WILDER THORNTON Autograph Letter Signed Thornton to his high

Sale 2686 - Lot 144

Price Realized: $ 344

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

Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

TO HIS HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER: "THORNTON LOVES HIS TEACHER" WILDER, THORNTON. Autograph Letter Signed, "Thornton," to his high school English teacher Fannie McLean, mostly in pencil, expressing appreciation for news of his plays while serving in the U.S. Army, asking after common acquaintances [from his days at Berkeley High School], and expressing his love. 2 pages, 8vo, written on the recto and verso of a single sheet; horizontal folds, even toning overall. With the original envelope, addressed in holograph and additionally signed, "T.N. Wilder," twice. "HQ M[editerranean] A[llied] A[ir] F[orces] . . . somewhere in Italy," 30 October 1944

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". . . I still like to hear about the plays tho' I've been in the Army 2½ years and writing new ones is out of the question.
"Your letter also brought back memories of yourself and the Berkeley I shall always love. My first assignment in the Ar'd Forces was to Hamilton Field near San Raphael, but none of my short leaves quite gave me the opportunity to go over the Bay and look it over again at my leisure.
"If you know any of the players in that performance give them my thanks. And if you ever see Mr. Biedenbach, or Miss Dunbar or Miss Juth, give them my dutiful and affectionate regard. And as for you, I don't care how many of the boys write on the pavement: Thornton loves his teacher."
Fannie Williams McLean (1862-1951) was a U.C. Berkeley graduate who became a leader in the women's suffrage movement while teaching English at Berkeley High School, where she was named vice principal in 1915--the year Thornton Wilder graduated from that school.