A Typed Letter From J. D. Salinger to Edith Oliver

On June 8, 1960, celebrated writer J. D. Salinger wrote to theater and film critic Edith Oliver at her office at The New Yorker on West 43rd Street. He sent a typed letter, signed Jerry, along with a black and white Polaroid of his children. It was mailed from his home in Windsor, Vermont. The letter and photograph are offered for sale with the original mailing envelope for $8,000 by Argosy Book Store in New York City.

J. D. Salinger
Argosy Book Store listing accessed October 25, 2024

https://www.argosybooks.com/details.php?record=209160&jump=1&pkd_source=_wantm&utm_source=website&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wantmatch

Note:  At the time of posting, this letter by J. D. Salinger is still available from Argosy Book Store.

04787

Neil Simon to Harvey Orkin

A letter from playwright Neil Simon to writer and talent agent Harvey Orkin has been placed on the market by the latter's son Anthony, now of Portland, Oregon. The letter has a number of inside jokes, apparently, and a rather convoluted timeline. Fortunately, Downtown Brown Books—also of Portland—has done a little research and tries to put it all into context. The typed letter, signed Doctoré on Simon's printed stationery, is available at the time of posting for $240.

Neil Simon
AbeBooks listing accessed September 11, 2024

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31967342353&searchurl=ds%3D30%26kn%3DOrkin%26rollup%3Don%26sortby%3D17%26vci%3D50957077&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp0-_-title4

04743

S. J. Perelman to Harvey Orkin and His Son Anthony

Two postcards from humorist S. J. Perelman have made their way onto the market via the estate of writer and talent agent Harvey Orkin (1918-1975). Orkin won an Emmy award for "You'll Never Get Rich" which starred Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko. The first postcard, chronologically, was sent in 1968 from Florence, Italy.

A 1974 postcard was mailed to Orkin's Fifth Avenue Columbia Pictures office from Sarasota, Florida.

Finally, a 1975 letter to Orkin's son Anthony V., here referred to as "Avo," is written locally on New Yorker magazine stationery. Perelman aims to share his love of words with the young man. Of note, he does not share his love of cheesecake postcards.

Each of these notes is priced at $180 on AbeBooks. (On eBay, they're $188.)

1.

S. J. Perelman
AbeBooks listing accessed September 9, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/paper-collectibles/Humorous-Autograph-Postcard-Signed-Perelman/31967342352/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_lowk

2.

S. J. Perelman
AbeBooks listing accessed September 9, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/paper-collectibles/Humorous-Autograph-Postcard-Signed-Perelman/31967337476/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

3.

S. J. Perelman
AbeBooks listing accessed September 9, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/paper-collectibles/Typed-Note-Signed-New-Yorker-Stationery/31967332880/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_high

June 28, 2025 Update:  The 1975 letter was cross-listed on eBay where it sold for a best offer.

Note:  Readers fortunate enough to be in possession of a postcard or letter from S. J. Perelman and who need a blog on which to have it posted know where to find me.

Can someone please start a Wikipedia page for Harvey Orkin? Or is that asking too much?

04741

Ralph Steadman: A Letter to George Newson

Illustrator Ralph Steadman's typed letter to composer and photographer George Newson (1932-2024) is dated February 22, 1991. In just a couple of lines, he seemingly confirms a forthcoming art show and reassures Newson that "Of course we can find work to exhibit." It is rare for any commercial artist, even one of Steadman's stature, not to have a reasonable quantity of unsold work on hand.

Newson passed away on March 8 of this year and items from his estate are now on the market. At the time of this posting, the letter, embellished with a face and typed on Steadman's stationery, is available from Wool House Autographic.

Ralph Steadman
AbeBooks listing accessed July 5, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/paper-collectibles/letter-drawing-Ralph-Steadman-na/31917244972/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

04682

Albert Einstein: To the President of the International Flying Saucer Bureau

In 1952, Albert Einstein of the Institute for
Advanced Study in Princeton politely refused to engage with Albert K. Bender, the president of the International Flying Saucer Bureau in Bridgeport. In 2023, bidders politely refused to engage at auction with the typed letter, signed. It's not a bad piece at all, quite the historical footnote. And the letter should increase greatly in value once the flying saucers reveal themselves.

Albert Einstein
RR Auction ended December 6, 2023

https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/348154606800094-albert-einstein-typed-letter-signed-on-the-topic-of-flying-saucers-one-of-two-known-ufo-letters-from-the-theoretical-physicist/?cat=0

04560

Rebecca West: In Support of Corey Ford

A 1930 letter to publisher Henry Hart from British author and literary critic Rebecca West has turned up at Dennis Holzman Antiques in Cohoes, New York. West grants the publisher permission to quote her words in his promotion of the work of humorist Corey Ford. In addition to his many published books and articles, Ford is remembered for naming The New Yorker's monocled dandy Eustace Tilley during the magazine's first year.

Rebecca West
Dennis Holzman Antiques listing accessed July 8, 2023

https://holzmanantiques.com/product/1930-british-writer-rebecca-west-writes-to-publisher-henry-hart/

Rebecca West
Dennis Holzman Antiques item description

04375

Ronald Searle's Backlog

A typed 1950 letter from British illustrator Ronald Searle (1920-2011) to author and, later, publisher Jon Wynne-Tyson (1924-2020) thanks the writer for the opportunity to illustrate his collection of verse. Searle politely declines, noting that his illustration projects are done on commission from a publisher directly through his literary agents, and that he currently has a one year backlog. A one year backlog!

Ronald Searle
eBay listing ended June 12, 2022

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ronald-Searle-artist-typed-letter-signed-/284858800838?hash=item4252e85ac6%3Ag%3AvsQAAOSw3f5iqhhm&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsL14Ybx5FGH0KLWf3eHLC%2BuQFO7ZSA1ACzuSBwSNjYOkLvQgUXDLDELsS9Dev6P2w7weT0L9ILJ%2FOI26IPUEG5J57iuaC3WXHQ6aoo97987EYeD8QapJXzwgq

YouQV0tPkhJJr4zqVgcCyczyi3EZxK36m2WqxZek8ro5%2FglF64Iy%2BM6N5Lvgy3j2sO1Yfe3kAuAtjWc8sz8Gl4msOaTyOjzAbDSmWV7spjiazR57vPO%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-DM8bPbYA&nma=true&si=P%252BhlhmJ7oA9BKODpVaKBBjvCjhQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ronald Searle

eBay item description

Ronald Searle
eBay bid history
Being the last bidder still helps.

04343

Eldon Dedini on the Future of Cartooning

A 1996 letter from cartoonist Eldon Dedini (1921-2006) to California school teacher Bruce Becker (1930-2022) gets right to the heart of Dedini's attitude toward his craft. Unfortunately, we don't have Becker's original letter that prompted this fascinating response. Apparently, some of Becker's students expressed doubts about cartooning as a profession, feeling "society places little importance in cartooning," much of the great work has already been done, and thus the the profession may not have a great future and its practitioners may not meet with financial success. Dedini's response is more than thoughtful; it seems to reflect a career's worth of rumination about his art form. The letter is just too good to paraphrase:

Eldon Dedini
eBay listing accessed April 28, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295105388401?hash=item44b5a6df71:g:kSQAAOSwcFNi2XIp&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4I%2Be0gEPP4bh9F0gXJVppnSFDQkqnUNH8nVjM6ymFR9lWug5D6dqE6JtvPKPD55rVN%2Bi1Vghj0ogEQiTN3FqrOQku7J0tLk2F1vEBPd8Ya%2FrrYbu1lAcE3

EF5UZKBeDYuWEa1xbd7AOXPMefEnMkMY9Be08xBi7Z7fMFpjiXcYaX4TKQq9C9JUS8Kzo%2B0OkyDvZrUL31lA7KJInERCeELF5QuHItdoqKkNrjVwik8RAo03E8rPRb9Dpw2JizAqsYIk00g2RDwWkT2iw%2BHlKT%2BGOgQzFp1AqdECN8fmMLbnM3%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4Smz6v5YQ

Eldon Dedini
eBay item description 

Note:  At post time, this inspiring note is still available on eBay. I have seen few letters from cartoonists that do such a fine job of articulating a philosophy of cartooning. Perhaps readers would like to share other correspondence of this sort here. This is your blog too, you know.

04314

Stanley Edgar Hyman: The Critic, Edited

In 1947, literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman wrote a typed letter on New Yorker stationery to editor Samuel Cummings of Tomorrow magazine. Hyman, husband to New Yorker fiction writer Shirley Jackson, himself wrote for the magazine's "Talk of the Town" page and taught at Bennington College. He complained that his review of a work by Janko Lavrin (perhaps Dostoevsky: A Study or Pushkin and Russian Literature, both published in 1947) was so altered in the process of editing that he didn't want it published unless it was restored to its original sense. He wrote, "I do not believe that editing is a matter of altering the critic's critical views." 

Stanley Edgar Hyman
eBay listing ended May 25, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324124769994?hash=item4b77577eca%3Ag%3ADCUAAOSw1gddSMCy&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Stanley Edgar Hyman
eBay item description

04189