MELVILLE HERMAN Autograph Letter Signed H Melville to his wi

Sale 2584 - Lot 113

Price Realized: $ 10,000

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000

MELVILLE, HERMAN. Autograph Letter Signed, "H. Melville," to his wife's cousin Ellen Marrett Gifford ("My Dear Mrs. Gifford"), telling her to expect a book and a communication from his wife. 1 page, 8vo; horizontal fold; morocco chemise and cloth slipcase. [New York], 6 November 1888

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

"By mail I send you a small volume, some portions of which, I hope, may prove more or less interesting to you. --Lizzie tells me she is about writing you, so I leave her to tell you whatever news there may be."
Published in College Literature vol. 2, no. 3 (Fall 1975): 229.
Melville wrote several letters to Mrs. Gifford over the years, some including his unpublished poems. The book mentioned in this letter was likely a limited edition of his John Marr and Other Sailors (1888). Gifford bequeathed Melville her membership in the New York Society Library, which, upon her death in 1889, Melville enjoyed until he died in 1891.