Sotheby’s Literary Letters Auction
Sotheby’s New York has a lot of literary letters up for auction, as reported in the L.A. Times blog Jacket Copy.
The literary letters up for bids include:
- Two letters from Charlotte Bronte, one estimated at $70,000-$100,000 and the other at $30,000-$50,000
- Two letters signed “Emily” from Emily Dickinson, each estimated at $35,000-$50,000
- A pen-and-ink portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald, inscribed with a quote from “The Great Gatsby” and signed by Fitzgerald, estimated at $25,000-$35,000
- A collection of letters — and, it appears, snapshots — from John Steinbeck, estimated at $25,000-$35,000
- 115 items from Robinson Jeffers, including first editions, manuscripts, signed letters and an autographed photo, estimated at $18,000-$25,000
- A typed speech (given at Princeton) with handwritten notes, signed, by Albert Einstein, estimated at $10,000-$15,000
- A partial letter, with signature “Walt,” from Walt Whitman to his mother, estimated at $10,000-$15,000
- A letter from Charles Dickens, with extravagant signature, estimated at $8,000-$12,000
- A calling card of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with the notation “I fancy the ‘Valley of Fear’ is the swan song of Sherlock Holmes,” estimated at $8,000-$12,000
as well as numerous letters and writings by Mark Twain, aka Samuel Clemens.
Have a look at some of the priceless (actually, okay, they have prices) literary letters for sale available on AbeBooks.
Can you recommend someone who could evaluate a manuscript typed by Flannery O’Connor, with revisions made in her hand writing? It is 12 pages and was used in a speech she made at Notre Dame and was later slightly revised into a published essay. I can fax a xerox copy of it. I was a friend of the author, and some of her early letters to me are published in “The Habit of Being.”