ERNEST HEMINGWAY He signs an autograph note replying positively to a request to send a fundraising letter in his name. Autograph note signed: "Ernest Hemingway" at lower margin of a typed letter signed: "Abner Green", 1 page, 8¼x14. New York, 1939 December 21. On letterhead of Fourth Annual Conference for the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born, listing Hemingway and Dr. William Allan Neilson as Co-Chairmen, Committee of Sponsors. Hemingway's note, in full: "Enclosed signed letter. [Not present]. Haven't any money yet because writing on this novel since 1st of March. Turned down all other work. Wish me luck. I hope everything goes well with the committee." Green's letter, in full: "Dear Hemingway:-It's the usual thing. We've got our Conference under way - and without doubt you must have read about it in the Times and other papers. We've got enough moral support to make us feel like David with his sling-shot. And then there comes the question of money. Honestly, I wouldn't bother you if the matter of money weren't so damned important. read more...

DASHIELL HAMMETT 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. read more...

SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN) 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. read more...

IN 1957, THE "KING OF THE BEAT GENERATION", "RARING TO TYPE BUT NO TYPEWRITER", ASKS HIS GIRLFRIEND TO SEND HIM REVIEWS OF HIS JUST-RELEASED ON THE ROAD   JACK KEROUAC. Rare ALS: "Jack" in pencil on verso of 5½x3½ 2-cent postcard. [Orlando, Florida 1957 October 14]. To his girlfriend, writer Joyce Glassman (later, Johnson). In full: "Dear Jerce-sweetheart-did you go out with Henri & Bob to celebrate Bold Ruler's victory in the 7th at Belmont?-I've just used all my penny postcards answering ALL my fan letters-Please lend me Al Hendricks POST & Others that I forgot in packing, I'll send them back...my mother doesnt (sic) believe anything....send reviews with mail-I slept & slept & FEEL GREAT-raring to type but no typewriter...play in my mind burning....My mother & I decided to move back to L.I. before Spring so I'll see you all the time-WRITE!" Handwritten postscript at right margin: "P.S. Important-I found missing notebook in my things, tell Lou-" At left margin, Kerouac has written: "Tell Leo send rolls C.O.D. read more...

VOLTAIRE Signed autograph letter from Paris written just weeks before his death in 1778, fearing that hypocritical priests will deny him a church burial. The letter, written in fine French (fully translated here) in a beautiful hand to the Count of Rochefort, shows that the sage had lost none of his mental acuity Autograph 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. read more...

SAMUEL CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN) His dual signature as Clemens and Twain, on his original handwritten letter thanking poet Edward Lummis, who had written to praise Twain's books. Accompanied by a copy of Lummis' poem addressed to Twain, and by a Typed Letter Signed from Mark Twain scholar Robert Hirst, discussing both letters Autograph Letter Signed: "S.L. Clemens/Mark Twain", 1 page, 5½x8¾. Hartford, 1886 May 17. To Mr. Edward W. Lummis. In full: "If I too were a poet, I would acknowledge your pleasant compliments in verse; but I am not, & so am forced to say my thanks in the ruder form of prose -- which is like answering the gracious salutation of a bugle with a fog-horn." Creased, shaded, folds, lightly soiled. All touches writing and signature. Accompanied by Typed Letter Signed: "Robert H. Hirst" as General Editor, Mark Twain Project, 1p, 8½x11. University of California, Berkeley, 1983 September 28. In part: "Lummis had written to Mark Twain from Worcester College, Oxford University, England, on 6 May 1886. read more...

AS HER WRITING CAREER WINDS DOWN, THE FAMED AUTHOR SELLS THE INVENTORY OF SEVERAL OF HER PUBLISHED WORKS - BUT RETAINS CONTROL OVER HER LITERARY LEGACY   AYN RAND, ROBERT HESSEN and BEATRICE HESSEN. Scarce Typed DS: "Ayn Rand" on page 3, 3p, 8½x11, separate sheets. New York City, 1976 June 12 (dated by Rand). Letter of Agreement to Rand from Palo Alto Book Service. Begins: "Dear Ayn". In full: "This will serve as our Agreement for the Palo Alto Book Service for the purpose of promoting and selling the remaining inventory of The Ayn Rand Letter, The Objectivist, the bound copies of The Objectivist Newsletter, and the pamphlets published by The Objectivist Newsletter and The Objectivist. We will receive the physical inventory of the above as well as any remaining stock of your novels and non-fiction works, including Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, all of which are held by The Objectivist Book Service, Inc. The inventory will be shipped to us, insured, via book rate, or by truck, if that method should prove less expensive. We will share the cost of shipment with the Objectivist Book Service, Inc. read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL The year the film version of her Gone with the Wind premiered (1939), Mitchell signed this typed letter, forwarding with skeptical comments a letter she had received. Framed with 2 pictures of Mitchell to an overall size of 29½x18. Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 1 page, 5¾x9. Atlanta, Georgia, 1939 May 3. On personal letterhead to "Dear Franklin" [Garrett]. One strike-over and ink correction in her hand. Triple suede matted and framed with two portraits of Mitchell to an overall size of 29½x18. In full: "I am enclosing a letter I recently received [Item not included], for I thought some of the information in it might be of interest to you. Because of the manifold errors in the letter I have doubts as to the lady's statement that her father was the first white child born in Atlanta. You will notice that she says her grandfather had fifteen hundred slaves and the plantation covered the 'whole of Dahlonega County.' I believe at that time there were about five thousand people in the county of which Dahlonega is the seat. However, knowing your interest in such matters, I am passing the letter on to you. Please return it when you have finished reading it. read more...

J.D. SALINGER Exceedingly rare handwritten letter, instructions to his maid, signed by Salinger in 1989. Items autographed by the reclusive Salinger are very seldom offered for sale! This one offers unique insight into the author's frame of mind and personality. Exceedingly rare ALS: "J.D. Salinger", 1 page, 8½x11. No place but probably Cornish, New Hampshire, 1989 March 12. On his JSD monogrammed stationery to Mary. He tells her that before she leaves for her vacation she should do all her errands so that he would not have to be bothered with those activities, thanking her in advance. As many collectors are well aware, J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) was extremely guarded about his personal life, so much so that he sought injunctions against authors and autograph dealers attempting to publish his letters. J.D. Salinger's first novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1951) immediately became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and won huge international acclaim. It still sells about 250,000 copies annually. His novellas, Franny and Zooey, were published in "The New Yorker" in 1955 and 1957, respectively. read more...