WILLIAM ROSE BENET - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/26/1940 - HFSID 297350

WILLIAM ROSE BENET
The Pulitzer Prize winner writes a letter to fellow American author Percy MacKaye.
Typed Letter signed: "William Rose Benet", 1 page, 7¼x10½. New York, New York, 1940 January 26. Addressed to Percy MacKaye, Esquire in Dornach, Switzerland. In full: "My dear MacKaye, I have been in the hospital for several months, and my correspondence has gotten very much delayed. I was very shocked and grieved to hear of the depth of your wife, and thank you very much for sending me the beautiful memorials which you wrote to her. Please accept my most profound sympathy. I am sure that I must have written in a receipt of the books you sent, as I am extremely interested in your work with Albert Steffen. I am quite all right now and up and about. I hope that the new year may bring you every-thing good in this war-torn world. Very sincerely yours," Accompanied by the transmittal envelope, addressed to Percy MacKaye, Esquire, Dornach, Switzerland and postmarked New York, New York, January 26, 1940. William Rose Benet (1886-1950), the brother of poet Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943) and husband of poet and novelist Elinor Wylie (1885-1928), founded the "Saturday Review of Literature" (1924), editing it until his death. He was also an accomplished poet, winning the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry (1942) for "The Dust Which is God." The work, an autobiographical novel in verse, is full of allusions to the literary and social history of early 20th century America. PERCY MacKAYE (1875-1956) was an American dramatist and poet. Normal mailing folds. Pencil note (unknown hand) at top left corner. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.