American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period (1819-1891). Autograph letter signed ("H Melville") to G.P. Putnam Pittsfield. 8vo. 1 p. (190 x 123mm).
$ 29,770 / 28.000 €
(90733)
Melville sends another installment for his serial publication, Israel Potter. A hurried note to Putnam belatedly acknowledges receipt of Putnam's note, explaining he was in too much of a hurry "wishing to send you the M.S. for reply. No inconvenience, I hope, has resulted.” In a short postscript he notes the accompanying enclosures [not present]: "Herewith you have from p. 102 to p. 156 inclusive of I[srael].P[otter]." Not published in Horth, but another short note to Putnam is cited of the same day and month noting that a "parcel of M.S." was to be sent express the next day (p.
268). Because Melville did not specify the nature of the M.S. in question, Horth only added a tentative year to the note. The present letter would appear to settle the date of the published note to Putnam as 1854. From the collection of William S. Reese. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella..
American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period (1819-1891). Autograph letter signed ("H. Melville") to W[illiam] H. Barry. Pittsfield. Two pages, bifolium 203 x 125mm (toned along top margin, partial separations along fold). Blue cloth chemise and slipcase.
$ 37,212 / 35.000 €
(90734)
Melville arranges a lecture in Lynn, Massachusetts. Melville writes that he “should be happy to lecture at Lynn, if we can agree on the time &c." Though he warns that at the "latter part of next week I leave for the West, to be gone two weeks, more or less. Upon my return I shall be able to name an exact day…” He advises Barry that he has to lectures to offer, “The South Seas,” and “Statues in Rome,” and adds if “you intimate you should like me to deliver both, well and good.” As to his fee, he was of the mind “that, in the present case, thirty dollars for each lecture would not be too much,” and adds that if Barry desires both, then they should be scheduled “on successive nights, or at least upon nights near together as possible.” According to Sealts, Melville delivered his lecture, "The South Seas," on 15 May 1859 at Sagamore Hall in Lynn (Melville as Lecturer, pp.
91-92). William H. Barry appeared in the 1860 Lynn Directory as a shoemaker as well as a member of the Lynn Young Men’s Debating Society, 1852-54 (citing David N. Johnson, Sketches of Lynn, 1880). Published in Horth, pp. 334-335. Provenance: Charles E. Feinberg (his sale, Parke Bernet, 2-3 April 1968). Exhibited: "A Herman Melville Collection ... on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death, from the collection of William S. Reese," Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, 1991, no. 30. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella..
American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period (1819-1891). Autograph letter signed ("H Melville") to [Edmund C.] Stedman. [New York]. One page, bifolium 175 x 114mm. (mounting remnants on verso and archival tape affixing both sheets together). [With:] original autograph transmittal envelope, marked “Personal”, 90 x 153mm (unevenly toned, mounting remnants on verso). Blue cloth chemise a.
$ 29,770 / 28.000 €
(90735)
Melville encourages a friendship with his neighbor, poet Edmund Stedman. Melville first notes the return of "the books you so kindly sent me. I have been interested in all of them." Writing of Stedman's own work, "in many of its views [your book] has proved either corroborative or suggestive to me." (Horth surmises that that "book" was rather likely the chapter on Walt Whitman in Stedman's Poets of America.) Admitting that he lacked many of the "external demands upon my evenings as you probably have," Melville advised Stedman that he would be the "one most likely to be at home in the evening.
Pray, remember this, and give me the pleasure of dropping in again here when you feel like it.” Published in Horth, 509. Provenance: Edmund C. Stedman (his sale) Anderson Galleries 19-20 January 1911, lot 1966 or 1968[?] – O'Shaughnessy, 14 April 1915, lot 58 – H. Bradley Martin (his sale, Sotheby's, New York, 30-31 January 1990, lot 2172). From the collection of William S. Reese. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella..
American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period (1819-1891). Autograph letter signed ("H Melville") to Mr. James Billson. New York. Three pages, bifolium 175 x 114mm. (separation at backfold and other creases repaired, some marginal mounting remnants to verso). Red chemise and quarter morocco slipcase.
$ 34,022 / 32.000 €
(90784)
Melville thanks Billson for the recent “parcel you kindly sent me” as well as his separate note “which, I suppose, should have accompanied the book.” He informs Billson that he now possessed “all my published books except the ‘Piazza Tales’ now out of print. As for the ‘Two Captains‘ and ’Man of the World‘ they are books of the air — I know none such. The names appear, tho’, on the title-page of a book of mine — ‘Israel Potter’ which was republished by a Philadelphia house some time ago under the unwarrantably altered title of ‘The Refugee.’ A letter to the publisher arrested the publication.” Published in Horth, p.
511-512. Charles James Billson (1858-1832) was 26 years old when he began his correspondence with Herman Melville. A keen classics student, Billson was an attorney and educator who sought to bring knowledge of Greek and Roman literature to the English working classes and is well-regarded in some circles for his translations of the Aeneid and Pindar. Billson published his letters from Melville in 1921. (Gilman, p. 231). From the collection of William S. Reese..