Sale 1233 — Inverted Jenny Position 77 and William T. Robey Letters
Sale Date — Wednesday, 31 March, 2021
Category — William T. Robey Letters
Elliott Perry’s retained copy of his letter to William T. Robey, enclosing a one-dollar deposit to confirm the right of first refusal for the Inverted Jenny sheetOne-page carbon copy typed letter to William T. Robey, dated May 16 (Thursday), 1918, with Perry’s handwritten note “$1 Bill # Z750365572 Silver Certificate from B. A. Webber”
In this letter to Robey, Perry carefully recites the timeline of events and confirms a one-week right of first refusal Robey agreed to give Perry:
...it is understood between us that you are not to dispose of the sheet, or any part of it, without first affording me the opportunity to purchase, and that if I will pay an amount equal to the highest bona fide offer which you receive or obtain up to 11:30 P.M. Wednesday, May 22, 1918, you are to sell me the sheet.
The one-dollar silver certificate Perry enclosed was legal consideration for the right.
On Monday, May 20, Robey sent a registered letter to Perry (offered in lot 1534), refuting Perry’s account, returning the one-dollar bill, and stating that he was no longer interested in selling the sheet “at any price.” This was disingenuous, because on his return from New York City to Washington on Sunday, May 19, Robey met Percy Mann and Eugene Klein in Philadelphia and agreed to give them an option to buy the sheet for $15,000. Klein confirmed the purchase the next day, Monday, May 20, and Robey delivered the sheet to Klein in Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 21.
