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Rare and Antiquarian Books

Letters and Holographic Documents

Some of our most valuable and collectible items in the Rare Book Room are letters and holographic documents from authors and famous people throughout history. When browsing through these items, be sure to keep in mind an important distinction between letters and holographic documents. While letters can be typed or handwritten, holographic documents are documents that have been completely handwritten in the hand that signed the paper. Some of the letters showcased were written from authors to other writers, and others are personal missives in the form of journals and diaries. As with all delicate and fragile items, careful and appropriate care and handling is required, but these letters are well worth the trouble, as they often provide deep and personal insight into our favorite authors and historical figures.

Results 1 - 15 of 118
ARCHIVE OF LETTERS: 21 pages

ARCHIVE OF LETTERS: 21 pages

by McCOURT, Frank

  • Used
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Folds from mailing. Near Fine
Seller
Fleetwood, Pennsylvania
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$9,375.00
$8.00 shipping to USA

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1983 - 1990. Letters. Folds from mailing. Near Fine. Superb archive of seven letters from the author of ANGELA'S ASHES to R'Lene Dahlberg, fellow teacher at Stuyvesant High School, friend, wife of author Edward Dahlberg, and muse. Mostly chatty correspondence, all but two pages handwritten by McCourt, complete with hand-addressed envelopes and mostly written in New York City. In one letter McCourt describes being at Rockaway Beach with his daughter Maggie who is searching for her lost hamster with a friend: "The little bugger won't come out. I've tempted him with everything from carrots to watercress. I've made assorted seductive noises. I've exposed mineself. I've even promised him a night out with a hamsteress. To no avail. Maggie & Clare are less interested in hamsters than in boys. It's all boys now. Boys, boys, boys. I'll break her face. She checks herself out in the mirror by the hour. I told her cut it out. She [sic] wearing out the mirror. Also, I'm getting an education in teeny bop mating… Read More
Item Price
$9,375.00
$8.00 shipping to USA
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
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The Bridge of San Luis Rey

by Wilder, Thornton

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Rockville, Maryland
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$2,500.00
$5.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
London: Longmans Green & Co. Ltd, 1927. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 1927 Longmans, Green & Company TRUE FIRST EDITION, which preceded the US First Edition by a matter of days. A VG+/VG copy of this rare first made even more so by having a splendid **HANDWRITTEN SIGNED LETTER** by Mr. Wilder. The HB is very clean and tight with just some browning on the end pages. The unclipped DJ has a small piece missing from the upper spine end, not affecting the title. There are a few tiny other chips now in mylar and protected. A very strong copy and a wonderful combo! BONUS BOOK: A very early ex--library copy of "Our Town" which appears to be dated from April 5, 1938, two months after its Broadway premiere. Movie History Facts: Adapted for the screen three times: 1929 MGM Silent Film with Lili DAmita & Ernest Torrence (plus the legendary Lola Montes as a Spanish dancer) 1944 United Artists B&W Film with Lynn Bari & Akim Tamiroff 2004 New Line Cinema… Read More
Item Price
$2,500.00
$5.00 shipping to USA
[One page autograph letter signed.]

[One page autograph letter signed.]

by [Manuscript - ALS]; Rombauer, Irma

  • Used
  • Signed
Condition
Used
Seller
Alfred, Maine
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$4,000.00
$15.75 shipping to USA

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St Louis. MO, 1940. One page autographed letter signed, from Irma Rombauer, author of The Joy of Cooking, and a major figure in the history of American cooking. Addressed to Louise [Diallo],The last name was supplied by the seller and is not indicated on the letter itself. In black ink on cream colored stationery printed in brown, "Mrs. Edgar Rombauer - 5712 Cabanne Avenue - St. Louis - Mo. The letter contains regrets for not staying longer at an event and, most interesting, a full recipe. The recipe, for "Bran Biscuit," appears in very close form in the 1936 edition of the Joy of Cooking and in later editions, and contains both the ingredients list and the step-by-step instructions. With one fold, otherwise fine. Rombauer manuscript material is very rare, and we have not been able to locate another record of it entering the marketplace.
Item Price
$4,000.00
$15.75 shipping to USA
Autograph letter signed Bellini to Count Rodolphe Apponyi

Autograph letter signed "Bellini" to Count Rodolphe Apponyi

by BELLINI, Vincenzo 1801-1835

  • Used
  • Signed
Condition
Used
Seller
Syosset, New York
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$4,370.00
$12.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
2 pp. of a bifolium. Octavo. Dated Monday morning. Postmarked [?]January 12, 1835. With "Weynen Superfin" blindstamped to upper portions of leaves. Integral address panel with the recipient's name and the address of the Austrian Embassy in Paris to final page. With fully intact red wax seal. In Italian and French (with translation). Bellini tries to secure the Count a place at the première of his latest opera and invites the Count's wife to one of its dress rehearsals. "... I met your cousin at Madame Graham's and I begged him to tell you that I had gone to the Bureau des Italiens to try to grant your wish ... therefore, if the day of the first performance falls on a day when the halls are occupied almost entirely by subscribers, you'll get priority ... Tell [the Countess] I am sorry I am not yet able to leave my desk, since I'm always working on the opera. I hope she will want to honor me by coming to some dress rehearsal, to give me advice with her delicate musical taste ... " Slightly worn… Read More
Item Price
$4,370.00
$12.50 shipping to USA
Autograph letter signed to an unidentified male correspondent
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Autograph letter signed to an unidentified male correspondent

by DEBUSSY, Claude 1862-1918

  • Used
  • Signed
Condition
Used
Seller
Syosset, New York
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$2,300.00
$12.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
1 page. Octavo (ca. 168 x 122 mm). Dated Thursday evening. On mourning stationery. In French (with translation). "I have to attend [?Louis] Laloy's premiere; naturally that is tomorrow, on Friday ... Would you change the enclosed tickets for Saturday? Thanks again ..." Slightly worn and browned; creased at folds and upper outer corner of final blank folio; small rust stain from paper clip to inner margin of final folio, not affecting text. "One of the most important musicians of his time, [Debussy's] harmonic innovations had a profound influence on generations of composers. He made a decisive move away from Wagnerism in his only complete opera Pelléas et Mélisande, and in his works for piano and for orchestra he created new genres and revealed a range of timbre and colour which indicated a highly original musical aesthetic." François Lesure and Roy Howat in Grove Music Online. "Laloy [1874-1944] was a noted defender of contemporary French music and was a close friend of, and mediator between,… Read More
Item Price
$2,300.00
$12.50 shipping to USA
Autograph Letter Signed (Julia Child), to Mrs. Fairbanks
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Autograph Letter Signed ("Julia Child"), to Mrs. Fairbanks

by Child, Julia

  • Used
Condition
Used
Seller
Alfred, Maine
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$3,500.00
$15.75 shipping to USA

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Paris, 1953. One and one half page pen and ink letter (26.5 x 21.5 cm.) on single sheet of pale blue Paul Cushing Child stationery, with ink date stamp ("May 18 1953"), addressed, "USIS. 5 Place de Rome, Marseille (B du Rh)". ~ An early letter from Julia Child, written while she was living in Paris with her husband Paul and working on her first book, the seminal Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Child writes to a Mrs. Fairbanks: "What a nice hour we spent with you the other afternoon. I only wish it could be repeated, as I would love to hear more about Thomas Wolfe and all you know about him. It would also be fascinating for me to hear much much more about your culinary experiences. Mrs. de Santillana [Child's editor] says you are the best cooks she knows, and I can well believe it from the interest you take. It is indeed a fascinating subject and a beau métier. Had a nice talk about friture de cheval pour les frites [possibly french fries cooked in horse fat] with your chauffeur on the way home… Read More
Item Price
$3,500.00
$15.75 shipping to USA
Archive of correspondence with astronomer Arthur Beer during the production of Vistas in Astronomy.
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Archive of correspondence with astronomer Arthur Beer during the production of Vistas in Astronomy.

by Lovell, Alfred Charles Bernard, Sir

  • Used
Condition
Used
Seller
Moray, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$839.41
$27.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
Manchester, 1952-1956. Including 16 typed letters signed (one with the signature clipped out for reproduction in Vistas in Astronomy) and 1 autograph letter signed by Lovell, together with yellow carbons of Beer's typed letters, bound together with green string with metal caps in Beer's tan folder with the name Lovell in ink on the cover. Rust stains to the top three documents and the lower document from the metal caps on the binding string, not affecting the Lovell letters. Occasional mild creasing, otherwise the contents fresh and in excellent condition. An interesting archive of unpublished correspondence between leading radio astronomer Alfred Lovell (1913-2012) and astronomer and science populariser Arthur Beer. Beer (1900-1980) was born in Richenberg, Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia), and educated in Austria and Germany. He worked as an astronomer at Breslau University, where he studied binary stars, and at the German Maritime Observatory. He also wrote newspaper columns and was responsible… Read More
Item Price
$839.41
$27.00 shipping to USA
MASSIVE ARCHIVE OF THOUSANDS OF ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDES, ALONG WITH NUMEROUS...

MASSIVE ARCHIVE OF THOUSANDS OF ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDES, ALONG WITH NUMEROUS AUDIO RECORDINGS, COMPILED BY JACOB HARRIS, AN AMERICAN WHO SERVED AS A SENIOR POLICE ADVISOR IN VIETNAM AND THAILAND DURING THE VIETNAM WAR

by HARRIS, JACOB

  • Used
  • first
Condition
Used
Edition
First edition
Seller
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$15,000.00
$9.50 shipping to USA

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Vietnam, Thailand, and elsewhere in Asia as well as the United States, Europe, and the Middle East ca. 1964-1974: Compiled by Jacob Harris, an American who served as a Senior Police Advisor in Vietnam and Thailand during the Vietnam War, 1964 - 1974., 1964 - 1974. First edition. A large and remarkable archive of images from Vietnam and Thailand, covering the decade from the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the beginning of the buildup of American forces in Vietnam to a year before the evacuation of the American embassy. Most notable are the many images showing the training of local security forces by American civil and military advisors. The collection was compiled by Jacob Harris, an employee of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Public Safety (OPS), whose task was to train Vietnamese and Thai police and counterinsurgency forces. Most of the images, in the form of photographs and photographic slides, were created by Harris, his wife, or his associates, and… Read More
Item Price
$15,000.00
$9.50 shipping to USA
Autograph letter signed, with engraved portrait of Teignmouth
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Autograph letter signed, with engraved portrait of Teignmouth

by Teignmouth, John Lord

  • Used
  • very good
  • Signed
Condition
Used - Very Good
Seller
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$170.00
$4.70 shipping to USA

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Description:
Exmouth, Eng, 1800. Very Good. 1 folded sheet creating 4 pages; handwritten letter on 2 pages (signed), 1 page blank, address on the 4th page. Teignmouth notes that "Lady Teignmouth has lately presented me with another son." The engraved portrait (drawn by J. Richmond, engraved by W. Walker) was published by Hatchard & Sons in 1843. John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth (1751-1834) was an official of the East India Co. and served as Governor General of Bengal from 1793 to 1797; the following year he was created Baron Teignmouth. He was also the first president of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In Very Good Condition: letter is lightly creased; lightly soiled; print is lightly soiled in margins; indentation at upper edge; image is clean and crisp.
Item Price
$170.00
$4.70 shipping to USA
Handwritten letter from the Duke of Montrose regarding the Eastern Battalion of Stirlingshire...

Handwritten letter from the Duke of Montrose regarding the Eastern Battalion of Stirlingshire Volunteer Infantry

by Graham, James, 3rd Duke of Montrose

  • Used
  • very good
  • Signed
Condition
Used - Very Good
Seller
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$258.00
$4.70 shipping to USA

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1808. Very Good. 1 handwritten letter from the Duke of Montrose, dated 3 May 1808, London, responding to a request from Lt. Col. Simpson for scheduling the Eastern Battalion of Stirlingshire Volunteer Infantry for two weeks at Stirling. James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose (1755-1836), was a member of Parliament in 1780 and from 1784 to 1790 and is said to be responsible for the repeal of the act prohibiting the wearing of tartans in 1782. He was Master of the Horse from 1790 to 1795, and from 1807 to 1821, during which period this letter was written. In Very Good Condition: creasing; darkened along upper edge; light ink from another letter placed on top while damp.
Item Price
$258.00
$4.70 shipping to USA
Typed letter, signed, on Office of the Vice President letterhead, regarding Christian A. Herter, Jr.

Typed letter, signed, on Office of the Vice President letterhead, regarding Christian A. Herter, Jr.

by Nixon, Richard

  • Used
  • near fine
Condition
Used - Near Fine
Seller
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$232.00
$4.70 shipping to USA

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Washington, D.C.: Office of the Vice President, 1953. Near Fine. 1 typed letter on Office of the Vice President letterhead with eagl watermark, signed by Richard Nixon, dated 7 July 1953. Nixon was sending forms to Bryan F. LaPlante, Chief, Washington Area Security Operations, Atomic Energy Commission, to obtain a "Q" clearance for Christian A. Herter, Jr., who was to join Nixon's staff. Bears stamp of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission in lower corner. Christian A. Herter, Jr. (1919-2007), had served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives until his father, Christian A. Herter, Sr., was elected governor in 1953. Later that year he became an aide to Vice President Richard Nixon, travelling to Asia with him. In the 1960s he joined Mobil Oil, becoming Vice President in 1967. In 1970, then President Nixon appointed him deputy assistant secretary of state for environmental and population affairs. In Near Fine Condition: lightly creased; one small spot near left-hand edge; otherwise, clean… Read More
Item Price
$232.00
$4.70 shipping to USA
Correspondence from Julia Child to Beverly Jackson, with photographs and other materials
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Correspondence from Julia Child to Beverly Jackson, with photographs and other materials

by Child, Julia; Beverly Jackson

  • Used
Condition
Used
Seller
Alfred, Maine
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$7,500.00
$15.75 shipping to USA

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[Santa Barbara; Cambridge, 2003. A convolute of correspondence, photographs, and other materials documenting the relationship between American icon Julia Child, and Beverly Jackson, reporter, novelist, collector, and a legend of the social circles of Santa Barbara. The two were long-time friends, and neighbors in Santa Barbara's Montecito. ~ Contents: Fifteen original notecards or postcards, typed or handwritten, signed by Julia Child; one TLS; one fax, and one TLS in photocopy. Some on Child's Montecito Shores, Santa Barbara stationery, some on notecards of Julia Child Productions (SB), and some on notecards from the Irving Street, Cambridge home. Most of the correspondence is short, polite "thank yous" and quick inquiries, for visits, meals shared, etc. ~ Eight original photographs (various sizes & dates), including black and white press print by Alan Berliner (of Julia with Robert Mondavi and Robert Balzer); Julia with Reginald Faletti (1978) by Jackson; color snapshots of Julia in her kitchen,… Read More
Item Price
$7,500.00
$15.75 shipping to USA
Opposition et cases conjuguées sont reconciliées par Duchamp et Halberstadt = Opposition und...
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Opposition et cases conjuguées sont reconciliées par Duchamp et Halberstadt = Opposition und Schwesterfelder sind durch Duchamp et Halberstadt versöhnt = Opposition and sister squares are reconciled by Duchamp et Halberstadt.

by Henri Robert Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and Vitaly Halberstadt with letter from Duchamp

  • Used
  • Paperback
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good to fine
Edition
First
Binding
Paperback
Seller
Fort Worth, Texas
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$7,500.00
$7.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
112+[1 ad] pages with diagrams and errata laid in. Square folio (12 1/4" x 10 1/4") bound in original publisher's wrappers in original onionskin jacket with a handwritten letter signed by Marcel Duchamp housed in a handcrafted archival enclosure by Octavaye. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 2273) First edition.
Letter by Marcel Duchamp to Richard Hulbeck 25 October 1947. Reads as follows: Dear Hulbeck, The pictures are not back and I am afraid won't be back for some months. Schweizer, the representative there is in France and is coming back in a few weeks or days. He will have exact information about the return of the shipment. Don't worry and I will call you up some day soon. Affectueusement Marcel.
Richard Hulsenbeck (1892-1972) was a German writer, poet and psychoanalyst. In 1920 he was editor of the Dada Almanach and wrote Dada siegt-Eine Bilanz des Dadaismus. After emigration to USA in 1923 he changed his name to Hulbeck.Curiosity has impelled the authors to elucidate a question which… Read More
Item Price
$7,500.00
$7.00 shipping to USA
George Francis Train Signed Letter, 1863, With Ephemera

George Francis Train Signed Letter, 1863, With Ephemera

by Train, George Francis

  • Used
  • Signed
Condition
Used
Seller
Van Nuys, California
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$150.00
$4.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
, . 5" x 8" signed letter on personal stationery from George Francis Train (1829-1904), visionary businessman, powerful financier, charismatic orator, passionate political activist, and legendary world traveler, who was known as much for his successes as for his eccentricities. A short list of his achievements would include establishing a line of clipper ships at age sixteen to sail from Boston around the tip of South America to San Francisco in order to serve those desiring to join in the Gold Rush; creating a track-guided horse tram in the cities of London and Birkenhead, England; partnering with Thomas C. Durant in the formation of the Union Pacific Railroad; organizing Credit Mobilier America to finance construction of the Transcontinental Railroad (later the object of scandal); founding Credit Foncier to raise capital for the purchase of land along the rail route; thrice circumnavigating the globe—first in 80 days, then 67, and finally 60 (reportedly inspiring the Jules Verne novel);… Read More
Item Price
$150.00
$4.50 shipping to USA
The Witness Collection
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The Witness Collection

by Chambers, Whittaker [Alger Hiss, Scott Nearing, Richard Nixon et al.]

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Chicago, Illinois
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$6,500.00
$12.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
Rare books, documents, correspondence, and ephemera, 1964. Chambers, Whittaker: Witness: New York: Random House, 1952. First edition, first printing. Octavo. Original black boards and red top-stain and original dust jacket (not price-clipped). Faint toning to endpapers and spotting and dusting to page block; minor rubbing and edgewear to dust jacket, else near-fine. A bright and exceptional first printing of this notoriously brittle classic. Chambers, Whittaker: Cold Friday: New York: Random House, 1964. First edition, first printing. Octavo. Original blue cloth with gold titling to spine and green top-stain and original dust jacket (not price-clipped). Small abrasion to front free endpaper and minor rubbing and edgewear to dust jacket with small closed tear to top hinge, else near-fine, which is uncommon for this increasingly hard to find book. Chambers, Whittaker: Can You Hear Their Voices? A Short Story: New York: International Pamphlets, 1932. First edition. Stapled pamphlet. 5 x 7 inches, 31… Read More
Item Price
$6,500.00
$12.00 shipping to USA