Lot 225
  • 225

Toklas, Alice B.

Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 USD
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Description

  • ink on paper
Group of 13 autograph letters and 2 autograph postcards signed ("Alice," "Alice T.," "A.B.T."), 17 pages (most 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.; 210 x 133 mm, on her rue Christine letterhead), Paris and Girona, Spain, 17 March 1951–10 November 1955, to Nancy Hamilton; horizontal folds.  13 autograph envelopes.  Half tan morocco clamshell case, gilt-lettered spine. 

Condition

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

A fine collection of letters from Alice B. Toklas to Nancy Hamilton, American playwright and companion of actress Katharine Cornell.  Commenting on the problems Hamilton and Cornell are having with their project for a film about Helen Keller, Toklas looks back to the rejections Gertrude Stein suffered when trying to publish her work: "Alas, that your film should not find the real right producer.  Those of them who do not start debased quickly become so by the facile … vulgarity which interests them.  Gertrude and I lived through twenty years of refusals.  It is not enough consolation to know that it is proof of excellence, for one who has vision.  He exists somewhere, but where.  This is cold comfort to offer, of course you will succeed eventually, but you want Miss Keller to share the success …."