Description:

Crane Stephen 1871 - 1900 Stephen Crane, author of Red Badge of Courage, writes to his publisher about payment to his agent



Single page ALS, 7" x 9", on James Pinker, Artistic and Literary Agent/Effingham House, London letterhead. Boldly signed by Stephen Crane as "Stephen Crane" and dated "July 12th, 1899". Expected center fold, overall light staining more prominent to verso and light handling marks. Pencil note to recto.

Stephen Crane was an example of a shooting star whose short, ill fated life came to an abrupt end. This letter, written to the publisher of his final work, The Monster, was written on the letterhead of his literary agent James Pinker (who was infamous in his own right). Crane had started writing at the age of four and had published several articles by the age of 16. He won international acclaim for his 1895 Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage, which he wrote without any battle experience.

James Pinker was the foremost British literary agent in the first third of the 20th century. Professional literary agents were a phenomenon of the late 19th century in Britain, a boon to authors struggling on their own to secure publication and to collect adequate royalties. Pinker was an energetic and highly effective agent for innumerable authors, including Stephen Crane.

Cranes letter to Harper and Brothers, his publisher for his final novel, The Monster, makes reference to his upcoming payment and unforturnately also his financial difficulties as he pens that he wishes to use his upcoming royalties directly pay his literary agent in lieu of coming to him first.

His letter is shown in full below:

"July 12th, 1899

... Harper & Bros

I shall be sending the remainder of the stories commissioned by you through (illegible) Pinker who is sending you by his mail in the (illegible) I shall be glad if you will accept this as my authority to pay him all sums of money accruing to me from this date.

(on Verso)

Faithfully yours

Stephen Crane"

Stephen Crane last few years prior to this letter where filled with complications starting in 1896, when Crane endured a highly publicized scandal after acting as witness for a suspected prostitute. Late that year he accepted an offer to cover the Spanish-American War as a war correspondent. As he waited in Jacksonville, Florida for passage to Cuba, he met Cora Taylor, the madam of a brothel, with whom he would have a lasting relationship. Then, while en route to Cuba, Crane's ship sank off the coast of Florida, leaving him adrift for several days in a dinghy. His ordeal was later described in The Open Boat. During the final years of his life, he covered conflicts in Greece and lived in England with Cora, where he befriended writers such as Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells. Plagued by financial difficulties and ill health, Crane died of tuberculosis in a Black Forest sanatorium at the age of 28

Stephen Crane's letter would have been written just a year before his death, which no doubt explains his financial problems with his payments to his agent which he is attempting to resolve with his royalties from his publisher. Ironically The Monster is now considered one of Crane's best works

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