Jun 13, 2017 - Sale 2451

Sale 2451 - Lot 199

Price Realized: $ 1,375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
WALL, BERNHARDT. Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech. Miniature book accompanied by Typed Letter Signed to Williams. 34 miniature etchings, plus cover label and etchers slip, printed in black, green, and brown inks. 47x34 mm, bound by Wall in green buckram with etched cover label. Letter is a single cropped 8vo sheet, with his etched letterhead. 5 July 1946. Book is copy number one of 200 copies created, bound, and signed by wall. Sierra Madre, 1946
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

The letter serves as a gift inscription to Williams: "Herewith No. ONE of Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech. I just had to do this. The other miniature went over 60 copies in a month. I did not expect such a thing . . . I feel like a kid playing with a toy." With a second Typed Letter Signed by Wall to Williams accompanied by an inscribed and signed copy of the miniature book Addresses of Abraham Lincoln. 21x16 mm, gilt-lettered red calf. Kingsport Press, Kingsport, Tenn, 1919 "a little gem . . . you will have much pleasure owning and showing it." The letter is rather intimate, explaining his recent decision to marry again after the death of his wife, Jane, for the sake of having a partner to look after him, to dispel gossip of possible romances with female friends, to help him keep house, and nurture his work "Please do not think me mercenary. Doris had been known to Jane . . . we liked her much." And invites her to stay with them when the Williamses visit the 1939 World's Fair and mentions a recent visit from Dard Hunter. 4 pages, 8vo, Lime Rock 25 September, 1939.