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RML:R

June 1st, 1938

Dear Paul Mellon:

I hesitate to write you because it has been literally so many years since I have seen you, actually not since we left college, I think.

Nevertheless, an event of such capital importance in the art world is taking place shortly in London that I felt it almost my duty to communicate with you about it.

I refer to the great [[underlined]]MORTIMER L. SCHIFF COLLECTION[[/underlined]] which is to be sold at auction at Christie's over a period of three or four days beginning June 22nd. I am writing with the thought in mind that perhaps some of these superb objects not only in the field of paintings and drawings, but also in the field of the decorative arts from the 15th century through the 18th century, might be of interest to you, and the fact also that at auction one can never tell exactly what prices will be realized.

We should be receiving catalogues from London by the end of this week, and if you felt that you might be interested in any of the items, I would be very glad to send you a copy, together with any information or approximate valuations that you might like to know. As a matter of fact, Mr. Séligmann was very conversant with the collection for many years and, therefore, I feel we are in a particularly good position to be of assistance or to act as agents.

I trust that you will appreciate the spirit in which these lines are written, and in any case look forward to hearing from you regarding the above.

With all good wishes, and hoping to have the pleasure of seeing you one of these days, I am

Yours very sincerely,

(Robert M. Levy)

Paul Mellon, Esq.
Union Trust Company
Union Trust Building
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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