February 2021 Catalogue

B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s B l a c k A m e r i c a n a 2 0 2 1 5 Scarce 1988 Autograph Letter Signed By Muhammad Ali With His Sketches Of A Boxing Ring And A Heart 3. ALI, Muhammad. Autograph letter signed. Berrien Springs, Michigan, July 26, 1988. Original tan card stock (8-3/4 by 11-3/4 inches), black felt pen on the recto. $4500. C lick for M ore I nfo Scarce July 1988 autograph letter signed by the legendary Muhammad Ali with his original sketches of a boxing ring and a heart: “To Frank from Muhammad Ali, Three times World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World and the Greatest Boxer of all times, After me there will never be another [sketch of boxing ring] P.S. Service for God is the rent I pay for my room in the Hereafter [sketch of a heart with eight radiating lines].” Named one of Time magazine’s “20 Most Influential People of All Time,” Muhammad Ali has, in many ways, “become the best-known person on the planet—and… themost beloved… a global icon of courage, grace and good will…. ‘I am the greatest!’ Muhammad Ali often declared—and eventually, most people came around to share his view” ( Time ). Accompanied by laid-in color facsimile of envelope addressed by Ali to: “Frank Sparti, 8200 Aiken Circle, Dallas, GA 30132,” with stamps postmarked “Benton Har[bor], July 26 P.M. 1988.” Postmarked shortly after an interview appeared in the July 17, 1988 New York Times , in which screenwriter Peter Tauber wrote of meeting with Ali “in the family room at his farm in Berrien Springs, Mich., an 88-acre tract once owned by Al Capone.” Berrien Springs is close to Benton Harbor, Michigan. A fine signed letter.