11 minute read
Literature
Scarce signed portrait of the Peter Pan author
429. James M. Barrie Signed Photograph. Scarce matte-
finish 4.25 x 6 photo of Barrie in a near-profile pose, affixed to a 5.75 x 7.75 mount, boldly signed in ink on the mount in ink, “Yours truly, J. M. Barrie.” Displayed in an old wooden frame and in fine condition. The Peter Pan author remains quite scarce in signed photographs. Starting Bid $200
429
Rare portrait of “the animal as he was”
430. Ambrose Bierce Signed Photograph with Hand-
written Note. American writer (1842–c.1914) best known for his vivid short stories (including the classic ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’) and his satirical ‘The Devil’s Dictionary.’ In 1913, while traveling with Pancho Villa’s troops during the Mexican Revolution, Bierce disappeared; his ultimate fate remains a mystery. Rare matte-finish 4 x 5.5 photo of the author by Prince of Washington, D.C., affixed to its original 6 x 8 mount, signed on the mount in ink, “Ambrose Bierce—1896,” and signed and inscribed on the reverse, “Dear Mr. Messinger, This is the animal as he was—I’ve no picture of him as he is. Sincerely yours, A.B., Washington, D., November 24, 1908.” In fine condition, with a few light scuffs on the reverse. Bierce is extremely rare in signed photos, this being an extraordinary example. Starting Bid $200
Delightful letter archive from one of the world’s most celebrated fiction writers
More images avilable online at www.RRAuction.com
431. Agatha Christie Archive of (14) Letters. Archive of
14 letters and greeting cards sent by esteemed English writer Agatha Christie to noted art restorer and conservator Carroll Snow Wales, whom the author had met when her husband, prominent British archeologist Max Mallowan, collaborated with Wales on a 1957 excavation in Nimrud, Iraq. Christie and Wales became good friends and remained in touch for the remainder of their lives, often sending each other warm greetings on their shared birthdate—they were both born on September 15th, with Christie 27 years his senior. Dating between 1962 and 1972, the correspondence contains 11 ALSs, one ANS, one TLS, and one signed greeting card, with Christie signing off either as “Agatha,” “Agatha Mallowan,” “Max & Agatha,” or “Agatha and Max Mallowan.” While much of the letter content consists of pleasantries, planned visits, and reciprocated birthday and holiday wishes, Christie includes other fascinating bits related to her friends, health, exotic travels, and final publications.
Also included is a handwritten letter from Mallowan, five vintage photos of Christie and Mallowan from an archeological trip, three vintage photos of Christie posing with Wales in her garden, and an original ‘In Memoriam’ program for Christie. In overall fine condition. Accompanied by a notarized letter of provenance from Philip Wright, a close friend of Wales, who was given this archive prior to the latter’s passing in 2007. Starting Bid $500
432. Stephen Crane Signature. Scarce ink
signature, “Yours sincerely, Stephen Crane, Athens May 11, 1897,” on an off-white 6.5 x 4.75 sheet with an affixed portrait of the author. Archivally doublematted and framed to an overall size of 13.5. x 12. In fine condition, with scattered stray ink marks in the lower blank area. Given his tragic death at the age of 28, all autograph material from Crane remains rare and highly sought. Starting Bid $200
Dick comments on Christianity and his VALIS vision: “I have an equation between the concept ‘Gnosticism’ and ‘access key to the retrieval of information from a vast information-retrieval system that is the universe’”
433. Philip K. Dick Typed Letter Signed. TLS signed “Love, Phil,” two pages, 8.5 x 11, October 2, 1981. Letter to science fiction author Patricia Warrick, in part: “I just now realized something, out of nowhere; it just simply came to me...all at once I have an equation between the concept ‘Gnosticism’ and ‘access key to the retrieval of information from a vast informationretrieval system that is the universe’; if indeed the universe is, as I say in my September 30th letter, ‘an information retrieval system,’ look sat the elevation thereby of the concept of ontological status of knowing, of the gnosis itself as the essence, the very basis, of what the system (which is to say Christianity) is all about.” In fine condition, with a small stain to the first page. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. Starting Bid $200
Striking oversized 1858 signed portrait of Charles Dickens hard at work
large 5.5 x 7.5 albumen portrait of Dickens taken by Herbert Watkins of London in 1858, affixed to its original 9.5 x 11.25 mount, signed on the mount in ink, “Charles Dickens.” Also bears an ink collector’s notation to the lower left, “This Portrait belonged to Albert Smith and was bought at the sale of his widow’s effects, June 1870.” Nicely mounted and framed. In very good to fine condition, with restoration to the edges of the mount, and general light overall irregular toning. Albert Richard Smith was an author and lecturer who adapted two of Dickens’s works for the stage, The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) and The Battle of Life (1846). A simply remarkable example of a Dickens signed photo, rarely found in such a large size. Starting Bid $1000
Dickens declines a dinner invite: “I have a family party at Gad’s Hill”
435. Charles Dickens Autograph Letter
Signed. ALS, one page, 5 x 8, Office of All the Year Round letterhead, June 18, 1863. Handwritten letter to Emma Pender, the second wife of Sir John Pender, a Scottish textile merchant, politician, and submarine communications cable pioneer, in full: “ I regret exceedingly that I cannot have the pleasure of dining with yourself and Mr. Pender on Sunday. But I have a family party at Gad’s Hill, and I shall have Mr. Fechter there too. I am singularly unfortunate when you invite me. Pray let me thank you on behalf of my son, who I am sure will be much gratified by your kind remembrance.” In fine condition. Charles Albert Fechter (1824-1879) was an actor and playwright who Dickens first saw perform in 1856 and thought him one of the finest actors of his generation. The pair were close friends in the 1860s. Starting Bid $200
436. Charles Dickens Signed Check.
Coutts & Company bank check, 7 x 3, filled out and signed by Charles Dickens, payable to Ms. Ring for £10.12, April 7, 1862. Double-matted with a photo to an overall size of 10.25 x 14. 5. In very good to fine condition, with scattered creasing and staining. Starting Bid $200
Outstanding Elliott & Fry portrait signed by the Sherlock Holmes author
437. Arthur Conan Doyle Signed Photograph.
Vintage matte-finish 3.5 x 5.5 postcard photo of the author in a handsome head-and-shoulders pose by Elliott & Fry, signed in the lower border in fountain pen, “Arthur Conan Doyle.” In fine condition, with irregular light silvering to the perimeter of the image. An outstanding autographed portrait of the Sherlock Holmes creator. Starting Bid $300
Handwritten draft combining two of Zane Grey’s classic baseball stories
438. Zane Grey Autograph Manuscript Signed. Autograph manuscript
draft of a short story in pencil, titled and signed at the head, “Old Well-Well by Zane Grey,” 26 pages, 8 x 12.5, with the first two pages indeed comprising the opening of the story ‘Old Well-Well,’ and the remainder for the story ‘The Winning Ball,’ two of Grey’s classic baseball tales. The manuscript begins: “He bought a ticket at the twenty-five cent window, and edging his huge bulk through the turn-stile, laboriously followed the noisy crowd toward the bleachers. I could not have been mistaken. He was Old Well-Well, famous from Boston to Baltimore as the greatest baseball fan in the East. His singular yell had pealed into the ears of five hundred thousand worshippers of the national game and would never be forgotten.” The pages are numbered 1–24, with additional insertions numbered 171⁄2 and 221⁄2. In overall fine condition, with light staining to the left edges of some of the pages. Starting Bid $200
Immense signed portrait of Victor Hugo, quite possibly one of the largest extant
439. Victor Hugo Signed Oversized Photograph. Massive vintage sepia 10.25 x 14.5 photo of Victor Hugo by the Walery Studio of Paris, affixed to the original 18.5 x 24 studio mount, which is signed and inscribed in black ink, “A ma bonne Virginie Noel, Victor Hugo.” In very good to fine condition, with light toning, scattered foxing, and dings and tears to the edges, which could be matted out if desired. An impressive oversized portrait of the French scribe—given how the majority of Hugo signed photographs are reserved to the carte-de-visite format, this large example looms as a most unusual and desirable piece. Starting Bid $500
Amid his own troubles, Poe extends his condolences to a fellow writer: “For sorrows such as this there is no consolation but in unrestrained grief”
440. Edgar Allan Poe Autograph Letter Signed. Rare
ALS signed “Edgar A. Poe,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, August 24, 1846. Addressed from New York, a handwritten letter to writer Frederick William Thomas, who, from 1841 until 1850, worked as a clerk in the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., for which he selected a library. The letter, in full: “I send the MS. to the address you desire—all of it not published in the ‘Broadway Journal.’ Should you wish copies of the portion published, I think I may be able to find them. You make no allusion in your letter to the subject of your last, and I have misgivings that you may not have received the reply which I promptly and cordially sent. My reason for fearing this is first, that you say nothing, and, secondly that I trusted my letter to the driver of the stage which passed my door—I then lived out of town 5 miles on the Bloomingdale road. I am a neglectful correspondent, because I am often out of my wits through a press of business, but I should be grieved were you to think that in a matter of so much importance I had failed you. I dare not say one word, dear friend, on the final topic of your letter just received. For sorrows such as this there is no consolation but in unrestrained grief. May God bless you.” The “final topic” to which Poe refers is the tragic death of Thomas’s sister and her two children, who were all killed in an accident on their return home from India. The reverse of the second integral page is hand-addressed by Poe, who adds his initials to the lower left, “E. A. P.” In fine condition. Accompanied by an export certificate from the French Ministry of Culture. Starting Bid $10000
Tolstoy signs the St. Petersburg edition of Master and Man, one of his great short stories
441. Leo Tolstoy Signed Book. Signed book in Russian:
Khozyain and rabotnik (Master and Man). St. Petersburg: 1895. Paperback with blue leather slipcase, 3.5 x 5.75, 152 pages. Signed on the half-title page in crisp black ink, “Leo Tolstoy, 22 October 1895.” The publication bears the original wrappers with an attractive frontispiece of Tolstoy and a set of 15 text illustrations. Autographic condition: fine, with scattered light foxing. Book condition: VG-/None, with a band of toning to the front wrapper, wear and some splitting to the spine, and light foxing to textblock; most pages are uncut at the top of the unread volume. Provenance: The Russian Literature Collection of Walter Nelson.
This St. Petersburg edition was published on March 10, 1895, five days after the story first appeared in Moscow. The work remains one of Tolstoy’s great short stories: a tale of tragedy about the transformation that takes place when one encounters death. The volume quickly attained popularity, resulting in several editions in Russia, as well as translations into English, French, and German that same year. Published works signed by the great Leo Tolstoy are virtually unobtainable, with this beautifully signed example, contained in its original wrappers, representing the first our company has offered. Starting Bid $1000
442. Jules Verne Autograph Letter Signed. ALS in French,
one page, 4.25 x 5.25, no date. Handwritten letter to Count Adolf Friedrich von Schack in thanks for his book, referring to his friend and publisher Hetzel. In part (translated): “My dear sir, on my return from a little trip, I found the charming volume you sent me. Yes definitely, I will read it. I’ve even already started and I would only enjoy going to the end. Let our Hetzel speak. I thank you now for the pleasure that your sending gives me, I will thank you later for the pleasure that provide the very noble is very valiant Helidor.” In fine condition, with some light creasing. Starting Bid $200
Rare signed oversized portrait of the Native Son novelist
443. Richard Wright Signed Photograph.
Influential African-American author (190–-1960) whose work often addressed race relations in the United States Scarce oversized vintage glossy 10.5 x 13.5 photo of the author in a contemplative pose, signed and inscribed in bold purple fountain pen, “To—S. Martens, Sincerely yours, Richard Wright, Paris, Oct. 16, 1948.” Reverse bears a Barney Cole credit stamp. In very good condition, with overall creasing, heaviest at the edges. Wright is rare in signed photos, especially of this size. Starting Bid $200
