CHESNUTT CHARLES Autograph Letter Signed House Behind the C

Sale 2377 - Lot 370

Unsold

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

CHESNUTT, CHARLES. Autograph Letter Signed * House Behind the Cedars. Two page ALS together with a rather worn copy of the book referred to in the letter; binding sloped, and dulled. should be seen. Cleveland Ohio; New York, respectively, 1900

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Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932), a mixed race author, attorney and civil rights activist, was the first African American novelist whose work crossed into the white mainstream. Here, he writes to Ms. Maude Jones replying to a request for his autograph. He also answers her query about how to get in touch with poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. "You will pardon my delay in answering your kind note, as I was out of town at the time and have only just got back to my desk. It is interesting to think that my autograph might give you pleasure. I do not know the address of Mr. Paul Lawrence Dunbar, but he resides in New York, and a letter directed in care of his publishers Messrs Dodd, Mead and Co 5th Avenue & 21st St, New York will doubtless reach him. I hope you may read my new book The House Behind the Cedars which will be out late October." Chesnutt's book, like many of his writings, addresses the issues of race and social standing based on skin tone, drawing from his own experience.