Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -
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Sale 2697 - Lot 274

Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
(MALCOLM X.) Important collection from Alex Haley's estate, including 3 items signed or annotated by Malcolm X. 38 items (7 Malcolm X press releases from 1963-1964; 28 items in Haley's Doubleday correspondence file, 1963-1969; 2 other pieces of correspondence; and a musical tribute to Malcolm X dated 1971), various sizes; generally minor wear. All housed in an elegant black morocco custom folding case with "X" cut out on the front board, exposing the underlying wood, with the spine title "Alex Haley, Malcolm X." Various places, 1963-1971 and undated
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Additional Details

Alex Haley (1921-1992) collaborated with Malcolm X on "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," which was published in 1965. This collection includes material purchased at Alex Haley's 1992 estate sale: original press releases of Malcolm X speeches (one bearing his manuscript note); original correspondence regarding the production of the Autobiography; two letters bearing Malcolm X's signature; and a telegram sent by Malcolm X to Haley. In full:

Packet of Malcolm X articles and speeches released as mimeographed press releases, from the collection of Alex Haley. 7 items, letter-sized or folded legal-sized, bound at top edge with punch fastener into later folder titled "Speeches by Malcolm X"; folds, moderate dampstaining. Includes: 1) Open letter to President Kennedy, 1 page, 16 February 1963. 2) "Racism: The Cancer that is Destroying America," "written special for the Egyptian Gazette," [12] pages, with manuscript note in Alex Haley's hand, "Take problem to United Nations," dated 25 August 1964 in manuscript. 3) "The 2nd African Summit Conference." 11 pages, with manuscript note "Press conference at Shepherd's in Cairo, Aug 22 '64." 4) "The message which Malcolm X sent to the Organization of African Unity." 1 page plus cover sheet. Cairo, 7 August 1964 printing of 28 July speech. 5) "This speech was made by Minister Malcolm X . . . at the Shubaan Al-Muslimeen (the Young Men's Muslim Association)." 3 pages plus cover sheet. Cairo, 6 August 1964 printing of 27 July speech. 6) Address to "Their Excellencies, First Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Governments, Organization of African Unity." 9 pages, with manuscript note in Malcolm X's hand on verso of final page: "Here is a copy of the memorandum, so you won't have to call Theresa for it after all as I suggested in my letter." Cairo, 17 July 1964." 7) "Statement to the Press by Malcolm X." 1 page. 8 March 1964.

Packet of correspondence of Alex Haley from the publishers Doubleday & Co. regarding the "Autobiography of Malcolm X." 28 items, most of them Letters Signed to Haley, a few of his retained typescript carbons, plus a few other documents. Two items are signed by Malcolm X. A letter to Haley dated 24 October 1963 concerning advance payments was shared with Malcolm X, who added his signed manuscript note: "I have no objections to the terms you have made with Mr. Haley as mentioned above; as long as you remember that the other half goes not to me, but to Muhammad's Mosque. Malcolm X." A letter dated 17 December 1963 proposes an amendment to the original book contract terms, with the signatures of Malcolm X and Haley at bottom, although not the publisher's signature. The earliest items are two photocopied letters 16 and 17 September 1963, regarding the publisher's legal concerns that the manuscript might be libelous of Bull Connor and "old style negro leaders" including Martin Luther King: "Mr. Haley (who'd be a party in any lawsuit) might be better acquainted with what statements like this entail. I gather that Malcolm X does not own any personal property, so a libel action would probably not seem much of a threat to him." A carbon of Haley's 11 October 1963 letter expresses his desire to "present the style of Malcolm, the demagogue, sometimes ragged at the edges, sometimes quasi-dulcet, sometimes pounding, without obvious intrusion by the 'as told to' writer." 9 of the letters are dated after Malcolm X's death, through 1969. Most of these letters relate to Haley's follow-up project, tentatively titled "Before This Anger," which later evolved into "Roots." A letter from editor Lisa Drew dated 16 November 1967 asks "Does December 1 still seem like a realistic delivery date? . . . We are so anxious to read it." Haley's 6 April 1969 letter assured an editor: "It is going to be a very major book, no question about it." Roots would not be published until 1976.

Malcolm X telegram to Alex Haley in Rome, NY. "Will probably be here in Miami until after Tuesday and back in New York by Wednesday. Sorry for the delay. My phone number here is NE 36011, Room 115. M Sahabazz" [sic]. Miami, 20 February 1963.

Autograph Letter Signed by Malik Latif Shabazz to "Dear sir" [Alex Haley]. This letter is in a later folder suggesting that it was written by Malcolm X, but the content and signature suggest that it was not. After the death of Malcolm X, a Philadelphia supporter with this name wrote a May 1965 letter to the magazine "The Crisis" which was published in their June-July 1965 issue. [Philadelphia, undated].

Charles Bestor. "In Memoriam for Choir, Brasses, Percussion and Reader, to Texts from 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X.'" [58] pages, photostatic copy of unpublished manuscript musical score. Folio, 18 x 12 inches, spiral-bound, with manuscript wrapper; minor wear and toning. [Salem, OR, 1971]. Alex Haley spoke at Oregon's Willamette University on 10 February 1971. The school's dean of music, Charles Bestor, had been working on a choral tribute to Malcolm X for years, and debuted his work in honor of Haley's appearance. This copy is inscribed by the composer "To Alex Haley, with deepest respect, Charles Bestor" on the title page. See the Salem Capital Journal of 23 January and 5 February 1971. OCLC lists one other copy of this composition, at the University of Colorado.

Provenance: most or all of these items were purchased at the Alex Haley estate auction held by Kimball M. Sterling Inc. of Johnson City, TN on 1 October 1992. The "Speeches" folder bears a tag as lot #1 in that sale, and the Doubleday folder was lot #7. The custom case was commissioned by the purchaser.

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