This framed image is signed and inscribed to a young woman named Mary Lawton Inscribed Photograph Mount Signed: "To Mary Lawton from G. Bernard Shaw", 15x11 visible, actual image 14x11 (visible) and mounted to a larger page. B/w. Dated November 1938. Includes plaque and fine decorative frame. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950) was born in Dublin, Ireland. During his life, he wrote dozens of plays, most famously Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1913), and Saint Joan (1923). In addition to Shaw's prolific creative writings, he was also outspoken on politics, religion, and current events. One of his more unique passions was fighting for an improved alphabet. A book of his improved alphabet was published 12 years after his death to crickets. All his life, he wanted to be referred to as Bernard Shaw, but in his signature he always signed as G.B.S. or G. Bernard Shaw. In 1925, he received the Nobel Prize for literature. Thirteen years later, he became the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award, the latter for the 1938 film Pygmalion. Frame lightly chipped around edges. Mounting page toned. Otherwise, fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 30½x20½.

Handwritten letter from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of Gone With the Wind, to Edwin Granberry (and wife), who wrote one of the first good reviews of her book. She discusses how sorry she is for not writing them sooner describing herself as "oafish of oafs", explaining how busy she has become and will send a lengthier letter when the time is allowed Autograph Letter Signed: "M. M. M", 4p, 7x11. No place, 1936 July 27. To "Mabel and Edwin" [Granberry, an early reviewer of Gone With the Wind]. In full: "You two have every right to think me the most oafish of oafs for not having written you sooner to thank you for sanctuary, good food and best of all, marvelous company. Each morning I've risen, bent on writing to you and, as Hell began to pop before I even got my coffee down, I'd think 'No, I'll wait till I get time for a long letter.' And the time hasn't come. I don't know when it will come as John and my brother Steve, after a five hour conference about this so-and-so contract, sprung on me tonight a plan to go to N.Y. tomorrow and settle the thing in person. I have no clothes, no hats, not a change of underwear or an extra pair of stockings, but it seems that I'm going to N.Y. just the same.…"

Steinbeck authorizes the French production of a war-time play. Typewritten contract signed: "John Steinbeck", 3p, 8x12½ Paris, France, 1947 February 24. John Ernest Steinbeck Jr. signed this contract, dated February 24, 1947, to permit Madame Rose Belin, the Director of the Saint George Theater, to finance productions of his play, The Moon Is Down, in France and Belgium. The contract also provided for the translation of the play into French. Steinbeck had written the play during World War II (1939-1945); it had opened on Broadway on April 8, 1942. After completing the play, Steinbeck immediately adapted it into a novelette with the same title. The Moon is Down deals with the Nazi occupation of a European country; Steinbeck wrote it as a contribution to the war effort while working with the Coordinator of Information, an agency created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) to combat Nazi propaganda with Allied films and literary works. The play was criticized in the United States for its humanizing portrayal of German fascists: however, it was well-received in Europe since it encouraged the resistance underground movement.

The artist signed this copy of his book with a flourish, creating a unique signature that incorporates an original drawing Book signed: "Dali/1975" (signature embellished to become original drawing) on half-title page beneath printed signature: "Dali", 456p, 5x7½, hardcover. Dali: Confessiones Inconfessables, by Salvador Dali and André Parinaud, Editorial Bruguera, S.A.: 1975. First Spanish edition. A flamboyant painter and sometimes writer, sculptor, and experimental filmmaker, Dalí (1904-1989) was the best known of the surrealist artists, using bizarre dream imagery to create unforgettable and unmistakable landscapes of his inner world. In 1929, Dalí met Gala Eluard, a staunch Surrealist who later became his wife. During the height of his fame, he was dismissed formally from the Surrealist group in 1934 for his fascination with Hitler. Responding, Dalí stated "Surrealism? I AM Surrealism!" During 1940 and 1941, he and Gala moved to America, and it was here that Dalí began concentrating on more accepted themes. In the United States he engaged in an extensive amount of self-promotion and absurd activities.

The author of The Red Badge of Courage knew conflict from football, not the battlefield. Rare AQS: "Stephen Crane", 1p, 5½x2¾. In full: "I have never been in a battle, of course, and/I believe that I got my sense of the rage/of conflict on the foot ball field." America's foremost "naturalistic" author had moved to England in 1897. Although he never served in the military, Crane won international acclaim with The Red Badge of Courage, his 1895 book that powerfully told the story of a young soldier during the American Civil War. He later served as a war correspondent, covering the Greco-Turkish War (1897) and the Spanish-American War for foreign newspapers. Crane, who suffered from tuberculosis, died in a German sanitarium at the age of 28. Crane's signature is virtually unobtainable in any form. Fine condition. Accompanied by PSA/DNA LOA.

Archive of 16 letters written by Tarzan's creator to his son Jack between 1923 and 1935, plus one letter from Burroughs to a film company. He writes in depth about family matters, but also about the filming of a Tarzan movie. The letters are signed "Papa" or "OB" (Old Burroughs). A rare insight into the private and public life of the prolific author. Collection comprised of 1) Autograph Letter signed: "Papa", 1 page, 8½x11. North Platte, Nebraska, 1923 February 16. To "Dear Jack", in full: "We are just leaving North Platte, Nebr. The train shakes so that I cannot draw very well. I couldn't if it didn't shake at all, so what's the difference. Did I tell you that I found your valentine in my grip? The one of the lady kicking. That must be the way she feels before breakfast. I wired ahead for reservations on the Broadway Limited on the Pennsylvania RR so we will arrive in New York at 9:40 Sunday morning. It will be nice & wintry and cold out. The air feels & tastes & smells good. Love & kisses to my dear children." At the top of this letter Burroughs has drawn a four-panel cartoon featuring his sons Jack and Hulbert.

Author Herman Melville wrote this letter to publisher George P. Putnam from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It had accompanied a proof of one of his stories. Melville's signature is one of the rarest of all, and handwritten letters by him are highly desirable. Autograph letter signed "H Melville". 1 page, 4¾x7½, with embossing in top left corner. Pittsfield, Massachusetts, dated "Jan 27th". Addressed to George P. Putnam, Esq., 10 Park Place, New York City. In full: "Dear Sir: Re-enclosed is the proof [not included]. Very Truly Yours". We believe this letter was written between 1852 and 1855, when Putnam's publishing company G. Putnam Broadway was based at 1010 Park Place, New York City. Melville published a number of short stories through Putnam's Monthly Magazine during this time, including Bartleby the Scrivener (1853), The Encantadas, or: Enchanted Isles (1854) and Benito Cereno (1855). GEORGE PALMER PUTNAM (1814-1872, born in Brunswick, Maine) published many important American authors, like Melville, through his publishing house of G. Putnam Broadway, which later became G. P. Putnam's Sons. He was also one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For an article he wrote featuring art by Luis Quintanilla, Hemingway pencils short notes on a magazine page, describing Quintanilla as, "My best friend in Spain." Autograph Note unsigned, 1p, 10x14. On a magazine page: "This guy [the artist who drew the pictures] is my best friend in Spain. We got him out of jail by the way." at upper right margin and "They cut out my lead to make room for the pictures." at right margin above article. Circa 1935. Page 26 from an "Esquire" magazine that features two drawings and the beginning of an article written by Hemingway. In the 1930s, American novelist and short story writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), who was a frequent contributor to "Esquire", wrote a series of 31 "letters" for the magazine. In this article, he writes about the growing tensions that would result in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Hemingway, who supported the Loyalist side and served as a war correspondent during that war (1937), used his experiences as the background for his most ambitious novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940).

Signed and notarized 1930 contract selling Paramount the rights to one of his stories Typed Contract signed: "Dashiell Hammett", 4 pages, 8½x11, separate sheets. No place, but County of Los Angeles, 1930 November 26. Contract between Hammett and Paramount Publix Corporation regarding the sale of the rights "to an original story entitled AFTER SCHOOL written by the seller [Hammett]." Hammett was paid "the sum of Five Thousand ($5000.00) Dollars, receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged." Countersigned by the Executive Manager of Paramount Publix Corporation. Lightly creased. Nicked at upper right blank corner of first page, file holes at blank left margins. Fine condition. Accompanied by typed notarized statement signed: "Alfred A. Grosser" as Notary Public, 1 page, 8½x11. Attesting that "personally appeared DASHIELL HAMMETT, personally known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument...." Lightly creased, chipped at upper right blank corner. File holes at blank left margin. Fine condition. After School became City Streets, released in 1931 and starring Gary Cooper.

Signed 4½x7 autograph letter from a London hotel, writing that he hopes to lecture in Britain "if other & more necessary business shall permit." ALS: "Saml. L. Clemens", 1 page, 4½x7. Langham Hotel,/Portland Place, London. W, no year, October 18. To unknown recipient. Begins: "Sir". In full: "I think it will be 2 or 3 weeks before I shall really know whether I can lecture in Great Britain or not. So I am obliged to be thus indefinite in my reply. I certainly shall lecture about 8 or 10 times in this country if other & more necessary business shall permit." From the University of California Press review of Volume 5 of Mark Twain's Letters prepared by the Mark Twain Project at the University of California, Berkeley. "After beginning work on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he [Clemens] set it aside to collaborate, almost as a lark, on a novel with Charles Dudley Warner. After a few months of intense labor in the winter of 1872-1873, they produced The Gilded Age, which gave a lasting name to the era it satirized.…"

Signed letter from Paris written just weeks before his death in 1778, fearing that hypocritical priests will deny him a church burial. This letter to the Count of Rochefort, written in fine French (fully translated) and in a beautiful hand, shows that the sage had lost none of his mental acuity Letter signed: "V", 2 pages (integral leaf) 4½x7 folded, 9x7 open flat. Paris, 1778 April 16. To the Comte de Rochefort. In French, fully translated: "I must apologize for having written so formally to Madame Dix-Neuf Ans ["Nineteen Years"]. I apologize for taking so long to thank you for your pleasant letter, sir, but I have had lately a very violent fever, following two fatal illnesses from which I escaped. I think that Monsieur the Abbey of Beauregard, preacher of Versailles, so-called former Jesuit, would willingly refuse me a burial, which is very unfair, because they say that I would not ask for more than to bury him; and he owes me, it seems, the same courtesy. I do not think whatsoever that the master and mistress of the house mocked this abbey of Beauregard. It is good that they do not indulge in the fury of his zeal, which is that to which all honest persons limit themselves.…"

His signed autograph letter from 1884, framed with his picture and commemorative plaques to an overall size of 31x24 ALS: "C.L. Dodgson.", 1 page, 3¾x6. Ch[rist]. Ch[urch]., Oxford, 1884 May 18. To an unnamed recipient. In full: "My old friend, and your brother-in-law, Mr. F.H. Atkinson, tells me your mother & Sister are now in England. Can you tell me how long they are likely to remain, & what is their London address, as I might find some opportunity of calling, & renewing a pleasant acquaintance begun in Jersey last Eastertide." Oxford don and mathematician at Christ Church in Oxford, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) wrote this letter 19 years after his most famous work, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), was published. A shy, serious-minded young man, he nonetheless had his whimsical side, which he reverted to when around children, and with whom he did not stammer. Urged to pen the imaginative stories that he told to the daughters of Oxford Dean Henry Liddell, Dodgson transposed his name, Charles Lutwidge, to Ludovic Carolus, resulting in the name Lewis Carroll.