 Spine ofThe First Fifty Years | |
| Editor | Ghislaine Maxwell |
|---|---|
Publication date | September 8, 2025 |
| Pages | 238 |
In 2003, the friends and acquaintances of American financierJeffrey Epstein—who would later, in 2008, be convicted of sexual offenses against minors[1]—gave him a bound album with personalized greetings for his 50th birthday, entitledThe First Fifty Years.[2][3] The album was assembled by Epstein's close friend,Ghislaine Maxwell, with help from assistants. She asked for "drawings, photos or stories" from associates of Epstein.[4][3]
The existence of the book was first reported in a July 2025 article byThe Wall Street Journal. The article also detailed a letter from the book that was allegedly written and signed byDonald Trump, the U.S. president at the time the article was published; the letter was described as featuring a hand-drawn outline of a naked girl and ending with the valediction "may every day be another wonderful secret". The article was published at a time whenTrump's former relationship with Epstein was coming under heavy scrutiny. Trump denied the legitimacy of the letter and filed a $10 billion lawsuit. The book also features a letter attributed to former U.S. presidentBill Clinton. The contents of the book were made public by theUnited States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in September 2025.[5]
In her introduction to the album,Ghislaine Maxwell wrote that she had intended to "gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people and different events. Some of the letters will definitely achieve their intended goal—some well... you will have to read them to see for yourself."[6]
The Wall Street Journal described many of the birthday greetings as "anodyne" but wrote that other were "bawdy and made crude jokes about sex".[4] Multiple digital copies of the album have been created. The album has been reviewed by officials from theUnited States Justice Department during their investigation into Epstein and hissex trafficking scandals.[4] In August 2025,The New York Times published letters sent to Epstein for his 63rd birthday in 2016.[7]
One unsigned drawing, captioned "What a great country!", shows Epstein gifting lollipops and balloons to young girls, labelled 1983, juxtaposed with another drawing of Esptein receiving massages from topless women, labelled 2003. One of the women has Epstein's initials "JE" tattooed on herbuttocks.[3] Epstein's infamousLolita Express private jet appears in the background.[3][8]The Guardian described the drawing as "one of the most striking images in the collection".[3] Isa Farfan, writing forHyperallergic, called it "one of the most overt allusions to Epstein's criminal behavior in the book".[9]
Contributors to the album were sorted into the groups "Family", "Brooklyn", "Business", "Girlfriends", "Children", "Friends", "Science", "Girl-Friends", "Special Assistants" and "The Next 50 Years".[4][5]
The letter attributed toDonald Trump was framed by the outline of a naked woman with several lines of typewritten text imagining a conversation between the pair,[10] with them implying something that's "more to life than having everything." They agree they "have certain things in common," with language intimating a prior mutual awareness of these things. One of the final lines: "Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?" sparked controversy regarding the authenticity of the note originally with the defense that "enigma" isn't a word Trump used[11], though video of Trump extemporaneously using the word on several occasions quickly surfaced[12]. The word 'Enigmas' is speculated to be a lightly coded term[13] that the two understood, given 'enigma' has only one anagram: 'gamine'[14]. Trump ending his birthday letter saying "may every day be another wonderful secret."The Wall Street Journal described the drawing as "[appearing] to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the female's breasts, and [Trump's] signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair".[10] After Epstein's estate provided a copy of the album to Congress, theJournal published a copy of the letter with the drawing and Trump's signature.[15]
Leon Black contributed a "handwritten poem with a rhyme scheme" which included theacronym "V.F.P.C." which stood for "Vanity Fair Poster Child". This was in reference to a profile of Epstein that was being written forthe magazine.[4] The poem contained the lines "Blonde, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically/With this net of fish, Jeff's nowThe Old Man and The Sea". He signed the poem "Love and kisses, Leon".[4]
Bill Clinton wrote, "It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and errors, and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends".[4]Alan Dershowitz's contribution was a pretendVanity Unfair magazine cover "with mock headlines".[4]Nathan Myhrvold sent photographs from a recent trip to Africa that he had taken which "seemed more appropriate than anything I could put in words". The photographs included "a monkey screaming, lions and zebras mating, and a zebra with its penis visible".[4]
Vera Wang's contribution suggested they go on a shopping trip and joked about Epstein appearing onThe Bachelor television series.[4]Les Wexner's letter had a "line drawing of what appeared to be a woman's breasts" alongside a short message.[4]Mortimer Zuckerman's letter joked about having looked for information on Epstein in theNew York Daily News, of which he was part owner, and said that Epstein was "born in Liechtenstein and had a wife and three children".[4]Martin Nowak contributed several pages referring to his work on the evolution of language and evolutionary dynamics.[16] Other contributors includeJean-Luc Brunel,[4]James Cayne,[4] Jeffrey's brotherMark Epstein,[4]Murray Gell-Mann,[6]Alan C. Greenberg,[4] andPeter Mandelson.[17]
The existence of the album was made public with the publication of a July 17, 2025 article inThe Wall Street Journal titled "Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump." The article was published amidst the maelstrom surroundingTrump's relationship with Epstein in mid 2025.[10] A second article, titled "Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday Book Included Letters From Bill Clinton, Leon Black" was published on July 25, 2025.[4] The full album was released and published online in September 2025 byUnited States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.[5]
Several contributors reacted to the publication of theWall Street Journal articles on the album in July 2025. Many contributors had since disavowed and publicly regretted their relationship with Epstein.[4]
Myhrvold said he did not recall his submission and that he "regularly shares photos of and writes about animal behavior" as a wildlife photographer.[4] Trump disowned the letter prior to publication of theWall Street Journal article in 2025, saying that "This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story" and that he "never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women ... It's not my language. It's not my words".[10] Trump subsequently sued theWall Street Journal's publisher,Dow Jones, parent companyNews Corp and their executives, and the reporters of the article for $10 billion in damages.[18] Black, Clinton and Wexner declined to comment.[4] Zuckerman and Wang did not respond to requests for comment.[4] Dershowitz could not recall his contribution.[4]
Members of theUnited States House of RepresentativesRo Khanna andRobert Garcia requested a copy of the book by August 10, 2025, as they deemed it essential to their congressional oversight of the Epstein controversy and the Trump administration.[19] On September 8, 2025, Democrats on theHouse Oversight Committee released a letter matching a description of the one that was allegedly signed by Trump.[20][21] That evening, RepresentativeJasmine Crockett emphasized on CNN that the material had come from the Epstein estate, not from a partisan source.[22]Upon the release of the album, White House press secretaryKaroline Leavitt denied that Trump drew the image, further stating that his "legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation".[23] Trump also toldNBC News that the letter was a "dead issue".[24]
Peter Mandelson, who was theBritish Ambassador to the United States when the book became public, was dismissed from his position by the British Prime MinisterKeir Starmer on September 11.[25] A day before that, further communication between Mandelson and Epstein was published, and the content of the information showed a supportive attitude from Mandelson to Epstein.[26] Although Starmer supported Mandelson during thePrime Minister's Questions of the same day, he dismissed him on the following day.[27][25] After the dismissal, Minister of State for North AmericaStephen Doughty said, "the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment. In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein's appalling crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect."[25]
In 2008 Epstein pleaded guilty to two state charges: soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison...
The House Oversight Committee on Monday released a much-discussed, leather-bound book compiled by Jeffrey Epstein's ex-girlfriend and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003, providing new insight into the disgraced financier's social circles before he faced charges related to sex trafficking minors.
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