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.

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 inspector on

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.

MARGARET MITCHELL Typed 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 the up roar of a Dutch publisher bringing Gone With the Wind out in Holland without her consent Typed Letter Signed: "Margaret", 1p, 7x11. Atlanta, Georgia, 1937 December 15. On personal letterhead to Edwin and Mabel. In part: "By all means keep 'Co. "Aytch"' as long as you like. Our plans, as usual, are in a snarl. Perhaps you've seen items in the paper about a Dutch publisher bringing out 'Gone With the Wind' in Holland without my consent. I have lost my case in the lower Dutch courts and have appealed. I took the matter to the Department of State in Washington and they are working on it now. That may mean we will have to remain in Atlanta in case we are needed...." "CO. AYTCH", MAURY GRAYS, FIRST TENNESSEE REGIMENT; OR, A SIDE SHOW OF THE BIG SHOW ,published in 1882, was written by Samuel R. Watkins. Watkins, a Confederate private with Co. H, 1st Tennessee Infantry, fought in the western theatre of the war and saw action in most of the major battles in the west.

JOHN STEINBECKThis contract signed by the American author authorized a German production of Of Mice and Men Typewritten contract signed: "John Steinbeck", 2p, 7½x12½ New York, New York, 1946 June 3.John Steinbeck signed this contract, dated June 3, 1946, allowing German-speaking actors to perform Of Mice and Men, his 1937 novelette featuring the tragic characters of Lennie and George, two migrant laborers. The work had been chosen by the Book-of-the-Month Club and quickly became a best seller, sparking both Broadway's and Hollywood's interest in adapting it into a play. While writing Of Mice and Men in 1936, Steinbeck was growing increasingly interested in the theater, believing it to be the best medium to reach the common working man. In fact, Steinbeck actually wrote the book with the intention of making it a novel/play - a novel which could be performed as it was without needing to be revised for the stage. However,this experiment failed, and Steinbeck was forced to adapt it - his first attempt at writing a screen play. He was advised and encouraged by dramatist George S.

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

MARGARET MITCHELL Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind, sends a letter to Edwin Granberry, who wrote one of the first good reviews of her book. In it, she discusses life as a celebrated author "has been such a hell". Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 1p, 7¼x10¾. Atlanta, Georgia, 1936 October 29. On personal letterhead to Edwin (Granberry). In full: "I forgot to say in my last letter that I admired very much your tricky side stepping in that article you wrote. How neatly you evaded the fact that you not only stood in the station of a North Carolina hamlet and waited for me but you stood and stood and waited and waited. Dearie, till I die I'll get a laugh at the memory of that day with me getting madder and madder as I waited and you three loafing with your backs against the station while I charged in and out, addressing strangers, asking questions, bargaining with taxi drivers for the trip. Edwin, all the while I was up there with you all, I let you talk about my work. Make up your mind that when next I see you, it will be your work that will be talked about.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY and PAULINE HEMINGWAY The author and his second wife sign a 1930 Trust Agreement, consigning bonds and preferred stocks to the trust. Typed Document signed: "Ernest Hemingway" and "Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway" on page 7, 10 pages, 8¾x11¼. New York, 1930 February 18.Trust Agreement with City Bank Farmers Trust Company. The Hemingways, who were living in Paris, France at this time, donate property described on Schedule A for "Trust Estate": "$10,000 Kingdom of Belgium External Sinking Fund 6% bonds due January 1, 1955; 100 Shares Electric Bond and Share Company 6.00 Cumulative Preferred Stock; 300 Shares William H. Warner & Co. Inc. Preferred Stock Par Value $100".Also signed by a Trust Officer. Struggling writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) met Pauline Pfeiffer, an editor with the Paris edition of "Vogue" at a party in Paris in 1925. Hemingway, who was married to his first wife, Hadley Richardson, at the time, divorced Hadley, the mother of his first son, and married Pauline on May 10, 1927, the year after his novel, The Sun Also Rises, had been published. The Hemingways, who had two sons, Patrick and Gregory, traveled extensively.

STEPHEN CRANEThe author of The Red Badge of Courage writes from England, where he had settled two years earlier. Calling Card Signed: "Yours faithfully/ Stephen Crane/ March 16, 1899", on verso of his personal 3x1½ card, printed: "Stephen Crane./ Brede Place./ Sussex” (not visible in frame). Also includes a black and white 3x4½ photograph of the author, 2x3½ visible. America's foremost "naturalistic" author Stephen Crane (1871-1900) moved to England in 1897. Although Crane never served in the military, he won international acclaim with The Red Badge of Courage, his 1895 book that 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 Spanish-American War (1898) for foreign newspapers. Crane's signature is virtually unobtainable in any form. The one offered here is especially desirable as it was penned by him on his calling card. Crane suffered from tuberculosis and died in a German sanitarium the year he signed this card. He was 28. Card lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 20½x11.