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Lot #397
20th Century Literature

A literary smorgasbord: from Alcott to Wodehouse, and seemingly every author in between

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Estimate: $10000+
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Description

A literary smorgasbord: from Alcott to Wodehouse, and seemingly every author in between

Massive collection of well over 1100 items signed by a variety of predominantly 20th century authors, chiefly consisting of signatures and letters still contained within their original mailing envelopes dated between 1942 and 1987; many of the envelopes contain more than one signed item. Each envelope is addressed to Frank M. Flack, who began mailing out autograph requests as a private in the army, continuing as he rose to sergeant, and then later as an English professor. A small smattering of the autographs were purchased from notable dealers, but the vast majority were obtained through the mail, and many of the replies are humbly gracious. Notable names in the collection include: Conrad Aiken (TLS), Edward Albee, A. Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, Roy Chapman Andrews (ALS), Maya Angelou, Isaac Asimov, Gertrude Atherton (TLS), W. H. Auden, Vicki Baum (TLS), Rex Beach, Ludwig Bemelmans, Robert Benchley (TLS), Josh Billings, Margaret Bourke-White (TLS), Ray Bradbury, WIlliam Cullen Bryant, Anthony Burgess (TLS), Thornton Burgess (TLS), John Burroughs, James M. Cain, Erskine Caldwell (TLS), Willa Cather, Agatha Christie (ALS), James Fenimore Cooper (check), E. E. Cummings, Isak Dinesen, John Dos Passos (ALS), Theodore Dreiser, Daphne du Maurier, Lord Dunsany (TLS), T. S. Eliot, Edna Ferber (TLS), Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Frost (AQS), Allen Ginsberg, Edgar A. Guest, Alex Haley, Bret Harte, Lillian Hellman (TNS), James Hilton (TLS), Willian Dean Howells, Fannie Hurst (SP), Aldous Huxley (ALS), Julian Huxley, Henry James, Madeline L'Engle (ALS), Stephen Leacock, Sinclair Lewis (ALS), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Norman Mailer, Andre Malraux, Thomas Mann (TLS), Edgar Lee Masters, W. Somerset Maugham (TLS), Andre Maurois (ALS), Carson McCullers, H. L. Mencken (TLS), James Michener, Arthur Miller, Henry Miller, A. A. Milne, Ferenc Molnar (SP), Marianne Moore, Ogden Nash (ALS), Eugene O'Neill, Joyce Carol Oates, Dorothy Parker, Katherine Anne Porter (TLS), Emily Post (TLS), Ezra Pound, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (ALS), Theodor Reik, Edward Arlington Robinson, Norman Rockwell (TLS), Eleanor Roosevelt (TLS), John Ruskin, Carl Sandburg, George Santayana, William Saroyan, Jean-Paul Sartre, Georges Simenon (TLS), Upton Sinclair (TLS), Isaac Bashevis SInger, Edith Sitwell, Vilhjalmur Stefansson (TLS), Wallace Stegner (TLS), Gertrude Stein, John Steinbeck, Irving Stone (TLS), Booth Tarkington (TLS), James Thurber (TLS), Alice B. Toklas (ALS), Mark Twain, John Updike, Hendrik Willem van Loon (ALS), Gore Vidal, Artemus Ward, Andy Warhol, Charles Dudley Warner, Robert Penn Warren, Evelyn Waugh (ALS), Eudora Welty, John Greenleaf Whittier, Thornton Wilder, Wiiliam Carlos Williams, P. G. Wodehouse (SP), and Herman Wouk (TLS). In overall very good to fine condition. A truly remarkable assemblage, from the lesser known to the luminaries.

Due to the large quantity a few secretarial and/or printed signatures may be included. Interested parties are encouraged to view the collection in person at our offices or call us with specific inquiries, as this collection is sold as is and no returns will be accepted.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autographs And Artifacts
  • Dates: #481 - Ended August 10, 2016