JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS. Scarce Cabinet Card Photograph signed: "Faithfully yours:/Joel Chandler Harris". Sepia, 4¼x6½ overall, image 4x5¾ (two surfaces). Photographer's imprint beneath image and on verso: "C.W. Motes/Photographer,/No. 34 Whitehall St./Atlanta/GA." In the 1880s, Harris, a former journalist for Georgia newspapers, became one of the first American writers to use original dialects in his stories rooted in Black folklore. His lead character was Uncle Remus, a servant who entertains the young son of his master with tales of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear, animals with distinctly human qualities. His books, which are credited with preserving the African-American heritage of the old South, include Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings (1880), Nights with Uncle Remus (1883) and Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit (1906). Fragile condition. The photo had split, touching the "d" in Chandler. It is repaired by conservator's tape on verso and by encapsulation. Stained on verso. Upper corners chipped, edges worn. Pencil notes on verso (unknown hand). 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...

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...

SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN) The American author famous for his characters Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer signed and wrote this framed letter in 1895! Autograph Letter Signed: "S L Clemens", 2p, 3¾x6, conjoined leaves. On letterhead of Villa Viviana Settigano, (Florence, Italy). Written from Hartford, Connecticut, 1895 February 20. To "My Dear Mrs. Bronson". In full: "Mrs. Clemens sends her best bow & thanks with mine for your steadfast kindness in regard to the glass. I shall drop Moses of the Tower a line & propose as you suggest. I shall drop Mr. Forbes a line, too, & ask him to waive rank & call on me, & as soon as I get a chance I will pay back in kind. Florence is 4,000 miles from here & I hardly ever attempt the achievement of going there. This further off than any place that I've got friends in except heaven Hell, & sometimes even that resort doesn't seem so far. (But I didn't need to make that correction - it doesn't seem to disexaggerate  (sic) the distance as much as I thought it would.) Mrs. Clemens' health is not improving, I am sorry to say, but the rest of us are without ailments. read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL The year she received the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind, she writes of fending off law suits, including a plagiarism suit, and desires to visit friends in Florida only if her visit can be kept secret from reporters and autograph seekers. Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 2 pages(front and verso), 7¼x11. Atlanta, Georgia, 1937 July 27. On personal letterhead to ""Dear Mabel and Edwin", [Granberry], in full: "If your offer of hospitality still holds good I would like to come to visit you two for three days, preferably around the end of this week (arriving Saturday the 31st or Sunday the 1st). However, if this date is not convenient to you for any reason, please do not hesitate to tell me so and to fix your own dates. John will not be able to come with me. His own work at his office is very heavy at present and my business affairs which he is handling at night show no signs of slacking. We have two new lawsuits in addition to the plagiarism suit! I'll tell you about them when I see you. I think I know you two well enough to ask for frankness. Please tell me (1) just when it will be read more...

TWO RARE ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT PAGES FROM THE GILDED AGE, ONE IN THE HAND OF MARK TWAIN, THE OTHER IN THE HAND OF HIS COLLABORATOR, CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER (WITH A SUGGESTION BY MARK TWAIN) THE GILDED AGE: SAMUEL L. CLEMENS and CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. Comprises: (1) SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN). Autograph Manuscript, unsigned, 1p, 5x8. From Part 2, Chapter XI of The Gilded Age. Clemens has penned: "396" at upper margin (it has been crossed out and renumbered "307" by Warner). Clemens writes, in full: "he saw the pathetic sorrow in their faces when they asked for more & there was no more to give them, he hated himself for his stupidity and pitied the hunger famishing young things with all his heart. The other matter that disturbed him was the dire inflation that had begun in his stomach. It grew & grew, it became more & more supportable. Evidently the apples turnips were swelling fermenting. He forced himself to sit still as long as he could, but the distress steadily augmented till his anguish conquered him at last. read more...

MARK TWAIN AND "INSIDER TRADING" IN 1876: A MILLIONAIRE MINE-OWNER ADVISES HIM ON MINING STOCKS!   SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN). Autograph Letter Signed: "Mark", 4p, 5x8, conjoining leaves. No place, [1876] March 7. To Nevada journalist Dan DeQuille, pen name of William Wright. In full: "O, you good old slow-coach! D[ea]r Dan: I supposed that Mackey would be nearly all the time in San Francisco but thought you would consult him by telegraph or letter. I didn't suppose you would see the stock droop to 81 & then rise figure by figure, day after day & then write me at last that you were still waiting for that man to come, & the stock already crept up to 92! Why didn't you telegraph me? I hope you will telegraph me next time, if it costs me $50. Did telegraphing me or Mackey never once occur to you? When I saw California go away down into the 80's, 3 weeks ago, I came near telegraphing you to put in $1500 more for me. Well-never mind-it isn't any matter to bother over a thing that has already gone by. I hope you have bought by this time, on your own judgment, even if you have had to pay 125. read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL Writing to friend and literary ally Edwin Granberry the year she won the Pulitzer Prize, she declares herself "yearning for battle" against "lawsuits, racketeers and chiselers". The author of Gone With the Wind laments that "there are so few novels about happy married life." Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 2 pages (front and verso), 7¼x11. Atlanta, Georgia, 1937 August 8. On personal letterhead to ""Dear Mabel and Edwin", [Granberry], in full: "Yesterday I sent Edwin, Jr. 'Microbe Hunters' and "two Little Confederates' and if they do not arrive shortly, please let me know and I will get behind the book store. I hope he likes them both. I found that John, during my absence, had not been devoting his time to riotous living and making the most of his opportunities. He and my brother had worked every night - and all night - on this and that and both looked tired and frayed. The suit against Billy Rose isn't to open tomorrow due to a delay in drawing up the papers and the suit against the Dutch pirate is also held up due to some complication or other but the opening guns of both should begin in a week or so. read more...

MARGARET MITCHELL Pleased that friend and fellow author Edwin Granberry is writing again, she shares with him her relief that the frenzy over the movie version of her book has abated with the outbreak of war: "The world has far more important things to think about these days than me." Several other literary notables are mentioned in this letter. Typed Letter signed: "Margaret", 3 pages, 7¼x10½. Atlanta, Georgia, 1940 September 23. To "My dear Mabel and Edwin [Granberry], you varmint". In part: "Here I've gone around feeling blue ever since I had the last news of you (Edwin) that you had given up any notion of writing any more. I had thought about what a waste of talent it was and had heroically restrined myself from writing and telling you so. Then, a month ago, vague rumors began trickling into my ears at parties that you were writing again. Don't ask me who told me because I don't know. I go places and meet two hundred strangers in thirteen and a half minutes, and some of them say, 'Oh, do you know Edwin Granberry who is doing some writing?' and before I could catch them they would disappear and twelve more strange faces would stand before me. read more...