Catalog 116, Letters, S-Z
493. SNYDER, Gary. Typed Note Signed. May 9, 1996. An aerogramme to Diane di Prima, written from Japan, agreeing to something, with the exception being that she leave off the "respectfully yours." Snyder adds: "the cherry blossoms having departed for the Other Shore, the azalea blossoms send back their answer." He closes: "yours fraternally in the workers & peasants struggle." Folded in fourths for mailing, and mildly edgetorn in opening; very near fine. A wonderful association between two of the most important poets of postwar America.
494. SONTAG, Susan. Typed Note Signed. February 17, 1986. A short, but interesting, note to another writer. In part: "Thanks for sending your piece on the PEN circus. It's almost the only thing I've read on the subject with which I agree." She goes on to comment: "The Mailer story, all of it, is even worse than you intimate. Crazier, more squalid. I'm trying hard to get it out of my head." Signed in full, after which the last name has been whited out. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
495. SPOCK, Benjamin. Typed Note Signed. June 14, 1967. A short note to a young writer and antiwar activist regarding his having signed a statement of support for draft resistance during the Vietnam war. Spock was the leading specialist in child-rearing principles for two generations and his public posture on the war and related issues was of considerable importance in framing the national debate and, in particular, gaining credibility and middle class acceptance for the antiwar movement. Stain at right edge, not affecting text. Folded for mailing; very good.
496. SUKENICK, Ronald. Autograph Notecard Signed. October 21, 1969. Beginning, "Dear Henry Miller, I thought I saw you walking down the street in Carmel last year..." A fine notecard in envelope (sealed and opened), hand-addressed to Henry Miller (with no address), and apparently intended to accompany the presentation of Sukenick's books to him.
497. THOMAS, D.M. Autograph Note Signed. July 27, 1991. Two paragraphs, proposing an article on Rembrandt for the magazine Art & Antiques. Folded for mailing; else fine, with envelope.
498. TYLER, Anne. Typed Note Signed. April 29, 1978. A brief note responding to galleys of Beverly Lowry's novel, Emma Blue: "a richness of texture that amounts to poetry, and a wonderful ability to let her characters rest on the moment and be carried along, effortlessly." Tyler extends permission to use her comments for publicity purposes. Folded in sixths for mailing; else fine.
499. TYLER, Anne. Typed Note Signed. December 17, 1984. Tyler declines to contribute to a magazine saying, in part: "Winter finds me as bereft of ideas as summer did. (I'm recovering from a novel--there's always some excuse.)" Folded in sixths for mailing; else fine, with the envelope included.
500. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed and Typed Note Signed. December 3 [1968] and April 22 [1969]. The first is an airmail letter, posted from London to a professor in New York, accepting a proposal to visit Mallorca, "under the kind of auspices you describe. Three or four days, and a few informal discussions with students, and perhaps a reading." A half-page letter; the paper is split along the vertical mailing fold and has been horizontally taped-repaired over the text, which remains visible. Fair only. The second is also an airmail letter, to the same recipient, this time declining to come to Majorca, saying, "...after this year abroad, I picture myself settling down to a novel in the land of the free." He proposes that they discuss the matter again the next year and closes, "Sorry to be so inevitably vague." A self-mailer, folded in fourths and opened imperfectly along the edges; still near fine. For both:
501. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. July 13 [c. mid-70's]. A quick note on a half-sheet of paper, submitting a poem for Harper's: "I don't write much light verse these days, but here is a small poem you might consider..." Under Updike's signature is stamped his address, given as 50 Labor-in-Vain Rd. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
502. UPDIKE, John. Autograph Note Signed. Undated. [c. 1965-1976]. One paragraph, declining to contribute to a proposed Holt Rinehart Winston anthology, apparently a nonfiction book pertaining to the visual arts. Updike has written across the bottom half of the final page of the HRW proposal, in part: "Besides being committed to my present publisher, I cannot spare the many hours of research needed to do such an assignment competently." Folded in sixths; else fine.
503. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. July 30 [1977]. Written to an editor at Doubleday, requesting a copy of his own speech, apparently for a work-in-progress ("I have found the Proust quote I really wanted, for instance...") and offering the recipient's boss a copy of the 20th anniversary edition of The Poorhouse Fair -- "No one deserves one more." Fine.
504. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed. Dated "Sep 13" [1977]. Three paragraphs written to accompany the return of a lecture manuscript to Doubleday, as part of a work-in-progress, for which he requests a proof "when it is time to get the book out." Updike apologizes for the delay and for his typing, and offers a bibliography to accompany the submitted piece ("I'd be willing to provide whatever you think is needed to make my contribution look finished"). 8 1/2" x 7 1/2". Lower right corner missing, not affecting text. Editor's note added. Else fine.
505. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. Dated "Jan 1" [1980]. One paragraph, agreeing to sign books for the recipient's wife. Written on the verso of the colophon for the limited edition of Problems. Signed in blue, with recipient's address hand-written in pink across the top; the colophon has some math written in pink. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
506. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. Dated Jan 2 [1984?]. Addressed to "Gentlemen," Updike queries, "Did you guys run that little squib you elicited from me years ago, about Reviews that Hurt, or some such?" He has taped a newspaper clipping where his response is alluded to, although Updike never saw the article run. 5" x 8". Folded for mailing; fine.
507. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. March 14 [1984]. Addressed to a collector, and saying, in total: "That's some tricky little tricycle rider you sent me, and I do thank you. I hope you don't miss him too much around your house. He's been very active on the linoleum floor of ours." Fine.
508. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. December 15, [1986]. Updike gives the source of a theory of knots of points in space and asks the recipient for specifics relating to a possible article on "Leonardo." Postal markings; else fine.
509. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. September 9, [1987]. Updike declines a writing assignment on Guaguin [sic], as he finds the project "increasingly rather than decreasingly slippery (can't even spell his name, I notice)..." He also points out that the New Yorker is suggesting that he take his "first-reading agreement with them more seriously." Postal markings; else fine.
510. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. December 25, [1990]. Updike briefly considers doing a piece on Daumier and suggests an article on Edward Steichen. Fine.
511. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. October 26, [1991]. Updike belatedly points up errors in his Art & Antiques piece on Steichen and, for a piece on Steinberg that he has declined to write, he suggests contacting William Shawn "who is forcibly retired and was quite a writer, usually anonymous, in his day." Postal markings; else fine.
512. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. April 5, (no year). A paragraph explaining that some signed books were returned to him and requesting a self-addressed stamped mailer to get them to their proper destination. He adds, "At any rate, my usual limit for signing is three." Signed (initialed) by the author. An uneven 5" x 5" page, with two pieces of edge tape, presumably from prior mounting; else fine.
513. WALKER, Alice. Typed Note Signed. October 3, 1983. A brief note, declining to contribute to a magazine "because of a full schedule that is fixed thriugh [sic] Fall of 1984..." Folded in thirds for mailing; one small, faint corner spot; else fine.
514. (WARREN, Robert Penn). CLARK, Eleanor. Autograph Notes Signed. 1984-1985. Two notes: the first from December 1984 expressing apologies, "It's been a rotten time for us - RPW not well - in hospital recently - much better now." The second note, January 1985, expresses puzzlement: "It sounds as if you had confused me some way with my husband. Anyhow it's all about his Audubon and White Heron for cover etc. - all none of my business at all..." Each is folded in thirds for mailing; fine, with envelopes.
515. WILSON, Edmund. Typed Letter Signed. April 4, 1972. One page. A short note on 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" Wellfleet stationery. Wilson mentions his health: "I have not been too well lately. I fractured one of my vertebrae and am now somewhat crippled." A note from Wilson's wife, Elena, dated just over two months later, indicates that Wilson had died in the interim. Creased from folding, otherwise fine.
516. WOLFE, Tom. Autograph Note Signed. October 28, 1984. Referring an editor to his agent, adding, "Frankly it isn't worth undertaking such an article for anything even resembling the usual magazine rates." Signed by the author. Uneven browning to the white paper; near fine. Wolfe's embossed letterhead reproduces his elaborate, calligraphic signature.
517. WOLFE, Tom. Autograph Note Signed. (May) 1986. A brief but lavishly calligraphic note in which Wolfe declines to contribute to a magazine. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine, with envelope included.
518. WOLFF, Geoffrey. Typed Letter Signed. August 2, 1972. One and a half pages of critical praise of Philip Roth's novel The Breast, ultimately for use for publicity purposes. Wolff describes in detail how he tried to resist the story and, in greater detail, the words and sentences that won him over. "It is an odd failing in a reader, odder in a fiction writer, to resist a story of metamorphosis, to resist that word's linguistic kinsman, metaphor. But the drag of what we are pleased to call reality is substantial, and the nature of its attractive power is not the least interesting question raised by this work of fiction...Roth has done...what the Dali painting could never do, suggest how it would feel to become your dream rather than merely see it...Thank you for trusting me with the manuscript." Folded in fourths for mailing, small corner staple holes; else fine.