Description:

Shirley Jackson
[North Bennington, VT], "Friday"
Super Scarce Shirley Jackson TLS With Great Literary Content: Page-Turning Reading, Overflowing Library & "next bookhunters [sic] convention in Westport"
TLS

A 2pp typed letter signed by American writer Shirley Jackson (1916-1965), as "Shirley" in blue ink near the top of the second page. "Friday." [North Bennington, Vermont.] Typed on either side of custom stationery with "Shirley Jackson / North Bennington, Vermont" letterhead. Much of the original letter lacks proper capitalization, and there are scattered spelling errors. Expected wear including a flattened horizontal transmittal fold and a few extra wrinkles. Uneven toning, with scattered darkening to edges. A tiny hole located near bottom left recto, nowhere near the text. Else very good to near fine. 5.125" x 6.5."

Shirley Jackson letters are exceedingly rare. During the last 40 years or so, only two instances of Shirley Jackson signed correspondence have come to market, according to Rare Book Hub; this was a Shirley Jackson typed letter signed sold at RR Auctions in 2018, and a Shirley Jackson letter signed offered within an 11-piece literary lot at Swann Galleries in 1993.

Jackson wrote this letter to an unknown correspondent who was also a writer, thanking him for having sent her a new book which she praises as a "rich meaty novel with pictures that will keep me off mysteries stories for a month." This gifted book appears to have been co-written by three authors, all of whom belonged to an unofficial literary circle which Jackson refers to as "the seven sinners." Jackson wrote: "Getting a book from the seven sinners is no new thing. Getting a book, even, that I wanted from the seven sinners is not a very new thing. But getting a book I wanted from the seven sinners FREE is something I can hardly believe…"

Jackson's correspondent may have lived in Westport, Connecticut, where Jackson and her husband, the literary critic and magazine writer Stanley Hyman, had lived for several years. Jackson and Hyman had lived at 18 Indian Hill Road in Westport, Connecticut between October 1949 and April 1952. During this period, they frequently hosted riotous parties whose guests included both local and international literary celebrities like J.D. Salinger, Ralph Ellison, and Dylan Thomas. In the conclusion of the letter, Jackson proposes a future get-together on the occasion of "the next bookhunters [sic]convention in Westport" in which partygoers will "…play belotte [sic] [referring to belote, a 32-card 4-person card game]… We can drink and tell lies, and make leek soup and play be[e]poker…"

Jackson also mentions her and her husband's impressive combined personal library, which one biographer estimated contained approximately 25,000 volumes. Jackson wrote: "I was able to read about eight pages of [the gifted book] last night before Stanley snatched it away from me to put on the shelves in the dining room with Shirley's Junk… you will be surprised the next time you see the books. We have filled up the Fourth Wall so high that the back bedroom looks like it did when the books first came. Stanley says this is progress, only I can't help wishing it way you guys carrying the cartons, not me…"

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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  • Dimensions: 5.125" x 6.5"
  • Medium: TLS

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