11 minute read
Literature
535. Lord Byron Signed Free Frank. Hand-addressed
and free franked mailing panel, 5.5 x 3, addressed by Byron to “To I. Pulteney, Eqr., Donnington,” dated London, June 23, 1814, and signed in the lower left, “Byron.” The panel has several annotations in another hand, and bears several ink postal stamps. In very good to fine condition, with a tear, and associated paper loss, to the bottom edge. Starting Bid $200
Mark Twain on the death of his eldest daughter: “She died by the ignorance of physicians. There was nothing the matter with her which an osteopath could not have cured”
536. Samuel L. Clemens Autograph Letter Signed. ALS signed “Mark,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, Dollis Hill House letterhead, August 12, 1900. Handwritten letter to “Fuller,” first commenting on his late daughter, Susy, then discussing the benefits of plasmon—a proprietary dried milk in which Clemens was an investor. In part: “We shall indeed be glad to get Susy’s letter; any line from her hand is precious to us, now. Six days hence the anniversary will come again with its heart-break—August 18th. She will then have been gone from us four years; it will then be five years & a month since I last saw her in life. She died by the ignorance of physicians. There was nothing the matter with her which an osteopath could not have cured...I have bulldozed this family into living largely on plasmon the past five months...I value it for two reasons: It relieves me of the necessity of eating meat, & it digests my troublesome rubbish I put into my stomach.” In fine condition. Starting Bid $200
Handwritten pages from The Gilded Age, a collaborative novel between Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
537. Samuel L. Clemens Handwritten Manuscript. Unsigned handwritten manuscript pages by Samuel Clemens and Charles Dudley Warner, each one page, 5 x 8, no date but circa 1873. Pages from the manuscript for The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, a collaborative novel written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. Marked as page “103” at the top, Clemens writes, in part: “But all day he & his wife made inquiries, & hoped against hope. All that they could learn was that the child and her parents came on board at New Orleans, where they had just arrived in a vessel from Cuba; that they looked like people from the Atlantic States; that the family name was Van Brunt & the child’s name Laura. This was all. The parents had not been seen since the explosion.” On page “1163,” Warner writes, in part: “as the chances were that he would be, he and Col. Sellers never would have gone into the Columbus Navigation scheme, and probably never into the East Tennessee Land scheme, and he would not now be detained in New York from very important business operations on the Pacific coast, for the sole purpose of giving evidence to convict of murder the only woman he ever loved half as much as he loves himself.” Both pages have a few handwritten corrections, which were retained in the work as published. Affixed to slightly larger cardstock mounts and in overall fine condition, with some light edge soiling, and slight fading to Warner’s writing. Starting Bid $200
539. Samuel L. Clemens Signed Check.
First National Bank of Hartford check, 7.75 x 2.75, nicely filled out and signed by Clemens, “Saml. L. Clemens,” payable to Patrick Mulligan for $84, July 10, 1875. In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder. Starting Bid $200
538. Samuel L. Clemens Autograph Letter Signed.
ALS signed “S.L.C.,” one page, 5.25 x 8.5, June 20, 1886. Handwritten letter regarding an order of cigars, in part: “I guess you have not shipped the cigars yet; if you haven’t, ship only 3 boxes to Keokuk & the rest to Elmira. Three boxes contain 150 cigars, & will be an abundance as we stay in Keokuk only 5 days, & then start back—possibly by rail.” In very good to fine condition, with staining to the side edges, and splitting to the ends of the top fold repaired with archival tape on the back. Starting Bid $200 542. Julia Ward Howe Signed Photograph. Sharp 4.25
x 6.5 cabinet card portrait of Howe seated in her modest black dress and white lace cap, signed and inscribed in black ink, “Julia Ward Howe, for Miss Laura A. Charsley.” Published by L. Alman & Co. of Newport. In fine condition, with some light scuffing and silvering to the image, and minor surface loss to the upper left corner. Accompanied by a contemporary printing of the words to ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic.’ Starting Bid $200
Scarce double signature from the great British novelist
540. Charles Dickens Signature. Exceptional ink signature,
“Faithfully yours, Charles Dickens, 1 Devonshire Terrace, York Gate, Regents Park, November Fifteenth 1841, Mr. J. P. Kitchen, with Mr. Charles Dickens’ comp’ts,” on an off-white 4 x 5.5 sheet. In very good to fine condition, with intersecting folds, and light staining to the left edge from old mounting residue on the back. Starting Bid $200
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, presented by “A. Conan Doyle”
541. Arthur Conan Doyle Signed Book. Signed book: Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. First American edition, second printing. NY: Harper and Brothers, 1894. Hardcover, 5.25 x 7.5, 259 pages. Signed on the title page in ink, “Yours cordially, A. Conan Doyle.” Autographic condition: fine, with a tiny edge tear to the signed page. Book condition: VG+/None, with a contemporary ownership inscription to the front pastedown. A rare example of one of Doyle’s most popular titles. Starting Bid $1000
543. Henrik Ibsen Autograph Letter Signed. Revered Norwegian playwright
and poet (1828-1906) whose works, including A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler, made him one of the seminal figures of modern drama. ALS in Norwegian, one page, 5.5 x 8.75, November 4, 1872. Untranslated handwritten letter by the great playwright. In fine condition. Starting Bid $200
544. Guy de Maupassant Autograph Letter Signed.
ALS in French, signed “Maupassant,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 3.75 x 6, personal letterhead, no date. Handwritten letter to “Mendes,” inquiring about unpublished tales that he expected to be published in a collection. Upon receiving proofs of the work, it seems that they have been substituted with different pieces, and he would like to know why. In fine condition. Starting Bid $200
545. John Stuart Mill Autograph Letter Signed. Brit-
ish philosopher and civil servant (1806-1873) who was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy. ALS signed “J. S. Mill,” one page both sides, 4.25 x 6.75, December 30, 1866. Handwritten letter to a gentleman, in part: “There is one part of your programme to which I most heartily assent, and will give it all the support in my power; the transfer of the licensing function from the unpaid magistrary to a paid office appointed for the purpose, and holding sessions periodically and publicly respecting the other proposed Resolutions my mind is far from being made up, and with my present lights on the subject I should vote against them.” In fine condition, with slight splitting to one of the fold ends. Starting Bid $200
546. Samuel Pepys Autograph Document Signed.
British civil servant (1633–1703) best remembered as the author of a nine-year, multi-volume diary, one of the essential documents of 17th-century British history and literature. Partly-printed DS, signed “S. Pepys,” one page both sides, 7.25 x 8.75, July 22, 1671. In the partly-printed document on the front, as “Receiver of the Moneys for the Service of His Majesties Garrison of Tangier,” Pepys demands the sum of 779 pounds. On the reverse, Pepys pens a handwritten assignation “for this order with all my right, title interest and benefit thereof unto Mr. Joseph Horneby of London Goldsmith and unto his assigns for the value.” In very good to fine condition, with trimmed edges, and scattered tiny insect holes. Starting Bid $200
547. H. A. Rey Signed Photograph. German-born au-
thor and illustrator (1898-1977) best known for the popular Curious George series of children’s books. Vintage glossy 6.25 x 4 Houghton Mifflin promotional photo of Rey holding a young chimpanzee, signed and inscribed vertically in the left border in black ink, “To Roger Harris, H. A. Rey, 4-27-64.” In fine condition, with a small crease to the top edge, and slight brushing to the ink. Starting Bid $200
Italian poet and scholar (1783–1854) who was the father of PreRaphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Rare handwritten poem in Italian, signed “Gabriele Rossetti,” one page both sides, 4.5 x 7.5, inscribed at the top by the poet: “Per la gentil donzella Carolina Ward, le nove muse.” Rossetti pens a romantic poem for his “new muse” in five stanzas. In very good to fine condition, with some light soiling, a crease to the lower right corner, and five small mounting remnants on the signed side. Rossetti is rare in any form, especially in handwritten poems. Starting Bid $200
549. Madame de Stael Autograph
Letter Signed. Anne Louise Germaine de Stael-Holstein (1766–1817), known as Madame de Stael, was a Swiss author who played an integral part in directing the literary tastes of Europeans at the turn of the 19th century. Scarce ALS in French, signed “Necker Stael de Holstein,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.25 x 8.75, August 5, 1807. Untranslated handwritten letter to Messrs. Le Roy et Bayard in New York. In fine condition. Starting Bid $200
550. Bram Stoker Autograph Letter
Signed. ALS signed “Bram Stoker, Acting Manager,” one page, 5.75 x 9.5, Plaza Hotel letterhead letterhead, November 10, 1893. Handwritten letter to Harrison Fiske, in part: “Mr. Irving asks we to thank you for your kind letter and to say that he has arranged with Mr. Abbey to send you the seats which you wish for and that an advertisement also should be sent for the Mirror.” In fine condition, with a small rusty paperclip impression to the top edge. Starting Bid $200
552. Jules Verne Autograph Note
Signed. An untranslated ANS in French from Jules Verne, penned on the front of his own personal calling card, 3.75 x 2.25, dated to September 30, 1897. In fine condition, with a slight vertical bend. Starting Bid $200
Striking portrait from Tagore’s visit to Tokyo
551. Rabindranath Tagore Signed Photograph.
Bengali poet, playwright, philosopher, and author (1861–1941) who became the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize (Literature) in 1913. Exceptional vintage matte-finish 8 x 10.75 half-length photo of Tagore in his robes during his visit to Japan, signed and inscribed in fountain pen, “To Gerta with my blessings, Rabindranath Tagore, 23/6/34.” Blindstamped in the lower right by K. Miyauchi of Tokyo, and includes its original studio folder. In fine to very fine condition. Tagore first visited Japan in 1916 as part of a worldwide lecture tour, and returned in 1924 and 1929. A superlative portrait representative of the poet’s global influence. Starting Bid $500
553. Voltaire Autograph Letter Signed. ALS in
French, signed “Voltaire,” one page, 6.5 x 9, March 3, 1762. Boldly penned handwritten letter by Voltaire, concerning financial troubles and the political situation in Europe. In part (translated): “I have just sent a money order for 2400 francs, and I have the honor to warn you about it. No one pays me, I loan to one and all. Without your assistance, I would not have sufficient for my household expenses. You are weary. Let us hope that I may soon repay your many advances. Berlin assures peace with Russia, but the press and Vienna deny it. We shall soon be enlightened.” In fine condition, with small old mounting remnants to two corners. Starting Bid $300
554. Noah Webster Autograph Letter Signed. Author and
lexicographer (1758–1843) who published the first comprehensive dictionary of American English. ALS signed “N. Webster,” one page, 7.5 x 5, November 3, 1841. Handwritten letter to “Mr. Harris,” in full: “I take the liberty to direct a small box of box [sic] to your care, with a request that you would keep it safe & deliver it to a Mr. McMahon, an agent of mine, who will be in Worcester in a few dat. If any expense is incurred, it will be punctually repaid.” In fine condition, with intersecting folds, and toning from prior display. Accompanied by an engraved portrait featuring a facsimile signature. Starting Bid $200
