Saving Monticello: The Newsletter
The latest about the book, author
events, and more
Newsletter Editor - Marc Leepson
Volume XVII, No. 2
February 1, 2020
February 1, 2020
“The study of the past is a
constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery.” – Eric Foner
THREE-POUND DIAMOND: “The Second-Biggest Diamond in History Has a New Owner.” That headline in
The New York Times on January 15
caught my attention because—well, who isn’t interested in the second-biggest
diamond in recorded history?
The headline also called to
mind something I’d discovered about Jefferson M. Levy twenty years ago while
researching Saving Monticello. Going
through stacks of newspaper clippings in the archives of the American Jewish
Historical Society in New York City back then, I found two 1905 articles about
Levy and the “largest diamond on record.”
Turns out that Jefferson Levy, the
big New York City real estate and stock speculator who owned Monticello from
1879-1923, was the largest American stockholder in a syndicate called Premier
Diamond that had just extracted a half-pound, 3,032-carat diamond out of a mine
near Pretoria, South Africa.
Here’s the gist of what I
wrote about that state of events in Saving
Monticello: Levy, a “rich speculator,” I noted, “got immensely
richer in January of 1905” when the South Africa miners discovered that giant
stone
That state of events prompted the New York American on January 30 to ask: ‘Will Jefferson M.
Levy, former [and future, as it would turn out] Congressman, capitalist and
owner of Monticello, be the diamond king of America? Will his ownership of a
large share of the great Premier diamond mine of the Transvaal from which a
3,032-carat stone was taken a few days ago, make the New Yorker a rival of the
late Cecil Rhodes?’ ”
Levy, the paper went on to say, “will not say, but he does admit
that luck has showered wealth upon him from an unexpected source which may
exceed the wildest dreams of his fancy.”
“I really got into this thing quite by accident,’ Levy told
the paper, “Constantly I am making investments, and when the diamond shares
were offered me at what I considered a very low price, I took them. But even
with my real estate and other large holdings, I almost forgot the Premier
stock.”
The January 15, 2020, NYT article reported
that the baseball-sized second-biggest diamond (below) that was discovered last year was the “the largest rough
diamond discovered since 1905.” That 1905 stone, which would become known as Cullinan
Diamond, likely was the one that Levy’s Premier Mine unearthed. Levy’s
syndicate sold it to the government of South Africa (then known as The Transvaal), for around
$750,000.
EVENTS:
I have one event this month. On Wednesday,
February 5, I’ll be doing a talk on Saving
Monticello and a book signing at The Village at Orchard Ridge retirement community
in Winchester, Virginia.
There’s
always the chance that I may add a last-minute talk or signing. For the latest
on that, or to check out my other scheduled 2020 events, go to the Events page
on my website at http://bit.ly/Eventsandtalks
If
you’d like to arrange an event for Saving
Monticello, or for any of my other books, feel free to send me email at marcleepson@gmail.com For info on my
latest book, Ballad of the Green Beret,
go to http://bit.ly/GreenBeretBook
GIFT IDEAS: Want a
personally autographed, brand-new paperback copy of Saving Monticello? Please e-mail me. I also have a few as-new,
unopened hardcover copies, along with a good selection of brand-new copies of
my other books.
