Three ALS letters, to Ernest Boyd, New York critic

New York, 1924. Very good condition. Letters from Theodore Dreiser to his friend in New York, the critic Ernest Augustus Boyd (1887-1946), all signed.

The first letter is a full page hand written letter on printed letterhead, dated March 12, 1924, apologizing for missing an engagement because Dreiser was "down with a fierce cold", and signed "regards to the Boyd, Theodore Dreiser". 7 1/4 x 10 1/2", pale gray paper with printed letterhead, period folds flattened.

The second is addressed to Mrs. Boyd. It refers to a dinner invitation ("a gentlemen's dinner with ladies afterward is excellent on occasion"), dated Feb. 20, 1925 and signed Theodore Dreiser. Dreiser's Bedford Ave., Brooklyn address written in ink at the top. 12 1/4 x 8", cream color paper, folds to 6 1/4 x 8", period fold flattened.

The third item of correspondence is a real photo postcard from Trondheim, Norway, captioned "Nordland De syv Sestre" on the front. Dreiser writes to Boyd at his East 19th Street NY address: "This is as far as I've got in my trip to Paris. Slightly circuitous as yet but give me time and I'll get there. Regards to the wife. Tell her I'm guarding her French letters as I do my bags. Dreiser". Real photo postcard, 5 1/4 x 3 1/4", split back, canceled Norwegian stamp.

Boyd was a central figure in the New York literary world. He was born in Dublin, moved to the US and served with the British consular service in Baltimore, where he befriended the critic H. L. Mencken, who was then the editor of the American Mercury.

Boyd left his diplomatic career and settled in New York to work as a literary critic, writing reviews for the American Mercury, the New York Evening Post, and the Saturday Review of Literature. He became an editor at the American Spectator along with Eugene O'Neill and Theodore Dreiser.