L.A. Book Dealer Buys Trotsky Letter

NEW YORK — A letter written by Leon Trotsky to Vladimir Lenin about Soviet withdrawal from World War I was sold at auction today for $27,500 to a Los Angeles bookshop owner.

Louis Weinstein of the Heritage Book Shop was the successful bidder for the rare manuscript at an auction at the Swann Galleries in Manhattan. He said he bought it “strictly for resale purposes.”

Swann’s presale estimate of the letter’s value was $20,000 to $30,000.