Lot 58
  • 58

Burguera, Jose L.--Collection of autograph signed questionnaires

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
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Description

  • comprising c.450 autograph signed responses to questionnaires sent by Burguera to successful individuals in a wide range of fields
  • ink on paper
including artists, writers, scientists, politicians, musicians, sportspeople, Nobel Laureates, and others, including Giscard D'Estaing, Hans Georg Gadamer, Sandie Shaw, Alejo Carpentier, Eugene Ionesco, Frederick Forsyth, René Goscinny, Graham Greene, Henri Charrière, Jorge Luis Borges, Roman Jakobson, John Galbraith, Joe Frazier, Franz Beckenbauer, Ferenc Puskás, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Oswaldo Guayasmin, Maurice Chevalier, Anthony Quinn, Charlton Heston, Johnny Weissmuller, Ingrid Bergman, Josephine Baker, Ernst Neufert, James Stirling, Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, André Prokovsky, Andrés Segovia, Chavela Vargas, Julio Iglesias, Jose Carreras, Jorge Cafrune, Yehudi Menuhin, Marcel Marceau, Luciano Pavarotti, Margot Fonteyn, Montserrat Caballé, Olivian Messiaen, Placido Domingo, Stephen Hawking (in the hand of Jane Hawking), Alfred Kastler, Andre Cournand, Camilo José Cela, Feodor Lynen, Chen Ning Yang, Derek Barton, Frederick Sanger, Godfrey Hounsfield, Friedrich von Hayek, George Wald, George Porter, John Nash, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Nevill Mott, Robert Burns Woodward, Severo Ochoa, Isodor Rabi, Salvador de Madariaga, Arthur Rubinstein, Bent Larsen, and many others, with more than 30 related photograph, some signed, and printed ephemera, some signed, the collection housed in 14 folders roughly arranged by subject, some items mounted in leaves from an album, 1969-2001

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Jose L. Burguera was a Madrid-based psychologist investigating the phenomenon of personal success. He elicited responses from hundreds of highly successful individuals by sending them personalised questionnaires. He began this exercise in 1969 and the vast majority of the responses date from the 1970s, although he continued his work until at least 2001. He asked his respondents five questions:

What is the first and most important mental APTITUDE (ability) - the best defining and mental IDENTITY - of a good [politician/scientist/etc.]?

And, what is the first and most important human ATTITUDE (temper, character) - the best defining the personal IDENTITY - of a good [politician/scientist/etc.]?

What is the best way to discover one's intellectual and human professional (natural) VOCATION - the vocational IDENTITY -?

And, when did you discover it in your particular case; and since when?

What are, from your experience, the SYNTHESIS of the last and definitive (the most decisive) mental aptitudes (abilities) and human attitudes (temper, character) - the best defining the professional IDENTITY - of a good [politician/scientist/etc.] to, tiding over the difficulties and frustrations, arrive at the end: the SELF-REALISATION of the one's intellectual and human (natural) vocation?