Description:

Eugene O'Neill ALS: "I've been 'on the wagon' for almost two years - retired permanently from the ring"; With Bonus Early Press Photo

An autograph letter signed by American playwright Eugene O'Neill (1889-1968) accompanied by its original transmittal envelope, along with a 1920s publicity photo of O'Neill with the original press caption, the items contained in two fancy collector's clamshell cases.

The lot is comprised of:

1. A 1p autograph letter signed by Eugene O'Neill as "Gene" at lower right. Written on August 18, [n.y.] at O'Neill's home Spithead in Warwick, Bermuda. On a single half page of watermarked paper embossed "Spithead / Bermuda" at the letterhead. Expected wear including light overall toning, edge darkening, paper folds, and a few extra wrinkles and slightly bent corners, else very good. 8.5" x 5.5." Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope also engrossed by O'Neill and postmarked from Hamilton, Bermuda. The return address panel is embossed "Eugene O'Neill / Spithead / Bermuda." Expected soiling, heavy wrinkling, and loss to the upper right corner. Neatly letter-opened and hole-punched. Both items are housed in a handsome blue, cream, and brown marbled custom clamshell case with gilt leather spine reading "O'Neill / Letter to / Smith." The case measures 9.5" x 11.75" x 1."

O'Neill wrote an old friend named Joseph B. Smith, in part:

"Dear Joe:

Yes, I sent a check back to you by return steamer that time. It's never been cancelled. I guess someone must have thought there would be cash in it and frisked your letter box, or something. I'm sure I had your address right. Anyway, in case of a wrong address it would have been returned to me.

I'm enclosing the same again. I'd make it more but it's been a bad past season and I'm pretty cash flat myself. I'm coming up to New York in a few weeks and I want very much to look you up and have a talk about the old days. I've been 'on the wagon' for almost two years - permanently from the ring - and gotten grey-haired a lot but outside of that I haven't changed. I'll look you up at your address.

All best:

Gene."

The identity of O'Neill's correspondent Joseph B. Smith is unknown, yet Smith's Cornelia Street address, deep in the heart of Greenwich Village in New York City, suggests that he might have been one of O'Neill's old drinking buddies, possibly a starving satellite of the Greenwich Village intellectual orbit. This supposition seems to be further supported by the fact that O'Neill was sending Smith money.

O'Neill's comment about being "on the wagon" almost certainly referred to his ongoing struggle to maintain sobriety. Elsewhere, on December 31, 1925, O'Neill used the same metaphor of being "on [the] wagon" to describe his attempts at drying out. In the early-1920s through the mid-1920s, O'Neill attempted a different strategy to reduce his drinking, by seeing several noted American psychoanalysts, Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe (1866-1945) and Dr. Gilbert Van Tassel Hamilton (1877-1943). The two doctors helped O'Neill understand the root causes of his periodic and severe alcoholism. The doctors ventured that O'Neill's depression, excessive drinking, violent episodes, and marital trouble could be linked to a host of factors, such as his family history of addiction, latent homosexuality, Oedipal impulses, or alternately, an irrational hatred of women. The therapy worked for O'Neill, at least for a time, and also gave him ideas for a future play about the relationship between therapist and patient.

O'Neill and his second wife, British-born writer Agnes Boulton (1893-1968), lived in Bermuda between ca. 1924-1927. The move was intended to improve their physical and mental health, and enable them to focus on work and family. The couple initially lived in rental cottages in Paget Parish with their son Shane O'Neill (1919-1977), before moving to Spithead, a pink-washed eighteenth-century Georgian mansion formerly owned by British privateer Hezekiah Fiske. Their daughter Oona O'Neill (1925-1991) was born in Bermuda, and later inherited Spithead.

2. A glossy black and white publicity photo of O'Neill, stamped in blue in part verso as "Notice. This photograph must not be used for trade or advertising purposes without written permission. Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N.Y. This Picture is sold to you for your publication only and must not be syndicated, rented or loaned…" Accompanied by its original typewritten press label with Underwood & Underwood photo credits, the caption with original spelling reading: "Eugene O'Neil, son the late James O'Neil, playwrite whose meteoric rise several seasons ago startled play going America from its blaise attitude toward American drama. Nothing, but successes are expected of Mr. O'Neil and his creative talent promises fulfillment of all expectations. 1-5-23." Expected wear including some superficial scuffs to the photo surface, and two notched corners. Expected wrinkles to the paper caption. The photo measures 6.5" x 8.625." Housed in a blue, white, and burgundy feathered custom clamshell case with gilt leather spine reading "O'Neill / Photo- / graph" measuring 8.75" x 12.75" x 1."

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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