Typed Letter Signed by MITCHELL, Margaret

1941 Atlanta, George: August 2, 1941. From author Margaret Mitchell to Marion County Circuit Judge Leonard H. McMahan. One page, signed "Margaret Mitchell Marsh." Very good letter, with normal tri-fold, some tiny holes and some light surface wear to top edge of letter, and a tiny bit of dampstaining to recto. Overall, a unique and inspiring letter. In this letter, Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind (1936), thanks McMahan for sending her a book on Crater Lake and "The Brimfield Heroine Letter," which is a 66-year-old woman's account of her journey on the Oregon Trail. The latter item sparks an inspiring paragraph from Mitchell, in which she writes: "When we read such records of courage and endurance how can we doubt the future of our country and our people? I do not hold with the prevalent idea that we have become soft or frightened. Endurance and courage are still in our bones. The trouble nowadays is that most people have not been bred up to expect… Read More

Near Fine. 1947. Ephemera. Probably Mitchell's most interesting letter. To the editor of the San Antonio Light, San Antonio, Texas: "Dear Sir: I am Mrs. John R. Marsh (Margaret Mitchell) of Atlanta, Georgia, author of 'Gone With the Wind'. I am writing you about an item published in your newspaper on August 5, 1947, stating that 'Mrs. John R. Marsh (Margaret Mitchell) , nationally known author had just arrived in San Antonio from Mexico City. With this item you published a photograph with the caption 'Margaret Mitchell Back to Hollywood'. I have learned that this woman also autographed copies of my novel 'Gone With the Wind' and in other ways created the impression she was me. This has caused me great embarrassment and I must ask you to publish a correction. I was not in San Antonio on August 5 and I have never been in your city, much to my regret. I have never been in Mexico City, where you said I had been, and I have never been in Dallas or… Read More

("Margaret") in black fountain pen ink, on personal letterhead, Atlanta, May 3, 1939. 4to, 3 separate pages. To Mable and Edwin [Granberry]: " We have been in one of our hurricanes. It all started when Selznick at last announced Miss Vivien Leigh and things are just now quieting down." She then goes on to ponder an invitation to Long Beach, New York. On page two she comments on that year’s Pulitzer Prize-winner: "Of course, you know about Marjorie Rawlings getting the Pulitzer award. There never was much doubt that she would get it if there was any justice anywhere.I do not know whether the award will keep her too busy to make this trip. The members of the Atlanta Women’s Press Club have asked me to give a party for her should she come, as they are all anxious to meet her." Mitchell closes with mention of the book which made her famous: "I was interested in your remarks about finding a GWTW mention in an article written by a Chinese. I did not see the… Read More

Atlanta, Georgia, 1937. One page, on personal letterhead. 4to. light creasing and toning, esle fine. One page, on personal letterhead. 4to. To Cukor on "old mimosa groves" - "bees demented in the blossoms" -- and Tallulah. Mitchell thanks Cukor for the gift of Mary Chess perfumes, and especially the "mimosa": "I had tried someone's brand of mimosa many years ago, but it was heavy enough to be used as an anesthetic for a major operation. This brand is so sweet and faint and the lovliest part about it is that it reminds me of old mimosa groves far in the back country on a still, hot day with the bees demented in the blossoms." She then goes on to discuss Tallulah Bankhead's recent performance in Atlanta, which she unfortunately missed: 'Of course I was eager to go, but the show opened the night after the Pulitzer Award arrived. The Vice President of The Macmillan Company was in town and he gave me a party that night. I hoped to see her the following night, but the house was so filled with friends… Read More

1939. Signed. MITCHELL, Margaret. Typed letter signed. Atlanta, Georgia, February 23, 1939. Three sheets of unlined Margaret Mitchell letterhead, each measuring 7 by 11 inches; pp. 3, with original mailing envelope. $7800.Lengthy original typed letter, dated 1939, from Margaret Mitchell to Franklin M. Garrett, the Vice President of the Atlanta Historical Society, in which Mitchell informs Garrett that she has become aware of Atlanta historical tours claiming to show tourists locations from Gone With the Wind and then asks Garrett to stop ""identifying"" such locations from the novel as she purposely made them entirely fictional, boldly signed by Mitchell.This typed signed letter, dated ""Atlanta, Georgia. February 23, 1939,"" implores the Vice President of the Atlanta Historical Society, Franklin M. Garrett, to cease offering the specific locations of houses in Gone With the Wind, as he evidently gave those alleged locations to the Atlanta Convention Bureau,… Read More

1947. Signed. MITCHELL, Margaret. Typed letter signed. Atlanta, Georgia, July 23, 1947. Two sheets of unlined Margaret Mitchell letterhead, each measuring 7 by 11 inches; pp. 2, with original mailing envelope. $7800.Original typed two-page letter, dated 1947, from Margaret Mitchell to Mrs. George W. Johnson of Mississippi's Johnson Printing Company, advising Mrs. Johnson on the process of selling film rights; explaining the necessity of selling a book prior to selling the rights; and enclosing a list of literary agents published in the Saturday Review of Literature, boldly signed by Mitchell.This typed signed letter, dated ""Atlanta 5, Georgia. July 23, 1947,"" was written from Margaret Mitchell to a Mississippi reader (and aspiring author) offering advice on book publication and selling film rights. Here, Mitchell explains the reasons for why publication traditionally precedes the selling of rights; offers insight into the unusual process between the selling of film rights… Read More