Description:

Williams Tennessee

Large brown bulk mailing envelope, 13" x 10". Front of envelope addressed in type "Jim Adams / 1431 Duncan St / Key West, FL 33040". The verso of the envelope is covered in entirety by a giant letter written entirely in the hand of Tennessee Williams to "Dear Jim" and signed by him as "Love, Tom". Envelope folded with two creases and faintly soiled.

A highly unique ALS by Tennessee Williams, penned in strong contrasting ink, and in large font, with an enormous signature. The tone of the letter written to Jim Adams, Tennessee's cousin, is stressed, agitated and anxious. Other letters we have handled by Tennessee to Jim often show Williams reaching out to him for assistance, moral support, and guidance. This fantastic piece has a similar theme and is shown in full below:

"Dear Jim,

There is a lot of confusion + agitation chez Von Phister and I hope that you and Stell will come chez Duncan St. for supper so we can talk it all out. I know how delinquent I have been - my health + nerves …

Love, Tom"



Although the letter is somewhat cryptic, we know that William's sister, Rose, lived at 915 Von Phister St. the address of which is referred to in his letter. His sister struggled with schizophrenia earlier in 1943 requiring her to have a lobotomy which permanently disabled her. The "agitation and confusion" he writes of occurs at her house ("chez Von Phister"). His wish to meet Jim at "chez Duncan st" is playful 'code' for his personal home address of 1431 Duncan Street, his address at Key West since 1950 and where Tennessee lived for 34 years until his death. Williams was part of the literary movement that resulted in Key West and the Florida Keys being recognized as the cultural and historical location it is today.

The stress created by Tennessee's sister is believed to have been one of the catalysts that pushed Tennessee into a life of excesses and dependence on alcohol, amphetamines and barbiturates. However, regardless of the cause, this struggle remained with him for his life and is even hypothesized to have contributed to his bizarre death.

A phenomenal and highly revealing glimpse into the very personal side of the life of Tennessee Williams.

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