Rare signed photo of Mahatma Gandhi fetches over $41,000 at US auction

A signed vintage photo of Mahatma Gandhi, walking alongside Madan Mohan Malaviya, was auctioned for $41,806 in the United States.

Signed in fountain pen, "M K Gandhi," the rare photo was taken after the second session of India's Round Table Conference in London in September 1931, according to Boston-based RR Auction.

As the delegate acting on behalf of the Indian National Congress, Gandhi attended the second session of the British-organised round table conference, a three-part conference series held in London from 1930 to 1932, with the aim of discussing the ongoing constitutional reforms in India, a media release said.

Malaviya, who had formerly been president of the Congress and played a significant role in the Gandhi-led non-cooperation movement, joined him as a representative advocating for a free India.

The photo dates to a period in which Gandhi, suffering from pain in his right thumb, opted to write with his left hand, a temporary inconvenience that lasted from August 8-December 19, 1931, according to RR Auction.

"The autographed photo of Gandhi presents him as he is doing his life's work," said Bobby Livingston, executive VP at RR Auction.

"We are not surprised that this giant of the 20th century still resonates today," he added.

At the auction, Karl Marx's letter requesting copies of his 'Revelations' from a noted radical editor sold for $53,509. Leo Tolstoy letter written in 1903 offering editorial advice sold for $21,450. Claud Monet letter describing the intensity of his artistic process fetched $21,128.

Wolfgang Pauli letter written in 1949 to an eminent American physicist sold for $14,700 while Jean-Paul Sartre portion of a handwritten draft for his autobiographical work Les Motes sold for $12,105, according to PR Auction.

The Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction began on February 17 and concluded on March 7.