I must have been aware of it when the estate of Ambassador Pamela Harriman was sold off at Sotheby's in 1997—I still have the catalogue, after all—but I can't say I was paying close attention. I did notice though when the Harrimans' personalized copy of
Favorite Haunts was listed on eBay a decade later. It sold for $52 on May 2, 2007, less than one would expect for a signed copy of the book even without the Harriman association.
Favorite Haunts, of course, is the 1976 cartoon collection by
Charles Addams. I imagine that at the auction it was a part of a large lot of books, some or all of which subsequently were resold individually. This copy is inscribed to Pamela and W. Averell Harriman and today enjoys a home in my library.
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| Averell and Pamela Harriman's copy of Favorite Haunts by Charles Addams |
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| Sotheby's proof of provenance |
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| Inscribed "For Pam and Ave/all the best/Chas Addams/1976" |
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The Estate of Ambassador Pamela Harriman
May 19-21, 1997
Sotheby's |
Note: Attempted Bloggery prefers to travel in the best social circles. If you have a cartoon book signed by or to someone in high society, please consider sharing it here. Remember, even people listed in the Social Register need to get their laughs!
Despite my rather deft Google skills, I wasn't able to discover any photographs of
Charles Addams with the Harrimans. I'd love to hear from anyone who can help me with this.
Attempted Bloggery's quick links:
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