Description:

O'Neill Eugene

1p ALS on "Casa Genotta, Sea Island, Georgia" letterhead inscribed overall and signed by American playwright Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) as "Eugene O'Neill" at center right. In very good to near fine condition with expected paper folds and overall light toning. A few wrinkles and discolored spots. Page measures 5.75" x 8.5".

On July 21, 1933 from his home Casa Genotta, O'Neill gave a certain "Mr. de Navarro" his apologies and thanks. "Please pardon the lateness of this reply. It is not my fault. Your letter was held up in forwarding and did not arrive here until yesterday. I am only too gratified that you wish to dedicate your new novel to me! Of course, you have my permission. I shall look forward to reading it -- and, again, my hopes for its success and all good wishes to you."

The identity of O'Neill's correspondent is unclear. It may have been Carlos de Navarro, who, along with collaborator Sydney Stone, co-wrote the Broadway production A Love Scandal. This romantic comedy was performed only 24 times at New York City's Ambassador Theater in 1923. Perhaps de Navarro's experience with playwriting inspired him to turn to novel writing?

Eugene O'Neill is regarded as one of America's best modern playwrights. He attended classes at Princeton and Harvard, and tried his hand at seafaring and journalism before committing full-time to writing. O'Neill joined the thriving literary communities of Greenwich Village and Provincetown in the 1910s. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright's work was often autobiographical, searing, and emotionally complex. His Long Day's Journey Into Night (published 1956), for example, was based on O'Neill's real life dysfunctional family dynamics. O'Neill's best known comedy Ah, Wilderness, premiered on Broadway three months after he wrote this letter.

O'Neill and third wife actress Carlotta Monterey (1888-1970) had a summer home in Sea Island, Georgia after 1932. Called Casa Genotta after a playful combination of Gene and Carlotta's names, the Italianate mansion was designed by architect Francis Louis Abreu.

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