Lot 1201

The Bell 'Golden Books' with autographs by heads of state and important and well known individuals. The Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company (BTMC) in Antwerp supplied equipment all over the world. This also meant that visitors regularly came to the various locations in Belgium. In April 1956, BTMC started the so-called 'Golden Book'. There were two of them and spanned a period of fifty years. In these books (38×29 cm) (not all) visits were recorded. For each visit, a page was provided with a colour drawing by BTMC employees, under which visitors placed their signatures. In the first ten years, some drawings were still provided with the signature of the draughtsmen. The visitors came from all over the world, mostly from ministries and embassies, but also heads of state, army command, PTT and royalty. The books comprise a total of about 340 visits and include signatures of Shimon Perez, Tito, Henry Kissinger, etc. A complete list (in Dutch) of the photographs is available on request. A very interesting and rare set, well worth viewing