Autograph Letter Signed / Autograph Manuscript Signed.
American dramatist, poet and novelist; books include "His Majesty Bunker Bean," "The Changeling," "Speed," "Pals First," "Lilia Chenoworth" and "The Book of Susan." Two items: First, an ALS, 1p, 5½" X 8½", New Haven, CT, 1923 January 16. Addressed to Albert Johannsen (1871-1962), a University of Chicago geology professor who authored "The House of Beadle and Adams and Its Dime and Nickel Novels" (1950), the definitive reference work on the subject. Fine. "I enclose a first-draft sheet from the novel I am at present at work on," he writes. "As you see, it is chaos. But you see, the explanation is this -- I have my type-writer before me, and a sheaf of paper beside it. On the paper I scribble & fiddle around in long-hand until I get a paragraph or a few sentences composed; then I copy these on the typewriter, but usually making many additional changes as I do so. -- This merely to explain the extraordinary appearance of the sheet...." Second is the aforementioned "first-draft sheet," an AMS, 1p, 8½" X 11", n.p., 1923 January 15. Near fine. Several meaty paragraphs penned in black ink in Dodd's miniscule but legible hand, with a few crossouts, some added text, etc. At lower right, he boldly inscribes it "Presented to / Prof. Albert Johannsen / by / Lee Wilson Dodd / Jan. 15 - 1923." A fun pair: an explanation by the author of his work method and an actual example of it. Accompanied by Johannsen's original 8½" X 11" file folder, bearing a printed "Collection of Albert Johannsen" label (partly filled in by Johannsen). Item #26770
Price: $100.00