Sep 28, 2023 - Sale 2646

Sale 2646 - Lot 160

Price Realized: $ 688
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350
(FILM.) Correspondence of early Boston Post film columnist Idella Emery. 14 letters to and from Idella Emery of the Boston Post; staining to a few letters, minimal wear, tobacco scent. Various places, bulk 1918-1920
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Additional Details

Idella E. Emery (1898-1962) got her start writing the "Movie Answer Man" column for the Boston Post at the age of 18. The 1920 census shows her living with her divorced father in a Somerville, MA rooming house. Later in 1920 she became the Los Angeles correspondent for Photo Play Journal, and film columnist for the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News; she married ad man Harry Handley and remained active in film through at least 1927.

This small taste of the silent film era includes 5 letters written by Idella Emery, all returned to her unclaimed: one seeking the autograph of actor Addison Madeira in 1915, before she began working as a columnist; and 4 on Boston Post letterhead from 1919. One, addressed to actor Robert Walker, describes her efforts to syndicate her column. Others are addressed to actors June Daye (a.k.a. Vinnie Burns), Virginia Pearson, and Arthur Bates.

Also included are 6 letters from S.E. Snyder of Los Angeles, publicist for Bessie Barriscale's BB Features, a pioneering woman-owned film production company. Each is written on illustrated BB Features letterhead. Snyder discusses western film star William Hart: "Every once in awhile I hear that Bill is going to retire and go back to his Connecticut farm, but just between you and me, Idella, I've got a kind of hunch that five or ten thousand a week looks pretty good to Bill, and I won't believe he's going back to the old homestead until he tells me good-bye." He also discusses his boss, Bessie Barriscale, "undoubtedly the hardest worker in motion pictures, among the women stars. She is on the job early and late. . . . She is putting her heart and soul, as well as her body, into this picture game." Finally, the collection includes a letter and two telegrams from a friend named "Jonesy."