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.…"

Cabinet card of the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the anti-slavery novel that contributed to the start of the Civil War Photograph signed "Harriet Beecher Stowe". B/w sepia tone, 3¾x5¼ cabinet card-style photograph mounted on 4¼x6½ card. Encouraged by her brother, temperance and anti-slavery Pastor Henry Ward Beecher, and her husband Calvin Elias Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly. She wrote a number of other novels during her career, but she's known primarily for this book, her first. Uncle Tom's Cabin was drawn from her personal experience. Kentucky, the state across the Ohio River from her home in Cincinnati, was a slave state, and her research included interviews with fugitive slaves and slave owners. First published as a serial in an anti-slavery newspaper, the "National Era", in 1851-1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin reached millions, first as a novel and then as a play. It was first performed on stage in Troy, New York on September 27, 1852, where it ran for 100 nights. Uncle Tom's Cabin angered Southerners and was important in solidifying sentiment in the North against slavery.

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.

A unique collection of letters by two legendary authors! This set includes a typed letter, signed by Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell in 1941, to the wife of a hospitalized friend. In it, she relates how reading Dracula helped her husband John Marsh recover from an illness: "Evidently the shock was beneficial, fro he began to get well the next day." Accompanied by a 1903 handwritten letter by Stoker. Comprises: (1) MARGARET MITCHELL. Typed Letter Signed:  "Margaret", 2p, 6½ x 9½. Atlanta, Georgia, 1941 February 13. To Mabel Granberry. In full: "I cannot tell you how joyful and relieved we were to have your letter of February 11th written from the hospital. I read your letter at least six times to make sure I wasn't being guilty of wishful thinking. How good it is to know that Edwin is 'likely to have good vision in both eyes.' What you and Edwin, Senior and Edwin, Junior must have suffered recently is something I do not like to contemplate. It seems to me that I have spent years in hospital rooms and draughty hospital corridors with seriously ill friends and relatives, so I can understand a little what you have undergone.…"

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.

SIR WALTER SCOTT 1823 promissory note signed by Sir Walter Scott highlights relationship with publisher James Ballantyne. Promissory Note signed: "Walter Scott", 8x3¼. Edinburgh, 1823 May 3. The great Scottish poet and novelist agrees to repay his publisher in twelve months. In full: "Twelve months after date, pay to our order, at our Printing Office here, eight hundred and seventy five pounds sterling, for value received. James Ballantyne & Co." Sir WALTER SCOTT (1771-1832), considered to be the father of the historical novel, had first met JAMES BALLANTYNE (1772-1833) in 1783 while attending Kelso Grammar School. In 1799, Ballantyne privately printed the two pamphlets with which Scott began his writing career, An Apology for Tales of Terror and The Eve of St. John, a ballad, beginning a literary and business partnership that would last throughout Scott's lifetime. The greatest success of James Ballantyne and Co. came in 1808, when Scott's second narrative poem, Marmion, was printed by Ballantyne for publisher Archibald Constable (Scott's first narrative poem, The Lay of the Last Minstral, had been published by Constable in 1805). Scott's romantic work, Rob Roy (1818) was also published by James Ballantyne and Co.

Autograph Quotation signed by Herman Melville, one of the rarest of all signatures, framed with a picture of Melville and an explanatory metal plaque. AQS: "Hours bright./Herman Melville/March 8, 1882.", 7¾x4¾. Herman Melville (1819-1891) 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. He wrote this quotation at a period during which he withdrew from the literary world and took work as a customs inspector on the docks of New York. Melville returned to writing and published a collection of poetry, John Marr, and Other Sailors, as well as With Some Sea-Pieces (1888) and wrote a new novel, Billy Budd, unpublished until 1924.

Recently arrived in London, he signs a handwritten 1937 letter apologizing for his late reply. He's been too sick to "do anything except moon & moan about." ALS: "Dylan Thomas.", 1 page, 4½x7. 68, Parliament Hill, Hampstead, N.W. 3., 1937 December 9. On imprinted letterhead to Mr. Byron. In full: "I want to apologise for not having written to you before, explaining why I didn't come up to town the week I intended. I've only just arrived here, after nearly a month of poverty and bad health in the country, a time when I really couldn't write any letters at all or do anything except moon & moan about. Could we meet this week, or early next week? I shall be in London, I hope, until just before Christmas. Now I am here I do hope I'll be able to get some work, and that, in spite of my rudeness in not writing to you or getting in touch with you in any way, you'll be able to help me. I [word crossed out] rang you up the day of of my arrival, but could get no answer. Apologies again." Although Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) had received immediate critical acclaim when his first book of poetry, Eighteen Poems, was published in 1934, and he followed it with a 1936 work, 25 Poems, he was living in poverty in England and Wales in 1937.

This extremely rare piece is a 1924 yearbook from John Wayne's 1924 Glendale Union High School in Glendale, California. It shows the future Oscar winning actor as junior class vice-president and in football gear in the football section and is signed with his birth name Marion Morrison! Items signed with Wayne's birth name are both extremely rare and highly desirable! Book signed "Marion/Morrison" on page 121, with other signatures in unknown hands. B/w, 228 pages, bound in brown paper covers. Titled: "Stylus/1924". This book is a copy of the 1924 Stylus yearbook from Glendale Union High School in Glendale, California. It's autographed by junior class vice-president John Wayne with his birth name, Marion Morrison, on the junior class introduction page on page 121. It also has an unsigned photo of him in football gear in football team section on page 159. Wayne (1907-1979, born Marion Michael Morrison in Winterset, Iowa) appeared in more films (over 250) than any other star. Best known for his roles in Westerns and war movies, he was the embodiment of the American hero in over 200 films, fighting (on screen) for his country in many of them.

. ALS: "Yours Truly/J.M. Barrie", 2p, 5x6. Leinster Corner, Lancaster Gate, W., 1906 February 3. To Miss Bowman. In full: "This is the present London company that is going on tour with Peter Pan, so there is no vacancy, but suppose you come here and have a talk with me. Say, on Tuesday at 5:30. This is the first house past Lancaster Gate in the Baywood Rd." Scottish novelist and playwright James Barrie is most recognized today for Peter Pan, a character based on the children in Barrie's life and on Barrie himself. The story of Peter Pan began with a book called The Little White Bird, published in 1902. The character, Peter, was introduced as a baby, and he was later developed into the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. The play premiered in 1904, and productions and adaptations are still common, including Steven Spielberg's movie, Hook (1991). Barrie also wrote What Every Woman Knows in 1908 and Mary Rose in 1920. Sir James Barrie's work is still popular today because of the many rich elements he took from his own life and the lives of people around him. He believed in the power of emotion, but he also was possessed of an irrepressible humor.

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.

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. The physical inventory shall, at all times, remain your property. We agree to insure the inventory for its replacement value, and shall share equally with you the cost of insurance. We shall be charged with the responsibility of maintaining the inventory in sound condition.…"