• SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS AND LETTERS •
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MELI, Giovanni. BARKER, W. W., trans. THE COURTEOUS FAIRY
and THE WORLD. Two Poems of the late John Meli in the Sicilian
Dialect with biographical notes by the Abbe Contreras on the
author; and the notes in the second edition of his works, to the
poem of The World. Freely Translated into English Verse by W. W.
Barker. Messina, 1815 to 1834. Quarto. 82ff. Manuscript in John Howard Payne's hand on
lined paper. Beautifully bound in full walnut crushed morocco,
intricately gilt, with five raised bands. Crushed green morocco
doublures with wide walnut morocco dentelles, also intricately
gilt. Silk moire endleaves. Slipcase. T.e.g. $5,500.00 #84438
Giovanni Meli (1740-1815) was a Sicilian physician, poet,
essayist, and satirist from Cinisi, near Palermo. He held the chair
in chemistry at the University of Palermo for twenty years, but his
first love was Sicilian poetry. The Courteous Fairy ("La Fata
Galanti") was his first substantial work in the Palermitan dialect,
written at the age of 22, four years before his first published
collection. Although much of Giovanni Meli's work has been
translated into English and published, "La Fata Galanti" has yet to
appear in print in English. The second title mentioned, "The
World," would have probably been a translation of Meli's "L'Origini
di lu Munnu," and is not actually included in the bound manuscript.
William Wilton Barker (1769-1856) the translator, was the British
consul in Messina. His wife was from Palermo, which could explain
his proficiency in the Palermitan dialect.
The poem tells of a would-be poet who rescues a toad from a
peasant. The toad reveals itself to be the Courteous Fairy in
disguise. She offers him any favor he desires, and he asks for her
help in becoming a poet. They travel on a winged horse to the
Isle of Falsehood, the Isle of Medicine, Mount Parnassus, and more.
His soul separates from his body to go to the Underworld and on his
fabulous journey he meets numerous figures of literature, myth and
antiquity, gently satirizing them all. Finally the Fairy advises
him to give up poetry for more realistic pursuits, and reveals
herself to be the creation of his own fancy.
John Howard Payne (1791 to 1852) was an American actor, playwright,
and diplomat. Although discouraged by his family from entering the
theater, he secretly published a journal of drama criticism while
employed as an accountant. He had some success as an actor in New
York, and then in London. He took to writing plays; among his
triumphs were "Brutus, or the Fall of Tarquin" and "Therese, the
Orphan of Genoa." His most famous song, "Home Sweet Home," he
wrote in 1822 for an adaptation of an Italian operetta which he
called "Clari, the Maid of Milan." Sometimes flush, but occasionally homeless or in debtor's prison, he was rarely paid
sufficiently for his work. While in Paris he met and admired Mary
Shelley, escorted her often to the theater, and corresponded with
her from 1824 to 1831. She was more interested in his friend
Washington Irving, who did not return her interest. He returned to
the USA and made himself conspicuous by living with and writing a
great deal on behalf of the Cherokees in Georgia in the years
before the "Trail of Tears." In 1842 he was appointed USA
ambassador to Tunis. He died there and his effects, including his
papers, were stored in a damp warehouse by the port for many years,
where much of the material disappeared. Eventually the remainder
was returned to his family and dispersed. The item at hand contains
a note dated 1929 recording that it was purchased "many years ago
in Philadelphia."
Consulted: Brainard, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1817-1885. Title: John Howard
Payne; a biographical sketch of the author of "Home , sweet home"
with a narrative of the removal of his remains from Tunis to
Washington. By Charles H. Brainard. Illustrated. Boston, Cupples,
Upham & Co., 1885.
Chiles, Rosa Pendleton. John Howard Payne: American Poet, Actor,
Playwright, Consul and the Author of Home, Sweet Home. Reprinted
from Vol. XXXI and XXXII of the Records of the Columbia Historical
Society, Washington, DC, 1930.
Harrison, Gabriel, 1818-1902. Title: John Howard Payne, dramatist,
poet, actor ... His life and writings, by Gabriel Harrison.
Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1885.
Harrison, Gabriel, The life and writing of John Howard Payne.
Albany, N.Y., J. Munsell, 1875.
WELLS, H.G. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED & TYPED LETTER, SIGNED (latter with secretarial signature), to M.P. Shiel.
1. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED on a single piece of stationery.
July 16.35
My dear Shiel,
(If I may be so familiar) It was very easy to be of some small service to you because I have
always been a sincere admirer of your bold & vigorous work. Since
those early nineties. 40 years ago. & more.
Yours, H.G. Wells
2. TYPED LETTER, SIGNED on one side of a single piece of lightly soiled stationery.
May 20th, 1937
My dear Shiel,
I've got your manuscript and letter and I began to read the first
chapter of the former. I found it very interesting and then gave
way to fatigue. The fact is at present I am scarcely existent
mentally, I've got acute neuritis and I find it almost impossible
to keep my attention steady on anything for more than five to ten
minutes. Everybody says this will pass off presently but meanwhile I just cannot tackle the problems your book raises. My impression
is that you've got something very important to say and that you
have massed your evidence upon it instead of using supplements and
notes so as to make it very difficult reading for the ordinary man
of intelligence. What shall I do about it? I know someone who
might show it to the Cresset Press and beyond that I cannot think
of anything to further your desire for publication. What shall I
do with the manuscript? Forgive this rambling letter. I've always regarded you as an
outstanding and worthwhile writer.
Yours ever,
H.G. Wells [secretarial signature]
Both pieces are creased for mailing, and are overall very good.
For the two: $1,000.00 #38437 order or inquire
Barton, Clara. NINE AUTOGRAPH LETTERS 1899-1911. A group of
letters written by the "Angel of the Battlefield," who, after
caring for the soldiers of the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian
War, brought about the USA's adoption of the Geneva Convention, and
founded the American Red Cross. In 1904, after 23 years as
President of the American Red Cross, she was induced with some
difficulty to step down at the age of 83. She then turned her
energies to a new organization, the First Aid Association, which
she ran until her death in 1912.
The first letter, dated 12/26/99,
thanks "Sister Harriette" for a gift, and speaks of an illness
which kept her from her correspondence, some 15-20 letters a day.
(2pp., 9 1/2" x 5 1/2"). Four letters from 1906 concern the First
Aid Association. One mentions the visit of a newspaper reporter.
(3pp, 6 1/2" x 5") One, to a Miss Kessel, quotes General Von
Schelle, Delegate General of the Belgian Red Cross, on the
"International Committee for the International First Aid
Association," and from a "grateful remembrance" in the Record of
the International Red Cross Conference in London. (4pp., 8"x5") In
a third CB plans to put General Von Schell at the head of a
committee, as others will follow: "The most of men in such matters
follow more readily than they lead." She goes on to criticize her
successors in the American Red Cross. "I have felt from the first
that they would spoil their machine when they commenced to operate
it, and have worked with all the more hope of getting another ready to take its place. This we shall do - the First Aid will take up
the field work one day. And with all their two or more years
service they have never succeeded in breaking the confidence of the
public in the old workers, or the old head." (4pp., 6 3/4" by 5").
An incomplete letter to Miss Kessel sends thanks to doctors who
have helped in the cause. (1p., 6 3/4" x 5"). A letter to her
secretary on 8/27/07 praises the new "Report," a "little red
brochure," and speaks of a request that she go to Cleveland to
start a branch of the First Aid. "I see so much before me, and have
so little time." (4pp., 6 3/4" x 5"). On 2/2/09 she writes to Major
General Roscoe Wells at the Boston Office of First Aid, of an
accident which disabled her for three months, a backlog of 300
letters to answer, and an annoying book called "The Emergency
Service" claiming priority over the First Aid.
Two letters of
appreciation for work done, one written only months before she
died, complete the group. Some were written from Glen Echo, MD,
where her home served as HQ for the Red Cross, and some from her
childhood home in Oxford, MA. All in fine condition. One with
envelope. On the whole these are substantive letters which provide
a picture of Ms Barton's energy and character in her later
years. $6,500.00 #70826
KELLER, Helen. HELEN KELLER TYPED LETTER, SIGNED, 1946 ON PERSONAL LETTERHEAD. 1 folded 8 1/2 x 11" sheet, Helen Keller's personal stationery, addressed (with original stamped envelope) to a Mr. Bachand of Worcester, Massachusetts, and dated November 30, 1946. The letter, which is an entreaty for financial support for the newly formed Committee on the Deaf-Blind of the American Foundation for the Blind, refers to Mr. Bachand as "dear friend," and is signed in ink in Keller's hand. At the time, Keller had been working for the AFB for twenty years (as she reiterartes in the letter). The letter's eloquent appeal contains descriptions of the experience of being without sight or hearing. Note the following paragraph: "All your pleasure would vanish in a dreadful monotony of silent days. Even work, man's Divine heritage -- work that can bind up broken hearts -- would be lost to you. Family and friends might surround you with love, but consolation alone cannot restore usefulness, or bring release from that hardest prison -- a tomb of the mind and a dungeon of the body." The letter is creased but not terribly so. A small two-color brochure (not in Braille) soliciting funds is included, with the Board of Trustees of the Committee printed on the back. $675.00 #83532 order or inquire
SHAW, George Bernard. LETTER TO G. B. SHAW WITH HIS SIGNED
MANUSCRIPT REPLY ON REVERSE, 1922. 8x10 inches, typed on letterhead
of E. J. Larby, Ltd., London, "The Diary and Calendar Specialists."
Brief letter announcing the publication in 1922 of a pamphlet,
requesting Shaw's "brief expression of your own views on the
proposal, with permission to publish the same." Larby published
maps and touring guides, as well as books on leisure and sport; the
author or name of the pamphlet is not given, and the pamphlet is
not included (originally enclosed with letter). Judging by Shaw's
handwritten reply on reverse he would prefer another calendar to
the present one, "of the working of which I have nearly 66 years
experience," and his wry note that since "my interest in the matter
is the same as everybody else's I can see no obstacle to the change
but pure inertia." Signed and dated 8/1/22. (The Larby letter is
dated 29th December 1921.) $650.00 #80219 order or inquire
LARCOM, Lucy. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED. Letter to Thomas Florian Currier, who was J.G.
Whittier's next-door neighbor in Amesbury, on what became known as
"Whittier's Hill." Currier's son, Thomas Franklin Currier, was
Associate Librarian at Harvard University and was best known for
his bibliography of Whittier. Whittier was Larcom's mentor. The
"Horace" mentioned in the letter is Currier's brother, evidently
wounded in a shooting accident.
Beverly Farms, Mass.
June 22, 1971
Dear Mr. Currier,
I am very much obliged to you for writing to me about Horace, as I
had heard nothing since I called at the hospital. I think it is
wise to keep him quiet and I should not wish to see him until it is
perfectly safe, glad as I should be to be of service to him. But
Mr. Whittier sent two notes to me, with the wish that I would call,
so that I hardly knew what to do, until your note came. Horace had
seemed to me like a younger brother, ever since I knew him, and I
felt as anxious about the result of this accident as if we were
really kin to each other. It was certainly a very strange
accident! if such- and if a trial of skill, the young man might
have chosen a less valuable target. It looks very badly, from
every direction. but I am sincerely thankful that Horace is out of
danger, and hope you will let me know when I can do anything for him.
Very truly yours,
Lucy Larcom
The letter is on a single sheet, folded once, with text on two
pages. It is creased thrice horizontally, and once more
vertically. the last page is additionally signed by Larcom.
Overall, very good. $325.00 #38406 order or inquire
SIGOURNEY, Lydia H., Mrs. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED. A single sheet folded once at
the center to form 4 pp., each 7 7/8 x 5 inches. The letter is
dated Monday, April 29th (the year is not given) and is addressed
to the author Mrs. [Louisa Caroline] Tuthill. The letter, a note
of thanks on receiving a copy of one of Mrs. Tuthill's books,
concludes: What you term with so much naivetté [sic] your "rye-
field," must surely be titled my magic. That its produce may be
nutritious to others, profitable to yourself, and acceptable to the
Lord of the Harvest, is the wish of your friend, LHS. The letter
is neatly creased from folding, with a short tear at one fold, else
fine. $275.00 #65654 order or inquire
JAMESON, Anna. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED. Three pages written on
a single sheet (approximately 8 3/4 x 7 in.) folded once at the
center to form four pages, and further creased for mailing.
Written at Wootton Park and dated September 26, though without a
year (however, the paper is watermarked and dated 1848), the letter
acknowledges her receipt of a letter and her promise of advice and
assistance when she returns home. It is signed "Believe me most
truly yours, Anna Jameson." The fourth page, a blank, has glue
residue at the corners, where the paper is slightly discolored;
otherwise, it is a clean and legible letter. Anna Brownell Jameson
(Irish, 1794-1860) produced many highly respected works,
particularly of art history and criticism, biography, history,
travel, and Shakespeare criticism. $125.00 #76061 order or inquire
HOLMES, Oliver Wendell, Sr.
AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED. 17 lines,
1 1/2 pages, octavo. Written from Beverly Farms, [Massachusetts],
September 19th, 1882, and addressed to the writer and editor H. E.
Scudder. Holmes states that he is busy making arrangements for
lectures at present and "had better not make any literary side-
issues at this particular time..." In a postscript he asks "Who
looked over the proofs of Miss Preston's article? p. 454. 'Fons
Baudusiae splendidior bibro'! I was positively scared when I saw
this mangling of an everyday quotation. I am afraid somebody will
get hold of it and make it a handle for abuse." $750.00 #78618 order or inquire
BEAUREGARD, PIERRE G. T.
AUTOGRAPH NOTE signed with envelope (1889). "I
trust she may live | many years to give you | joy & remember the
"teachings of early youth-" | I remain yrs very truly | G.T. Beauregard."
Beauregard (1818-1893) was a Confederate General. $950.00 #78123 order or inquire
JOHNSTON, General Joseph E., CSA. TWO AUTOGRAPH SIGNED
LETTERS,
dated 1/27/1886 and 3/13/1891, to a young lady. The first thanks
her for her letter "in the stile of a young lady, from you who were
a little girl in the days when I saw you often," and promises her
a framed picture of him. (With traces of glue and a tear with small
loss to back page, not affecting text. 2ff., 8x5"). The second
assures her that both uniform buttons he has sent were intended for
her. "Will washing them with gold hide the dirt of six or eight and
twenty years? I am afraid not." (Fine. 2ff., 7x4.5"). Like Lee,
Johnston (1807-1891) was a Virginian of Revolutionary ancestry, who
attended West Point. He distinguished himself against the Indians
in Florida, and during the Mexican-American War. When Virginia
seceded he resigned his commission as Brigadier-General and joined
the Confederate Army. According to the DAB he was famous for
remaining undefeated: "he disliked risks." His pessimistic, or
perhaps realistic, view of the strength of the enemy led him to
propose an armistice in 1865. After the war he served one term in
Congress, the Commissioner of Railroads. $875.00 #78105 order or inquire
SANTAYANA, George.
AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED. A hand-written note,
in ink, on a single sheet of water-marked stationary. 6 1/2 X 5
1/4." Sent form Paris, and dated August 25, 1928. It is addressed
to Theodore Morrison (American poet, 1901-1988) and is a response
to a letter from Morrison requesting a "human or poetical" piece
for the "Atlantic Monthly" magazine. As Santayana explains in his
polite refusal "...it is hard for me to separate the more agreeable
from the more arid side of things, and I am afraid my poppies can
grow only amidst the corn -- making both, perhaps, rather weedy..."
It is signed "G. Santayana." The letter, folded once in the center
for mailing, is very legible and very fine. $650.00 #63964 order or inquire
BERLIN, Irving.
AUTOGRAPH. Signature, undated, in ink on blank sheet, 8" x
5". Very good; shows some creasing. $200.00 #45054 order or inquire
WORDSWORTH, William. A CLIPPED SIGNATURE of the popular Romantic
poet. "Wm Wordsworth" boldly written in ink on a slip of paper (8.4 x
3.5 cm) and mounted on a slightly larger piece of paper. $750.00 #72631