Dec 6, 2024 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
721
An unknown copy of a recently discovered Chandler story
Estate / Collection: The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection of Raymond Chandler
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
"It’s All Right -- He Only Died." A four page typed or carbon copy draft of the complete story, circa 1950s, with Chandler's name and address in type on the first leaf at upper right, at upper left there is an ink marking (possibly initials) and two manuscript corrections in the text. The sheets 11 x 8 1/2 inches (28 x 21.5 cm). Toned, faint vertical crease.
Raymond Chandler takes on the health care industry in this recently discovered and published story of a drunken, unconscious man who has been hit by a truck but is unable to provide the entrance fee to the hospital to receive treatment. The doctor decides to ship him off to the county hospital where they later find out he died of his injuries with $4000 in cash in his clothes. Chandler ends the story with an editorial note: "The law denies any man the right to take a life, but it does not impose the duty of saving a life ... all he had done was let a man die who might have died anyhow. All he had done was disgrace himself as a person, as a healer..."
The present copy hitherto unknown, another copy of this story was discovered by Andrew F. Gulli in the Chandler archives at the Bodleian Library at Oxford and published in Strand Magazine in 2017. Rarely does Chandler take on an activist role in his writing but he did tend to look out for the little guy and fight social injustice.
Estate / Collection: The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection of Raymond Chandler
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
"It’s All Right -- He Only Died." A four page typed or carbon copy draft of the complete story, circa 1950s, with Chandler's name and address in type on the first leaf at upper right, at upper left there is an ink marking (possibly initials) and two manuscript corrections in the text. The sheets 11 x 8 1/2 inches (28 x 21.5 cm). Toned, faint vertical crease.
Raymond Chandler takes on the health care industry in this recently discovered and published story of a drunken, unconscious man who has been hit by a truck but is unable to provide the entrance fee to the hospital to receive treatment. The doctor decides to ship him off to the county hospital where they later find out he died of his injuries with $4000 in cash in his clothes. Chandler ends the story with an editorial note: "The law denies any man the right to take a life, but it does not impose the duty of saving a life ... all he had done was let a man die who might have died anyhow. All he had done was disgrace himself as a person, as a healer..."
The present copy hitherto unknown, another copy of this story was discovered by Andrew F. Gulli in the Chandler archives at the Bodleian Library at Oxford and published in Strand Magazine in 2017. Rarely does Chandler take on an activist role in his writing but he did tend to look out for the little guy and fight social injustice.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, Dec 6, 2024
-
Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on December 6, 2024
-
Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
-
We Invite You to Contact Us for a Complimentary Auction Evaluation of Your Books, Autographs & Maps
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle held a successful auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps onDecember 6, 2024 showcased is a wonderful diversity of Americana, maps, autographs, early books and landmarks of literature and science.
Highlighting the sale was the first edition of Spinoza's Tractatus theologico-politicus from 1670 that soared to $70,350. Spinoza’s Tractatus is his only work published during his lifetime and remains his most significant. It presents a clear theory of natural right, asserting that the love of God leads to love for others. The state exists to ensure liberty, not oppression, with justice, wisdom, and toleration as key. Influential to thinkers like Blake and Goethe, it shaped Romanticism.
The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection offered the largest trove of unpublished Raymond Chandler stories, poetry, letters, books and personal artifacts to come to market. Best known for his Philip Marlowe detective novels including The Big Sleep (1939) and Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and as screenwriter of film noir classics such as Double Indemnity (1944) and The Blue Dahlia (1946), Raymond Chandler is considered one of the top writers in the hardboiled fiction genre alongside Dashiell Hammett and James Cain. Held for decades, the archive belonged to Jean Fracasse [later Vounder-Davis] who was first hired in January 1957 as Chandler's personal secretary but quickly became his close friend, confidant, fiancé and muse to whom he dedicated his last book.
We Invite You to Auction!
Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.
For information, please contact Peter Costanzo at 212-427-4141 ext 248, Edward Ripley-Duggan at ext 234, or Noah Goldrach at ext 226, or email Books@Doyle.com
