James Cummins Bookseller is proud to present a catalogue of literary letters from beloved writers such as Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and George Eliot. Highlights include a letter by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, sending a poem at that point unpublished; A notable Lord Byron letter, showing his commitment to join the armed struggle in Greece; an important letter from Samuel Clemens to his British publisher Andrew Chatto, promising 'early sheets' of Huckleberry Finn; as well as many new arrivals.
Brooklyn: May 13, 1962. Moore writes to Emily Nathan, journalist and public relations executive, with a suggestion for a slogan for the Pulitzer School of Journalism at Columbia: "The mind of mankind enlarged by knowledge — with freedom to use it moves toward a world informed." She goes on to..... Read More about Typed Letter, signed "Marianne Moore" and annotated, to Emily Nathan
Price: $300
![Item #352972 Jose Clemente Orozco [WITH] Two Autograph Letters, signed (“José Clemente...](https://jamescumminsbookseller.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/352972.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1693416233)
New York: Delphic House, 1932, Letters: Dec. 30, 1928 & May 30,1929. 2 books with letters from Orozco to Spingarn. [WITH] Helm, MacKinley, Man of Fire J.C. Orozco an Interpretive Memoir, New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1953 (cloth backed boards, very good in worn jacket, the second letter is loosely inserted..... Read More about Jose Clemente Orozco [WITH] Two Autograph Letters, signed (“José Clemente Orozco”), to...
Price: $3,000
The PEN/Faulkner Award was established by Mary Lee Settle in the fall of 1980, as an annual prize for American fiction. P.E.N.[poets, editors and novelists] was designed to be judged by fellow writers, not members of the publishing industry. The first award was presented in 1981, to Walter Abish, for..... Read More about Archive of Autograph and Typed Letters Regarding the Establishment of the PEN/Faulkner Award,...
Price: $8,500
Windsor, VT: 1985. Where, when, and what time of day or night were you born…? J. D. Salinger first met poet Celia Bland when she was an undergraduate at Sarah Lawrence College with a friend who lived near Salinger in New Hampshire. “Where, when, and what time of day or..... Read More about Two typed letters, signed "xx JDS" and "JDS", to poet Celia Bland, 17 May and...
Price: $25,000
[New York]: 1949-1950. The William Saroyan - Al Capp - Carol Marcus Affair. A Saroyan archive of essential biographical importance. In 1943, Armenian-American author William Saroyan, at the peak of his success and fame, married the 17-year-old socialite Carol Marcus. They had two children, Aram (b. 1943) and Lucy (b..... Read More about Archive of Drafts of Letters and Documents relating to Saroyan's separation and divorce from his...
Price: $5,000
Most from Chicago: [1930s; last is dated 1969]. Early Letters from William Shawn. Excellent group of correspondence from William Shawn (1907-1992) Marshall A. Best was Editor of Viking Press. He came to Viking in 1925 when B.W. Huebsch was absorbed by Harold Guinzburg's Viking Press and became Chairman of the..... Read More about Collection of 3 Typed Letters, signed, and 4 Autograph letters, signed, to editor Marshall Best,...
Price: $9,000
Valima, Samoa: March 22nd 1892. Written to his friend in Samoa, H.J. Moors. Harry Jay Moors (1854-1926) was an American trader in the South Seas and resident in Samoa for forty-five years. He was an intimate friend of Stevenson, and the Stevensons lived at "Pineapple House", which Moors built for..... Read More about Cheque signed "Robert Louis Stevenson", Vailima, to H.J. Moors
Price: $2,000
Np: nd. Stowe would quote the hymn in her Betty's Bright Idea (1875). In her note, to an unnamed correspondent, she writes: "I send this, which I copied before the hymn became a common one in reply to your application for an autograph. It is not mine. I wish it..... Read More about Autograph hymn and Autograph Note Signed, copying out Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane's hymn The Lost...
Price: $3,500
Vineyard Haven, MA: August 24, 1970. 'I'll always be grateful to you for the support you gave me, and I think that in time both you and I will be vindicated'. Styron writes to his friend James Baldwin ('Dear Jimmy'). In 1960, Robert Silvers, then working with Baldwin on an..... Read More about Typed Letter, Signed "Bill" to James Baldwin, About Helping African American Defendants...
Price: $5,000
Princeton, New Jersey: 1969-1970. Correspondence from Svetlana Alliluyeva regarding one of her first homes in the U.S. after defecting from the U.S.S.R. Svetlana Alliluyeva (1926 - 2011) was the daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin who, after defecting to the United States in 1967, briefly moved to Mill Neck, Long..... Read More about Christmas Card and A.L.S. signed "Svetlana Alliluyeva"
Price: $3,750
Holmwood: 2 January 1874. An early letter from Swinburne’s relationship with his close friend and companion, Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832-1914), a solicitor and writer who was friends with Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown, who met Swinburne in 1872, and in 1879, invited the grieving, alcoholic, poet, to stay with him at..... Read More about Autograph Letter, signed ("AC Swinburne”), Jan. 2nd 1874, to “My dear Watts”,...
Price: $3,000
The Boat House, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, [Wales]: 29 August 1949. "I'll be very pleased indeed to read a ... selection of my poems" Thomas accepts an invitation to appear on BBC Radio. In part: "… I'll be very pleased indeed to read a 20 minute selection of my poems on the..... Read More about Autograph Letter Signed ("Dylan Thomas"), to producer Frank Hauser at the British...
Price: $4,000
Louisville: Feb 11, 1955. Earliest recorded Thompson letter: ‘I was the “black sheep” of the Athenaeum’. A candid letter from Hunter Thompson in February 1955, written to his friend Paul Semonin, when Thompson was seventeen years old. Semonin and Thompson were both members of the Athenaeum Literary Association, although, as..... Read More about Autograph letter, signed "Hunter S Thompson", to his friend Paul Semonin, with...
Price: $17,500
Sept. 26, 1958. A Classic HST Mixture of Insightful Political Analysis and Verbal Fireworks: 'The mind of America is seized by a fatal dry rot'. Written by Thompson when he was living in New York, working for Time Magazine (and using their envelopes), after having left the Air Force only..... Read More about Typed Letter, signed "Hunter" to his friend Paul Semonin, with original typed mailing...
Price: $7,500
Dec 1 [1963]. Thompson to his friend on the JFK Assassination: 'It is a terrible thing to have Kennedy killed and still not know exactly who did it, or why. The whole thing has been a goddamn nightmare.'. Thompson begins the letter, "Dear Punk," and spends the majority of it..... Read More about Typed letter, signed, "HST" to his friend Paul Semonin, with pencil annotations
Price: $15,000
Baltimore, Md., 22 Tunbridge Road: 1980-1999. Fine collection of these letters from Tyler to a devoted collector. Athough usually prompted by Wilson’s request that she sign his copy of her book, Tyler’s warm, witty self-effacing replies are often revealing; she cannot help gettling “personal”. In response to a letter inquiring..... Read More about Collection of 9 letters (4 TLsS, 5 ALsS) and 1 postcard to collector Robert Wilson; plus one TLS...
Price: $1,500
[Paris?]: c. 1811. Von Humboldt seeks help with comparative mythology. Letter written in French to de Chézy, who was the first professor of Sanskrit at the College du France (beginning in 1815, although his formal study of the language began in 1803, after his studies of Arabic and Persian), suggesting..... Read More about Autograph Letter, Signed, "A Humboldt," to French Orientalist and Early Sanskrit...
Price: $1,500
London: 1800s. A collection of sketches, prints, and letters from and to noted English portrait painter, Sir David Wilkie. Sir David Wilkie (b.1785 - d.1841) was a Scottish-born painter known for his historical scenes and portraits, and was Principal Painter in Ordinary to King William IV and Queen Victoria. Included..... Read More about Sir David Wilkie archive of letters, including 13 ALS from Wilkie, received letters, ephemera,...
Price: $13,500
St. Paul, MN: Jan. 29th, 1990. TLS (on August Wilson letterhead), signed by August Wilson (and also signed by his assistant), discussing 'amateur licensing rights' for 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' and for 'Fences' (while retaining 'all professional' productions for licensing). About the Licensing of Fences and Joe Turner's Come..... Read More about Typed Letter, Signed "August Wilson" to publisher Samuel French, about Licensing Rights...
Price: $750
Grasmere: June 20 [1808]. On the orphans of George and Sarah Green. "I have just received your obliging letter informing me of the Collection which by your means has been made for our Grasmere Orphans. I thank you sincerely for your kind and successful exertions in their behalf.... It will..... Read More about Autograph letter signed "W. Wordsworth" to Elizabeth Fox, Lady Holland, acknowledging...
Price: $5,000
