Offered here is an extremely early Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum revolver, Reg. No. 6, documented in the included factory letter as made as a factory presentation piece delivered to Emil Hurja through the office of Douglas B. Wesson for presentation on May 7, 1935. The records also confirm the 8 3/4 inch barrel, Patridge front sight, square notch rear sight, blue finish, and checkered walnut grips with grip adapter attached. This is one of only 735 Registered Magnums manufactured with 8 3/4 inch barrels. The extremely low registration number "REG. 6" is stamped on the inside of the frame. Matching serial numbers appear on the butt, right grip panel, cylinder, and ejector shroud. The original box is numbered to the gun by serial number and registration number. In the factory letter, S&W historian Roy Jinks noted, "Douglas B. Wesson ordered this revolver built at the same time he requested registration number 1 built for Mr. J. Edgar Hoover. This would lead me to believe that Mr. Hurja was a very important and powerful individual. The revolver was a presentation and charged to Smith & Wesson's advertising account." Low registration numbered Registered Magnums were generally presented to prominent individuals such as FBI Director Hoover, exhibition shooter Ed McGivern, and Western Cartridge Company's John M. Olin. Reg. No. 6 is identified in Supica and Nahas' "Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" as delivered to Emil Hurja (1892-1953). Hurja was a key figure in the New Deal Era. The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research notes, "Beginning with the run-up to the 1932 election and continuing on through the election of 1936, Franklin Delano Roosevelt sought Hurja’s advice time and time again and incorporated it into his thinking, strategizing, and policymaking. Hurja’s innovative polling methodology subsequently became foundational to the development of modern, scientific, statistics-based public opinion polling such as we know it today." The first-generation Finnish-American and veteran of World War I served as the executive director of the Democratic National Committee in 1932 to 1937. The accuracy of his polling stunned the political world and public. Reporter Thomas Sugrue of the Saturday Evening Post dubbed him the "Wizard of Washington." Hurja was featured on the cover of Time Magazine on March 2, 1936. The magazine stated: "Democracy's Emil Hurja: He counts his elections before they are hatched," and the biography inside detailed Hurja's career, including his accurate election predictions in 1932 and 1934, and indicated Hurja was already predicting Roosevelt was certain of re-election in 1936 as later proved true. In addition to his forecasting of elections, Time indicated that Hurja calmly but boldly informed the president and his advisors when the administration was out of step with the American people, allowing the president to adjust his policies and messaging. He also helped guide the Democrats to focus their campaign efforts on the states that were actually up for grabs based on careful statistical analysis, thus paving the way for the polling that plays a key role in our political system to this day. Provenance: Emil Hurja, "Wizard of Washington"; Property of a Gentleman