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-92- 2 If, as we are persuaded, the National Portrait Gallery is the natural and proper home of these portraits, then that is where they should reside and be cared for and be displayed for all future generations. In short, then, the Board of Regents and the National Portrait Gallery Commission feel that the purchase of the Athenaeum portraits must be free of any absolute, binding commitment on our part that the portraits must forever be shared with any other institution -- even one that has been as generous in its offers of reciprocal loans as the museum of Fine Arts. The Board of Regents and the National Portrait Gallery Commission also discussed the price that has been asked, and the conditions of payment that have been suggested, by the Athenaeum. Given their view of the importance of this possible acquisition, both bodies felt that an outright purchase with immediate payment in full would be in order. In the hope that a transaction of this sort will justify a lower purchase price, and also in the belief that the Smithsonian should not be responsible for contributing to the distressing inflation that bedevils the art market today, the Regents and the Commission have authorized me to offer the Athenaeum three million dollars, payable immediately, for these historic portraits. While realizing that this offer on these terms will come as a disappointment both to the Museum of Fine Arts and to the Athenaeum, we hope you will give it most serious consideration. Its acceptance, we are convinced, will serve the most important of all interests, those of the portraits themselves and of the nation. I need hardly add that my colleagues and I will be happy to discuss all of this with you and your colleagues. Sincerely yours, [[signed]] S. Dillon Ripley [[/signed]] S. Dillon Ripley Secretary
