Autographed Letter Signed

Typed Letter Signed. Unlined quarto sheet. Near fine with two horizontal creases from mailing and two tiny holes at one corner from a now absent staple. With the original mailing envelope with postmark, canceled stamp, and the address in Salinger's hand. The envelope is near fine with smudges to the return address and with the left edge slight bent and toned from storage in a book. The letter, dated on Monday, January 28, is addressed to John Woodburn, Salinger's editor at Little, Brown who agreed to publish *Catcher in the Rye* after it was rejected by *The New Yorker* and Harcourt, Brace. In the short missive, Salinger accepts Woodburn's invitation for a Wednesday and passes along best wishes to his wife before closing with his Signature ("Jerry"). By January 1952 Salinger was feeling increasingly burdened by his rapidly growing fame and still reeling from *The New Yorker* rejection of a short story ("De Daumeir-Smith's Blue Period") in late November 1951, after a string of successes with the magazine. The relationship between Salinger and Woodburn was intact, but it was not a strong one after Salinger’s quirky demands - that no review copies of Catcher be sent to critics, his author photo be removed from the jacket and a request to not do interviews – were all leaked to the press by the Little, Brown publicity department. Nevertheless, Salinger continued to attend cocktail parties and dinners with his literary friends into the new year, although he became a somewhat unpredictable guest. Salinger had begun to consider leaving New York City for good. This letter, though brief, is from that crucial time.…