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Auction: 313 - Numismatic Collector's Series - Ft. Worth, TX
Lot: 1494

Shaw, George Bernard Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright and political activist (1856-1950); known for witty, socially incisive plays such as Pygmalion, Saint Joan, and Man and Superman.Interesting Letter Signed "G Bernard Shaw," 2 pages, 4to, London October 31, 1900. A kind of form letter calling the recipient´s attention to the November 1 election, and obtaining "properly qualified men for the official staff...There is nothing to prevent the Council from giving nearly all...valuable appointments to relatives and friends...or to their political supporters, without any special qualifications...Candidates for appointments should be examined by some public educational body entirely independent of the Borough Council...There are diplomas...just established by the London University through its School of Economics and Political Sciences for the express purpose...If I am returned to the Council I shall have the hearty support of only the abler...members when I try to push the matter a step farther..." Pages tipped together at upper left, probably as originally distributed. Folds, minor edge wear, VG. Shaw had first been elected to the London County Council in 1897. Though his request seems likely to lead to better civil servants, we should note that Shaw himself co-founded the School of Economics and Political Sciences that he recommends as an "independent" body.

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$850