MARGARET MITCHELL Writing to friend and fellow author Edwin Granberry, she complains of the constant invasions of her privacy following publication of Gone With the Wind; Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 1 page, 7¼x10½. No place, no date, but undoubtedly written from her home in Atlanta in the late in the late 1930s, before the appearance of the film. On personal letterhead to Edwin and Mabel Granberry in full: "I've been intending to write to you for a long time - but you see how far my wants have gotten me. The reason was that when I went to N. Y. to see about the movie contract, my over strained eyes practically gave up the ghost. Herschel B [Brickell, a friendly literary critic], loaded me on the train in a bad way and since that time (up until a week ago) I've been lying in a dark room with a black bandage over my eyes. No, there's nothing seriously wrong and I'm writing you all to tell you so far already the rumor is out that I've gone blind. I wouldn't like for you to hear that and not know the truth. My eyes just needed a rest and so did I. Now I have new glasses and can see very well. It may be some time before I can do any reading or writing but I'm glad enough at being out of the dark. read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL Letter to fellow author and literary booster Edwin Granberry, accepting congratulations for her Pulitzer Prize but expressing a desire to preserve at least a little personal privacy. Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 1 page, 7¼x10½. Atlanta, Georgia, 1937 May 12. On personal letterhead to ""Dear Edwin", [Granberry], in full: "That was certainly a grand, long letter and John and I appreciated it immediately. Thanks again for the congratulations about the Award. I am just beginning to come up for air and realizing that it is really true. Since the news came so much has happened - flashlights going off, reporters slithering out of the cracks in the floor and the house full of people - that I have had no chance to really think. One of the nice features of the affair was that Harold Latham, who dug up the book, just happened to be in Atlanta on the day the Award was announced. He gave me a party complete with newspaper friends, as many orchids as a Kentucky Derby winner and barrels of Champaigne. While you and Herschel kept telling me last summer that it would undoubtedly work out this way, I just couldn't believe it. read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL She writes to close friend and fellow author Edwin Granberry about his new play, and mentions several prominent US actors and writers, including Alexander Woolcott and the Lunts. Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 2 pages (front and verso), 7¼x10½. Atlanta, Georgia, 1941 February 3. On personal letterhead to "Dear Edwin and Mabel" [Granberry], in full: "The combination of Bretaigne Windust and Roual Pene duBois gave us as much delight as it did you. The show can't hep being 120 proof with two such names. I was inclined to agree with Frank Sullivan to agree with Frank Sullivan, however, and will have to see these two gentlemen myself before I believe in their names. We were so happy and proud at the good news and hope you will have time to keep us posted on progress. Naturally, we are bursting to know what the Lunts think. I am sorry they are on tour now because that will probably delay their decision, as their time is pretty well occupied with long jumps and one-night stands. Do I understand that the interest of Mr. W. and Mr. DuB. Means that someone has bought the play or intends to produce it if they can get the right stars? We hope so ardently for the Lunts and can hardly wait to know what happens. read more...

HERMAN MELVILLE His clipped signature, with his portrait, two first day covers of stamps honoring him, and a picture of a whale. One of the rarest of all signatures! Signature: "Herman Melville", 4½x4, with four unsigned items: a printed portrait of Melville; two first day covers of stamps honoring him; and a color illustration of a whale, presumably Moby Dick. Herman Melville (1819-1891, born in New York City) worked at a young age as a cabin boy and sailor on merchant vessels. During an unsuccessful whaling expedition, he took part in a mutiny, was jailed and escaped. His seafaring inspired many of his later works, including Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846), Omoo, a Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847) and his masterpiece, Moby Dick (1851). Moby Dick, unlike his earlier works, was neither a critical or financial success. Melville's later writings, such as Pierre (1852), The Confidence Man (1857) and the short stories Bartleby the Scrivener and The Encantadas reflected his despair and contempt for society's corruption, hypocrisy and materialism. Melville took a break from writing to work as a customs read more...

ERNEST HEMINGWAY Handwritten letter to associate Peter Buckley, signed "Papa," filled with tales of his time spent in Spain and France meeting bullfighters and other famous friends. Autograph Letter signed: "Papa", 1 page, 8¼x10½. Paris, 1956 November 24. On letterhead of the Hotel Ritz to "Dear Peter" [Buckley], in full: "Thank you very much for the lovely big pictures. The ones at Zaragosa and the one of Antonio [Ordonez] and Mary were especially good. Would you do me a very big favour and be a good boy and do it promptly? Please send the pictures you took of Mary and me and Cooch Behar and Gina Egan in the bariera to Miss Gina Egan [at London address]. I promised to see they were sent and have worried about them. Please do this Peter. We saw a lot of Juanito Madinaveitia and also had lunch once and dinner twice with Juan Belamonte . We had a wonderful time together. Mary is much better in every way. I've been following Juanito's regime faithfully. When get next pressure taken will assess how things go. Coldest Nov. 23 in Paris since 1914, -4°. Shot a lot of partridges in Spain. Got some good pictures. We took Caro to the shoot. He sends his best to you. Mary and I send love. read more...

SAMUEL CLEMENS ("MARK TWAIN") Preparing to set sail for America, he defers a dinner invitation in Florence by explaining that he will arrive by way of New York and Chicago, "because it is much more creditable to go 8,000 miles to pay a dinner-call than it is to go a matter of 600 yards". A classic example of the author's dry wit, matted and framed to 13½x11½. Autograph Letter signed: "Auf Wiedersehen/S L Clemens", 2 pages (integral leaf), 3¾x6. Double-matted and framed with an unsigned picture of Clemens and explanatory plaque, to an overall size of 13½x11½. Villa Villiani, Settignano, Florence [Italy], 1893 March 20. To "Mrs. Ross" [Janet, Mrs. Henry Ross], in full: "It was my purpose to run in & indulge my pleasure in the society of Sir William & my Lady a little more, & I count it a loss that I failed of the chance; but my time has been all taken up in clearing the decks for America. I shall go over & pay my dinner-call the moment I get back from America. This seems unprompt; but I have a read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL Long personal letter to friend and fellow author Edwin Granberry, mentioning several literary friends and the exigencies of life in wartime Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 3 pages, 7¼x10. Atlanta, Georgia, 1942 September 21. On personal letterhead to "Dear Mabel and Edwin" [Granberry], in part: "I have been laying off to write to you for the longest and foolishly postponed doing so until I could write a long letter. That time may never come, and so I am grabbing this opportunity while the house painters are out at lunch. ... I've just come back from a quick trip to New York where John had to be on business. The only people I saw were the Clifford Dowdeys, who asked to be remembered to you. Clifford has been having fits trying to get into the army, with no luck so far because his eyes are bad. He has almost finished a new novel , which is about Memphis or Natchez in the 1830's. He told me news of Kenneth Littauer which I am passing on to you. He has been in the air corps for nearly a year, with the rank of major. His address is Headquarters 21st Bomb Group, MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida. read more...

HERMAN MELVILLE Extremely rare clipped signature, accompanied by an unsigned postcard photo of the author Signature: "Herman Melville", 4x1 fragment clipped from a letter. 1¾x¼-inch portion torn at lower left blank corner, lightly stained, light show-through from writing (not his) on verso. Overall, fine and rare. Accompanied by unsigned postcard photograph. B/w, 4¼x6. Fine condition. American novelist Herman Melville (1819-1891) first found fame with his romances: Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846) and Omoo, a Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847). In 1851, his masterpiece, Moby-Dick; or The Whale, dedicated to his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, introduced readers to some of literature's most enduring characters -- Captain Ahab, the cabin boy/narrator Ishmael, and Moby Dick, the great white whale. Two items. read more...

ERNEST HEMINGWAY Handwritten 1936 manuscript intended for publication in Esquire magazine, vividly describing the horrors of war, with his third person signature in the text Autograph Manuscript signed in text: "Mr. Ernest Hemingway" in pencil, 1 page, 8½x11. No place, c. 1936. Headed by him: "Please Mr. Ernest Hemingway by Paul Harris, The American Criterion, Dec 1935, about 'letters' appearing monthly in Esquire...." Ernest Hemingway was a frequent contributor to "Esquire" magazine. He wrote a total 31 "letters" which were published in "Esquire" in the 1930s. In the September 1935 issue, he wrote: "Notes on the Next War: A Serious Topical Letter". This may be a rough draft of one of the 31 "letters". Hemingway has made an "X", crossing out the entire letter. In part: "Mr. Hemingway, you were at the front. You saw people die? I was ten and I saw people, I saw something in them die and they had to go on making believe they were alive still with their guts out of them. I saw people age. I saw the unseeable, the drawn faces, the haunted eyes...A child is sensitive to change in those he knows [he is referring to an aunt, a cousin, involved in changes resulting from life in wartime]. read more...