Sell or Auction Your Wilkie Collins Autograph Letter Signed for up to About $1,500 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
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Below is a recent realized price for a Wilkie Collins autograph letter signed. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions can obtain up to this amount or more for you:
Wilkie Collins Autograph Letter Signed. Sold for About $1,500.
The following are some related items we have sold:
F. Scott Fitzgerald Lot of Two Extraordinary, Unpublished & Handwritten Poems: “…Tenderest evidence, thumb-print of lust…”
Incredible grouping of F. Scott Fitzgerald original prose, written for Helen Hayes’ daughter Mary MacArthur, who died of polio at the young age of 19. Here, the already famous author pens two lyrical poems, dated 1931 and 1937. At the time he writes the first poem, Fitzgerald was completing “Tender is the Night” while caring for his ailing wife, Zelda, whose mental illness had left her hospitalized in 1930. Fitzgerald handwrites the first, shorter poem in green ink. Inscribed “For Mary MacArthur”, it reads in full: “‘Oh Papa — / My Papa — / Say Papa’ / So! / ‘Is Papa / Your Papa / My Papa?’ / No! / So Spoke You / Why Joke You? Just For To-day / Our Word Is / (Like Birdie’s) / Plenty To Say”. Signed, “F. Scott Fitzgerald / Feb. 13th 1931”. The second, lengthier poem appears on the verso of the same sheet, titled, “Addenda (seven years later)”. Reads in full, “What shall I do with this bundle of stuff / Mass of ingredients, handful of grist / Tenderest evidence, thumb-print of lust / Kindly advise me, O psychologist / She shall have music — we pray for the kiss / of the god’s on her forehead, the necking of fate / How in the hell shall we guide her to this / ‘- Just name her Mary and age her till eight.’ / What of the books? Do we feed her our bread / of the dead, that was left in their tombs long ago / Or should all the fervor and freshness be wed / To next year’s inventions? Can anyone know? / How shall we give her that je ne sais quoi – / Portions of mama that seem to be right / Salted with dashes of questionable pa? / ‘- Age her till eight and then save me a bite.’ / Solve me this dither, O wisest of lamas, / Pediatrician – beneficent buddy / Tell me the name of a madhouse for mammas / Or give me the nursery – let her have the study / How can I pay back this heavenly loan / Answer my question and name your own fee / Plan me a mixture of Eve and St. Joan / ‘- Put her in pigtails and give her to me.'” Signed, “F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nyack 1937”. Sheet measures 7″ x 8″ with poem to front and longer prose poem to verso. From the estate of Helen Hayes. An extraordinary collection, adding to the catalogue raisonne of Fitzgerald’s known works. Sold for $30,875.
Exceptional Ernest Hemingway autograph letter and signed envelope, one day after catching the 500 lb. marlin in Bimini that inspired ”The Old Man and the Sea”, apocryphal until this letter which documents for the first time in Hemingway’s own words not only the size of the marlin, but also its attack by sharks, similar to the plot of Hemingway’s novel. Letter is accompanied by a photo of Hemingway and his friend, Henry Strater, with the half-eaten marlin. Dated 8 May (identified as 1935 by the “Hemingway Letters Project”), Hemingway writes to Erl Roman, the fishing editor of the ”Miami Herald”, describing the catch in detail, the attack by the sharks, and also mentioning that he is sending some photos to Roman. Letter in pencil reads in part,
”Will make this very short on acct. Bill Fagen leaving May 8 / Dear Erl: Yesterday May 7 Henry H. STRATER, widely known painter of OGUNQUIT Maine, Pres. Maine Tuna Club, fishing with me on Pilar landed Blue Marlin which weighed 500 lbs on tested scales after all of meat below anal fin had been torn away by sharks when fish was brought to gaff– Had him ready to take in when sharks hit him– Fish 12 feet 8 1/2 inches– Tail 48 inch spread–girth 62 in. (will send all other exact measurements when have chance to use Steel tape on him). Fish hooked off Bimini, hooked in corner of mouth, never layted, jumped 18 times clear, brought to boat in an hour such a heavy fish jumped hell out of himself. We worked him fast our system. Had him at boat when shark hit him. Strater has football knee, went out of joint, had hell with it, we wouldnt handline fish, he got him up himself, in one hour 40 minutes, we got him over the roller after Some lifting boy, all blood drained, meat gone below anal fin to tail, but fish completely intact, Fred Parke is mounting it–“
Two page autograph letter is accompanied by an envelope signed in pencil, addressed in Hemingway’s hand to ”Erl Roman Esq. / Miami Herald / Miami / Fla.” and signed by Hemingway on the verso, ”E. Hemingway / Yacht Pilar / Bimini / B.W.I.”
Importantly, Hemingway’s account of the marlin catch differs from other anecdotal stories of it, one of which describes Hemingway using a ”machine gun” on the shark, which purportedly attracted more sharks to the feeding frenzy. It’s likely Hemingway left out this detail, as Strater would blame its use on attracting more sharks to the marlin, depriving Strater of a world record marlin catch. “Old Man and the Sea” has been noted by Hemingway scholars as most likely inspired by this particular 7 May 1935 trip, including Michael Culver in his biography “Sparring in the Dark: Hemingway, Strater and The Old Man and the Sea”.
Letter measures 8.5” x 11”, envelope measures approximately 6.25” x 3.625” and photo, which is a modern reproduction, measures 7.75” x 9.75”. Letter is uniformly toned with some chipping along edges, and small piece of tape at very top. Envelope has some foxing and torn edge from opening. Both items are in very good condition. A remarkable letter in Hemingway’s own words of a legendary fishing adventure that inspired one of his most popular, Pulitzer-Prize winning novels. Sold for $28,000.
Lewis Carroll Autograph Poem Signed in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” — Carroll Cleverly Composes an Acrostic Poem Where the First Letter of Each Line Reveals a Message
Original autograph poem signed by Lewis Carroll, dedicated to the sister of an “Alice” who died in infancy. Carroll composes the tender poem inside a presentation copy of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (London: MacMillan and Co., 1874), inscribed on the half-title page in Carroll’s signature purple ink, “Presented to Jessie Howard Clark, in remembrance of her sister Alice, by the Author / July 15, 1875”. Young Jessie lived in Australia which served as the basis for the poem, alongside the themes of death and the connected experience of childhood across the world. The poem is additionally constructed so that the letters of the first words of each line form the recipient’s name, “Jessie Howard Clark”. Written on the page opposite the table of contents, poem reads in full, “Just half a world to travel o’er, E’re this may reach its Southern home: Such waters wide between us roare So many a league of barren foam. In vain the trackless interspace – England’s white ships can cleave the flood, Hailing as brethren every race Of English speech & English blood. Wherever English childhood dwells ‘Alice’ may hope to find a band Ready to listen while she tells Dreams of the shadowy ‘Wonderland.’ Child-friend, whom I shall never see! Let me in fancy feel thee nigh, And trust in other lands to be Remembered as the years go by – Kind thoughts will live, though we may die. Lewis Carroll. July 15, 1875.” Jessie’s father was author John Howard Clark, who originally wrote Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, regarding his own book “Bertie and the Bullfrogs”, inspired by “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. Upon learning that Clark had a daughter Alice who died in infancy, Carroll kindly composed this poem and gifted it to Clark’s other daughter Jessie. Book measures 5″ x 7.25″, bound in publisher’s red boards with gilt titling. With original black endpapers and all edges gilt. Separation starting to front and rear joints, and scuffing to boards. Interior is clean, including manuscript pages. Overall in very good condition, with a dramatic presentation. Sold for $16,800.
James Joyce Autograph and an Henri Matisse Autograph in a Scarce Limited Edition of “Ulysses”
Scarce copy of “Ulysses” rare book by James Joyce, illustrated by Henri Matisse. New York: The Limited Editions Club: 1935. Number 297 of a limited edition run of 1500 copies. One of only 250 such copies signed by both Joyce and Matisse. Boldly signed by the author and illustrator on limitation page. Full brown buckram boards with gilt embossing to front cover and backstrip. Large octavo measures 9″ x 11.5″. Volume runs 420pp. with an introduction by Stuart Gilbert and illustrations by Henri Matisse including 20 reproductions of preliminary drawings and six original soft-ground etchings. In 1935 George Macy, founder of the fledgling Limited Editions Club, made the bold decision to commission Matisse to illustrate Joyce’s controversial and previously banned masterpiece, “Ulysses.” Matisse, understanding that Joyce’s work parodied the original eighteen episodes of the “Odyssey,” chose to create his 26 full-page illustrations as actual illustrations of Homer’s original work. Matisse later signed all 1500 of Macy’s limited edition, however, as legend has it, when Joyce realized that Matisse had been working from Homer’s “Odyssey” rather than his novel, he refused to sign any more than the 250 copies he had already signed making this double-signed edition exceedingly rare. Rare book without original slipcase, else fine condition. Sold for $14,460.
Incredible F. Scott Fitzgerald Typed Letter Signed on His Top 3 Influences as a Writer
Rare F. Scott Fitzgerald typed letter signed, devoted entirely to Fitzgerald’s revealing the people who impacted his writing. Dated 7 January 1934, in the final years of his life, letter to a Mr. Egbert S. Oliver at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon reads in part, ”Dear Mr. Oliver, The first help I ever had in writing in my life was from my father who read an utterly imitative Sherlock Holmes story of mine and pretended to like it. But after that I received the most invaluable aid from Mr. C.N.B. Wheeler then headmaster of the St. Paul Academy now the St. Paul Country Day School in St. Paul, Minnesota. 2. From Mr. Hume, then co-headmaster of the Newman School and now headmaster of the Canterbury School. 3. From Courtland Van Winkle in freshman year at Princeton – now professor of literature at Yale (he gave us the book of Job to read and I don’t think any of our preceptorial group ever quite recovered from it.) After that comes a lapse. Most of the professors seemed to me old and uninspired, or perhaps it was just that I was getting under way in my own field. I think this answers your question. This is also my permission to make full use of it with or without my name. Sorry I am unable from circumstances of time and pressure to go into it further. Sincerely, [signed] F. Scott Fitzgerald”. Fitzgerald added a few hand corrections in ink throughout the letter. 2pp. letter on 2 sheets of plain stationery, measuring 8.5” x 11” are quite attractively matted and framed alongside a photo of Fitzgerald to an overall size of 32” x 17.5”. Light toning, creasing and paperclip imprint to letter, else near fine. Sold for $13,045.
Charles Dickens Autograph Letter Signed, Under Deadline for “Oliver Twist”: “…I have had the resolution to shut myself up so strictly with Oliver Twist…”
Charles Dickens autograph letter signed with rare content regarding one of his most famous novels, “Oliver Twist”. Dated “Thursday morning”, with no year but likely mid to late 1837, Dickens writes from his home on Doughty Street to “Mrs. Macready” – Catherine Macready, the wife of Dickens’ friend and the celebrated Shakespearean actor, William Macready, who was starring in “Hamlet” in 1837. Dickens writes, “I very much regret that most pressing, more solitary, and less agreeable engagements prevent my having the pleasure of dining with you tomorrow. I should apologize for not answering your kind note before, but Kate was taken so very unwell yesterday morning that she was compelled to go to bed – and hence the delay. She is better to-day and sends her best regards…Charles Dickens / I have had the resolution to shut myself up so strictly with Oliver Twist, as not to enter the doors of Covent Garden Theatre since the opening night, despite Hamlet and Othello. What do you think of that?” The first installment of “Oliver Twist” was published in February 1837, and Dickens was apparently working on the additional installments throughout 1837. Three page letter on card-style stationery measures 4.5″ x 7.25″. Intersecting folds and rust from paperclip impression, overall in very good condition with bold signature. Dickens’ letters regarding his novels are rare, with a similar letter mentioning progress on “Oliver Twist” and “Nicholas Nickleby” selling for approximately $13,000 in 2004. Sold for $10,710.
Charles Dickens Twice-Signed CDV
Very scarce carte-de-visite photograph of Charles Dickens with his Charles Dickens autograph upon the lower margin with his usual paraph emphasizing the signature, and again signed upon the verso. Photograph, circa early 1860’s shortly after the publication of “Great Expectations,” is by the photography studio of John & Charles Watkins, with the backstamp showing their 34 Parliament Street address. Photograph captures a somewhat disheveled Dickens in a contrast of both casual and formal attire, standing by an ornate table. It was during Dickens’ lifetime that photography became accessible to most people, although the ability to sign a photograph, such as this, wasn’t available until the invention of the carte-de-visite printed upon paper. The CDV format became popular during the 1860’s, just years before Dickens’ death in 1870. As a result, this signed photograph by Dickens came at a brief intersection of the author’s life and growing photo technology, making it very scarce. CDV measures 2.5″ x 4″. In very good condition with light soiling. Dark Charles Dickens autograph. Sold for $10,251.86.
Charles Dickens 1859 Signed Copy of His Weekly Magazine Featuring “Christmas Tales”
Extra 1859 “Christmas Tales” edition of Dickens’ weekly magazine, “Household Words,” which was published every Wednesday from 1850-59. Signed with Dickens’ full signature & typical paraph on the title page. Dickens also initials “C.D.” in pencil beside his contributions to the magazine, which included “A Christmas Tree” and “What Christmas Is, as We Grow Older.” Includes a 1933 note from owner Walter Browne stating that “this volume of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens is specially autographed by him for ‘Pa Browne’ who had the leaflet sent up to him, & he kindly signed it – ‘Pa’ Browne died in 1882…” With frontispiece portrait and ownership inscription of “Mr Russell Browne, York, 1859” on verso of the title. Very good condition. Sold for $7,200.
Eloquent Autograph Letter Signed by Robert Louis Stevenson, Bound Within ”An Inland Voyage” First Edition — ”I should be strangely made if I were indifferent to the praise of my fellow writers”.
Lovely and eloquent autograph letter signed by Robert Louis Stevenson, responding to a fellow writer who complimented Stevenson on ”An Inland Voyage”, a first edition of which is also included. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1878. Additionally a signed check by Stevenson is included, all bound into the novel. Stevenson writes to J. Fitzgerald Molloy, author of several novels at the turn of the century, in part ”Dear Sir, I should be strangely made if I were indifferent to the praise of my fellow writers; and I thank you for your kindness in writing to give it [to] me. It is scarcely vanity to & care to succeed in what we undertake; I could find a better name for the feeling…which I remember with the greatest clearness is the ‘Autumn Holiday’; and if that was yours, I think I am already in your debt. For if I remember clearly, it was the success of the Autumn Holiday, and the pleasure I had in reading it, which encouraged to write and prepare for…my Inland Voyage. If it was not yours, well, we must all be prepared for Sosias: and I am myself haunted by a ‘Mr. Stevenson the author’ or umbra nominis, for me – who comes and goes and sometimes passes for me / Yours truly / Robert Louis Stevenson”. The check that’s also included is addressed to an H.J. Moors, Esq. for nine shillings, dated 28 May 1892 and signed ”R.L. Stevenson”. Two page letter on two sheets measures 4.375” x 7” and check measures 4.75” x 3.25”. Book measures 5.25” x 7.625”. Some shelf wear and sunning to spine of book. Front joint is starting to separate, less so for rear joint. Previous owners’ book plates affixed to front pastedown and front free endpaper. Mounting remnants to verso of letter, and small hole to center of check. Book is housed in a custom third leather slipcase with raised bands and tooling on spine. A beautiful presentation by Stevenson with interesting and eloquent writing by him to a fellow novelist. Sold for $2,856.
Arthur Conan Doyle Signed Complete Works
Signed Crowborough Edition of “The Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle” in 24 volumes. Doubleday, Doran & Company: 1930. Number 453 of 760 numbered sets signed by Doyle. Signature appears in black ink on the limitation page of the first volume. Issued in the year of his death, the Crowborough Edition was intended to be the definitive collection of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. This set is complete and well-preserved. Twenty-four volumes in their original cloth and paper-covered boards, with printed paper backstrip labels intact. Top edges gilt. Light spotting to some of the cloth backstrips, and occasional very minor soiling to some of the boards. One volume has minor soiling to tail edge of rear matter. Bindings are tight, interiors free of bookplates and ownership markings. Pages remain clean and untrimmed. Overall a very well-preserved set, and by far the most sought after and collectible of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works. Near fine condition. Sold for $2,507.
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