Description:

J.D. Salinger 1962 TLS Re: "The Catcher & the Rye" Milestone: "Happy Anniversary. Hard to believe we've been together all that long"

A 1p typed letter signed by American writer J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) as "Jerry" at center bottom. June 20, 1962. The location lists Salinger's post office box in Windsor, Vermont, just a few miles from his Cornish, New Hampshire home. Typed on white paper, with a caret mark in pencil inserted between lines 11 and 12. Likely clerical notations include a check mark in black colored pencil at upper left, and a partially erased pencil inscription at lower right. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, else near fine. The sight size of the letter is 8" x 9.75." The letter is handsomely displayed in a mahogany-finished frame and flanked by a portrait of Salinger on the left, and an engraved biographical plaque on the right. Matted and framed behind glass. Not examined out of the frame. Expected surface wear to the frame including scuffs and scratches. The frame overall measures 30.25" x 17.25" x 1.5."

Salinger wrote this letter to Ned Bradford, the editor-in-chief at the Boston-based publisher Little, Brown, and Company, with whom he had worked to publish his novels "The Catcher In The Rye" in July 1951, and, most recently, "Franny & Zooey" in July 1961. The letter is jampacked with terrific literary content. In the letter, Salinger refers to two of his most important works; his agent, Dorothy Olding McKeown; and the 1960s world of publishing and literary criticism. Portions of the letter have been electronically redacted to protect the privacy of the author and the letter's recipient. The letter itself has no redaction and is legible in full.

Salinger refers to an approaching milestone: the 11th anniversary of the publication of "The Catcher In The Rye" in July 1962. Salinger offered his best wishes to Bradford: "Happy Anniversary. Hard to believe we've been together all that long."

The author expresses pleasure that an unmentioned book, almost certainly "Franny & Zooey," is succeeding commercially. Salinger's novel about the tribulations of siblings Franny and Zooey Glass delighted readers, and it remained on the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers' List for 26 weeks in 1961-1962. In this letter, Salinger rhapsodizes about the printing layout and quality of the "Franny & Zooey" American first edition. Salinger was notoriously demanding--even obsessive--about publishing specifications, a fault that he alludes to in our letter as "possibly unwholesome." A New York employee of Little, Brown and Company named J. Randall Williams recalled that Salinger reviewed over 25 samples of white before selecting the exact shade he wanted for the "Franny & Zooey" front cover!

Salinger also mentions the "Grunwald party book" that had been forwarded to his longtime literary agent, Dorothy Olding McKeown (1910-1997). This probably refers to a collection of critical essays published about Salinger the same year, edited by Henry Grunwald (1922-2005) of "Time" Magazine. Grunwald edited and wrote the introduction for "Salinger, a Critical and Personal Portrait" (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), in which fellow writers and literary critics like John Updike, Arthur Mizener, and Alfred Kazin reviewed Salinger's work to date. In our letter, Salinger sarcastically dismisses the review as a product typical of the soulless Henry Luce machine, referring to Henry Luce (1898-1967), the founder and editor-in-chief of "Time," "Life" and other influential journals.

J.D. Salinger reached cult status after the publication of his 1951 novel "The Catcher in the Rye," which captured the jaded zeitgeist of a postwar adolescent generation. Salinger profiled members of the zany Glass Family in a string of short stories and novels including "Franny and Zooey" (1961).

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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