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EXPLORER A.H.S. LANDOR IS “AS SPECIOUS AS DR. [FREDERICK] COOK”
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ROOSEVELT,THEODORE.Typed Letter Signed, to Douglas W. Freshfield, with
a few holograph corrections, criticizing an explorer. 1
1
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2
pages, 4to, personal stationery,
written on two sheets; horizontal fold. (TFC)
NewYork, 19 November 1914
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“
. . . Landor’s answers are typical . . . . I don’t wonder at his fooling ignorant outsiders, because he is
as specious as Dr. Cook, always avoids the main point of controversy and make assertions so reckless
that it is really difficult to meet them . . . . Of course, even among experts, there is a certain percentage
of fools . . . . [I]f the imposter can get enough notoriety he will find any number of supporters of the
same intellectual type as those who supported the Tichborne claimant. Landor is really exactly in the
class with the Tichborne claimant.
“
. . . I did not state all that the Brazilians told me about [Landor]. . . .They told me he was very
self-indulgent and rather lazy and that when he endeavored to ascend a small mountain, he gave out
and abandoned the attempt, while they went to the summit and hoisted the flag . . . .”
In 1913-14, Roosevelt led an expedition through Brazil collecting plant and animal specimens.