Description:

E.E. Cummings TLS With Original Pencil Elephant Doodle; Plus 2 Pcs of Bonus Material from Partner Marion Morehouse

A small archive of material related to modern poet Edward Estlin "E.E." Cummings (1894-1962), including a 1p typed letter signed by him with an original drawing; a 4pp autograph letter signed by his longtime partner, Marion Morehouse (1906-1969); a Christmas card signed by Morehouse for Cummings and herself; and two original transmittal envelopes engrossed by Morehouse.

The lot is comprised of:

1. A 1p typed letter signed by E.E. Cummings as "EEC" at right, with a wonderful original pencil drawing of a stampeding elephant at the letterhead (Cummings was also an accomplished illustrator and painter.) Written at Cummings's longtime flat at 4 Patchin Place in Greenwich Village, New York City on October 13, 1946. On watermarked paper typed "4 Patchin Place" near the bottom. Cummings has marked an acute accent in pencil above the word "naivete" in the third paragraph. Expected light transmittal folds, else near fine. 8.5" x 11." Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope engrossed by Marion Morehouse, including her signature for Cummings as "E.E. Cummings" on the return address panel verso.

Cummings wrote his friend and fellow poet Theodore Spencer (1902-1949) in part, with unchanged spelling, punctuation, and other usage:

"thanks for the Two Towers! Very few pro tem denizens of a nonworld nineteen-eighteenths buried in radiopuke and moviemerde can possibly or otherwise enjoy receiving your churches as much as myself

I thank you also for beeing Allen T's bonnet about faerietales

and again for the delightful dinner con Richards,whom(with perhaps even more than my usual naiveté) had supposed to be a sort of an unkind of a subhumansupergadget…"

E.E. Cummings, best-known for his experimental poetical style, employs some of the same unconventional literary elements in this letter. These unexpected oddities of usage, typical of Cummings's poetry, include:

- A lack of capitalization, though selective, not exclusive (ex. beginning new sentences with lower case letters, but capitalizing the proper noun "Allen T");

- A lack of spacing between characters and words (ex: "Richards,whom(with… [sic]");

- A scattering of foreign words and phrases (ex: "bonne chance" [French for "good luck"]);

- Invented compound words of satisfying phonetic quality (ex. "radiopuke and moviemerde" ["merde" means "shit" in French);

- Interesting imagery including the metaphor of a bee in a bonnet translated as "beeing Allen T's bonnet."

Theodore Spencer had earned his doctorate at Harvard University (Cummings's alma mater) in 1928, and served as a Professor of English there between 1927 and his death in 1949.

Also included are two pieces of bonus material written by Marion Morehouse, Cummings's last romantic partner and possibly his third wife (their marital status remains unclear.) Morehouse was one of the most famous fashion models of the 1920s and 1930s, posing for "Vogue" and "Vanity Fair." She met E.E. in 1934 and the couple lived together at 4 Patchin Place until the poet's death in 1962.

2. A 4pp autograph letter signed by Morehouse as "Marion" at the end of the last page. Written at 4 Patchin Place in New York City on October 1, 1946, and discussing the same dinner hosted by Spencer mentioned in Cummings's October 13th letter. Thus, we can compare Marion's "normal" thank you note (dated October 1st) with Cummings's rather fantastical one (dated October 13th), side by side. Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope also in Morehouse's hand and initialed "M.M.C." on the return address panel verso.

In the letter, Marion mentions Cummings's "strange rather abstract hatred of the British" along with a potential future project with "Harper's Bazaar" illustrating fairy tales.

3. A Christmas card signed by Morehouse as "Cummings + Marion" and also signed as "M."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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