The June 2-5, 2002, Pre-Long Beach Sale, Sale 14
Lot 1452
Dreiser, Theodore
(1871-1945). American journalist and author, Dreiser's writings are notable
for their stark realism. Sister Carrie (1900), the tale of a "fallen
woman's" rise, has been called the first 20th century novel in its rejection of
Victorian morality.
Signed Photograph ("T.D."). Black and white,
7 x 9¼", "Hollywood -- / January -- / 1942". Inscribed in black
ink: "To lovely Helen with love and admiration from T.D." The print has
faded somewhat at the bottom edges, but the writing remains strong; scattered
minor, incidental creasing. Fine condition.
A smiling Dreiser three
years before his death and two years before his marriage to Helen Richardson,
his love of over 25 years. Through Dreiser's marriage to another woman, stormy
arguments, various separations and assorted romantic entanglements, the two
remained together. Dreiser's relationship with Richardson brings up an
intriguing question for us -- was this photo, inscribed: "To lovely
Helen", destined for Helen Richardson? .
Estimated Value $125-200.
Lot 1453
Ferber, Edna
(1885-1968). A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Ferber was a prolific
writer who began her career in journalism at 17. Ferber's works were the
inspiration for Broadway plays and Hollywood productions, including
Showboat, Cimmaron and Giant.
Signed Photograph
("Edna Ferber"). Black and white, 3½ x 4½", n.p., n.d. In
blue pen. Typed ID verso, else fine. Ferber went over her signature once after
signing, probably because of the nature of photograph's high gloss
surface.
A lovely portrait of the author.
Estimated Value $75-150.
Lot 1454
Maugham, W. Somerset
(1874-1965). British novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, Maugham
was the world's highest paid author during the 1930s.
Signed Photograph
("W. Somerset Maugham"). Black and white, 4¾ x 6½, n.p.,
n.d. Photograph by Ken Ross-MacKenzie, London; back stamp and typed ID. Signed
and inscribed: "To Ken Browne" in blue ink in the bottom margin of the
photograph. Minor creasing at bottom right and top left corners, else very good
condition.
Estimated Value $150-200.
Lot 1455
Tolstoy, Leo
(1828-1910). Russian author, his War and Peace is an epic tale,
considered by many to be the greatest novel ever written.
Signed
Photographic Postcard ("Leo Tolstoy"). Black and white, 3¼ X
5½", n.p., "18 Avr. 1907". Verso addressed to Monsieur
Friedenstein of Vienna, incomplete Russian postmark. The top right corner shows
an odd defect on the light field -- the surface is uneven with a small amount
of off-color tone, but it does not appear that the piece has been altered or
restored. Possibly the flaw is a result of faulty paper during production. The
overall appearance of the piece is very good.
An 1896 image of Tolstoy,
signed just three years before his death. By this point in his life, Tolstoy
was trying to live as the peasant he is pictured as here -- the spiritual and
moral crisis he faced in the 1870s culminated in a series of religious and
philosophical writings and his decision to divest himself of possessions and
earthly pleasures. Tolstoy was eventually excommunicated by the Russian
Orthodox Church (1901), but was visited by pilgrims from all over the world who
were inspired by his new asceticism.
Estimated Value $1,000-1,500.
Lot 1456
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler
(1850-1919). Poet, journalist and free thinker. Deeply optimistic, Wilcox
infused her simple, heartfelt verse with her convictions about the goodness of
man. A prolific writer, Wilcox did not garner much critical acclaim -- the
"serious" critics looked down on her somewhat simplistic view of life -- but
she had a devoted following and remained the most popular female poet in
America for many years.
Signed Photograph with Autograph Quotation
("Ella Wheeler Wilcox"). Sepia toned, cabinet card, n.p., "October
1897". Photograph by Rockwood of New York, one of the "Our Contemporaries"
series. Minor toning verso, scattered, tiny chips to margins, a few scattered
small spots near top of card. Overall, very good to fine.
Inscription
on verso is from one of her most famous works The World's Need: "So
many gods, so many creeds, / So many paths that wind and wind, / While just the
art of being kind / Is all the sad world needs. / Ella Wheeler
Wilcox".
Estimated Value $75-150.
Lot 1457
Wilde, Oscar
(1845-1900). Irish-born poet, playwright and celebrity. Wilde's witty
social dramas, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being
Earnest remain his best-known works, although the piercing Picture of
Dorian Gray and Ballad of Reading Gaol deserve equal attention.
Wilde's flamboyant personality and then-illegal sexual identity clashed with
Victorian ideas of morality -- ideas he skewered so accurately in
Earnest and Ideal Husband-- and he found himself imprisoned for
two years, after which he moved to France and died at age 46.
Signed
Photograph ("Oscar Wilde"). Sepia toned cabinet card, n.p, "May
(?) '82". Photograph by Sarony of New York, image marked with
a small "19" in plate. One 5½" diagonal crease runs from the top edge of
the card through Wilde's portrait down to the middle right edge; very minor
foxing; dampstaining at bottom edge of card is faintly visible recto, mostly
noticeable verso; lightly penciled ID verso. The crease has not affected the
overall appearance of the photo -- there is no surface loss or cracking. Very
good condition.
Taken during Wilde's highly successful 1882 American
tour, his soulful gaze is captured in this highly desirable Sarony portrait. It
was during the 1882 tour that Wilde met Walt Whitman, spending the afternoon
with the great American poet, drinking wine and, presumably, discussing their
shared craft.
Estimated Value $1,200-1,500.
Lot 1458
20th Century Best-Sellers.
Lot of five black and white signed portraits of best-selling authors:
Budd Schulberg (inscribed: "For Mr. & Mrs. Ken Browne, My Best
Wishes"), Leon Uris (with "Shalom"), Studs Terkel
("Peace"), George Higgins ("With Best Wishes") and
Joseph Wambaugh ("All best wishes"). With the exception of the
Schulberg photo, which shows scattered creasing throughout (including on the
image) and toning in the margins, these items are in very good to fine
condition.
A wonderful group of authors who produced some of the
most-read literature of the late 20th century.
Estimated Value $75-100.
Lot 1459
American Academy of Arts
and Letters. Lot of four signed photographs of members from that most
prestigious and learned institution, The American Academy of Arts and Letters:
Erskine Caldwell, Norman Mailer, John Hersey and
Bernard Malamud. These men, whose works are part of the American canon,
appear variously in a color magazine photograph (Mailer), 8 x 10" black and
white portraits (Hersey and Caldwell) and in a 5 x 8" publicity photograph with
typed caption (Malamud). Caldwell and Mailer offer their signatures, while
Hersey and Malamud offer brief inscriptions: "For Lee Karon -- wishing you
much joy from books." (Hersey) and: "Good wishes to W.W. Seward,
Jr." (Malamud); Malamud has also hand corrected the printed caption on his
photograph with a publishing date. The Malamud photograph has scattered, minor
discolorations in the margins and minor adhesive residue verso; Mailer's page
has very minor crinkling at the bottom right corner edge (to be expected with a
magazine page); otherwise, the photos are in very good to fine condition.
Founded in 1904 (its parent organization, the National Institute of
Arts and Letters was formed in 1898, the two merged in 1976), The American
Academy of Arts and Letters limits its membership to 250 U.S. or naturalized
citizens who are elected to the body because of their achievements in art,
architecture, literature or music. With membership counted among the highest
honors an American in the above fields can achieve, past members of the Academy
include Duke Ellington, Julia Ward Howe (the first woman member), William
Faulkner, Dizzy Gillespie, Mark Twain and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Estimated
Value $150-200.
Lot 1460
American Poets. Lot of
three photographs, featuring great American poets of different generations:
Thomas Dunn English, Edwin Markham and Archibald MacLeish.
English appears on a cabinet card by Gutekunst of Philadelphia, signed recto
and verso, "Dec 23, 1897" also recto; the recto signature and
inscription are somewhat shaky, given the nature of the surface. The Markham
photograph, a 7 x 9" black and white portrait of the poet with pen in hand,
bears the inscription: "To the comparable Henry Woodhouse: there is only one
of him. At his name all our hats go up into air! E.H." The MacLeish photo
is signed in the bottom margin ("Archibald MacLeish"). With the
exception of some toning and aging to the Markham photograph, they are in very
good to fine condition.
Although of different eras, these great men
wrote about the American experience with sympathy towards the everyday trials
of the working class, linking art and society's ills. Modern poetry bears the
imprint of all three men.
Estimated Value $150-200.
Lot 1461
Inspirational Authors.
Lot of two signed images. Elbert Hubbard appears in a sepia toned 5
x 8" chest portrait, inscribed in the 2" margin: "To Isabell M. Coleman,
with all kind wishes from her friend Elbert Hubbard" and Harold Bell
Wright has signed the margin of 5 x 8" reproduction of F. Graham Cootes'
portrait of the author: "Sincerely yours Harold Bell Wright". There is
incidental creasing and minor toning to the Hubbard piece (a printed
reproduction of H. Scherve's 1900 image) and a penciled ID on the verso. The
Wright piece shows minor chipping and wear to the edges. Overall, the pieces
are in very good condition.
Of different eras and temperaments, both
men found solace and inspiration in the natural world, rugged individualism and
man's own abilities. Hubbard's embrace of William Morris' ideals of fine
craftsmanship and communal work found its manifestation in his Roycroft Press
and his importance to the Arts and Crafts movement in America. Harold Bell
Wright took his faith and the lessons he learned from nature and turned them
into books, plays and screenplays that made him the most popular American
author of the early 20th century. This is an interesting lot featuring two men
who have largely faded from American popular view but whose legacy remains
important.
Estimated Value $150-250.
Lot 1462
Pulitizer-Prize Winning
Playwrights. Lot of two, 8 x 10", black and white portraits of great
American playwrights, both Pulitzer Prize winners: Elmer Rice and
Edward Albee. Rice has inscribed his photograph to: "The Ken Brownes
with all good wishes Elmer Rice New York, Feb. 1956"; Albee's is
inscribed: "For Murray Kilow (?) 1988". Both pictures have Ids
verso and very minor creases at various corners. Overall, fine
condition.
Albee, who has won the Pulitzer four times, is arguably one
of the most influential playwrights of modern times. While Albee's work is
better known today, Rice was an important force in American theater from the
1920s through the 1950s. Street Scenes, the play for which he won the
1929 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, was ground breaking in its authenticity as it
portrayed life in a New York tenement one hot summer day. Based around a crime
of passion, the play was notable for its realism; one reviewer wrote: "You can
almost feel that mysterious grit that sifts all over Manhattan, sifting into
the theater, and hear its crunch as it eddies into the tattle and fuss of these
people. It is like spying upon the neighbors with earphones and binoculars, and
out of all the casual talk and incident Mr. Rice snatches with gusto and
compassion the tawdry little items which stack up into an unusual and memorable
evening."
Estimated Value $200-300.