$1,830
A group of seven books, letters and ephemera signed and inscribed by Wilder. Includes: New York: Longmans, Green, 1929. Illustrated edition with 15 tipped in engravings by Clare Leighton. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: Coward-McCann, 1931. Number 516 of 525 copies, of which only 500 were for sale, signed by the author to the limitation page. First edition. New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1942. First edition. In dust jacket. Inscribed. New York: Harper, (1957). Inscribed on title page. The previous owners were long time friends and neighbors of the Wilder family, a relationship which is supported in the author's inscriptions. Two inscriptions suggest a number of Wilder's plays found their first audience with the previous owners. Wilder writes on the half-title of "Margaret: her book/She befriended it in manuscript, and sponsored its first submittal to an audience/with the devoted affection of her old friend/Thornton/New Haven, May 15, 1943." In addition to the personal mentions in his inscriptions, Wilder even makes changes within the text, in his own hand, thus being a commentary on his friendship with the previous owners. On the final page of "The Matchmaker" in at the end of the sentence "we all hope that in your lives you have just the right amount of - adventure!," Wilder has crossed out the final word "adventure," and added in pen at the bottom of the page "sitting quietly, and just the right amount of . . . adventure . . . goodnight!"
Auctioneer:
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
Date:
2009-03-24
