Dec 6, 2024 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
724
Raymond Chandler defends the United States in response to a British article
Estate / Collection: The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection of Raymond Chandler
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
Group of items relating to Chandler’s response to an article. In May 1957, the British cricketer and journalist René MacColl published an article in the Daily Express expressing negative perceptions of America to which Raymond Chandler, the American-British novelist living in California, took umbrage and responded with a strongly worded letter. Present in this lot are two copies of the newspaper printing Chandler's letter; a letter from the newspaper transmitting the copy; a carbon copy of a letter from Chandler to the newspaper; five letters to Chandler from readers in response to the published letter including one with a carbon copy of Chandler's response (with carbon copy signature and ink notation to the verso of the letter); and a second letter by Chandler as published in the Daily Express in June 1957. Some light handling wear and folds.
Raymond Chandler writes a biting response to an article published by René MacColl in the Daily Express. The two have a history: as Chandler explains in his private letter to the paper "Early in 1955, Mr. René MacColl interviewed me at the Connaught. I thought he was an ass, and he might well have thought same of me..." In the published letter, Chandler is just as harsh, slamming MacColl over aspects of his article such as "I admit the cost of living has reached absurd levels, but at least we have clean kitchens and clean bathrooms - and we bathe." He closes "It is so easy to write a newspaper article sneering at some other country ... If René MacColl would like me to write a few comments on England as disparaging as his about America, I should not do it... it would be too cheap a victory over a friend."
Sold for $640
Estimated at $500 - $800
Includes Buyer's Premium
Estate / Collection: The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection of Raymond Chandler
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
Group of items relating to Chandler’s response to an article. In May 1957, the British cricketer and journalist René MacColl published an article in the Daily Express expressing negative perceptions of America to which Raymond Chandler, the American-British novelist living in California, took umbrage and responded with a strongly worded letter. Present in this lot are two copies of the newspaper printing Chandler's letter; a letter from the newspaper transmitting the copy; a carbon copy of a letter from Chandler to the newspaper; five letters to Chandler from readers in response to the published letter including one with a carbon copy of Chandler's response (with carbon copy signature and ink notation to the verso of the letter); and a second letter by Chandler as published in the Daily Express in June 1957. Some light handling wear and folds.
Raymond Chandler writes a biting response to an article published by René MacColl in the Daily Express. The two have a history: as Chandler explains in his private letter to the paper "Early in 1955, Mr. René MacColl interviewed me at the Connaught. I thought he was an ass, and he might well have thought same of me..." In the published letter, Chandler is just as harsh, slamming MacColl over aspects of his article such as "I admit the cost of living has reached absurd levels, but at least we have clean kitchens and clean bathrooms - and we bathe." He closes "It is so easy to write a newspaper article sneering at some other country ... If René MacColl would like me to write a few comments on England as disparaging as his about America, I should not do it... it would be too cheap a victory over a friend."
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, Dec 6, 2024
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Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on December 6, 2024
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
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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
