while more than $53,000 was paid for an extremely rare letter penned by 19th-century German philosopher and communist theorist Karl Marx. Accordingly September 1931 photo, in which Gandhi is seen walking alongside Indian politician Madan Mohan Malaviya after the second session of India’s Round Table Conference in London, is signed “MK Gandhi” with a fountain pen.
RR Auction Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston said of the photo, which was sold on Thursday for $41,806 in Boston We are not surprised that this giant of the 20th century still resonates". Meanwhile Marx’s letter, dated October 1, 1879, fetched $53,509 at the same auction. Moreover in the letter sent from London, Marx requests copies of his book “Revelations” from noted radical English editor Collet Dobson.
Marx wrote “On his return from the seaside he
found your letter dated 23 September. You will much oblige him by being so kind
as to forward me some of the copies of the ‘Revelations,’ as he has none
left". Livingston said “Marx letters are extraordinarily rare and
virtually nonexistent outside of institutions in almost forty years of
business, this is the only one we have ever encountered”.
