Auction details
10:00 AM PT - Dec 10th, 2008
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SALINGER, J. D. (b. 1919) Typed letter signed "Jerry" to friend Rebecca "Becky" Tugel. Jalna [Cornish, New Hampshire]: 6 February 1936 [1956-9]. 2 pp. typed on a single sheet (277 x 214 mm). Boldly signed "Jerry" on verso. Condition: restored along central fold, light browning and soiling. an energetic, recently discovered letter to an intimate friend. "Becky," although unmentioned in the Salinger biographies, is known to be Rebecca Tugel, wife of the Swedish artist Ake Tugel and former wife of author Richard Gehman. Early in the letter, Salinger discusses a photograph of Isak Dinesin that she has sent him, saying that she "looks like an aristocratic version of my mother," and mentions a dinner in New York where Dinesin was honored but "My old friend was shocked, disillusioned that nobody at the party had ever read her books." About his location, Salinger writes, "i feel very disappeared up here, most of the time." His stated location, Jalna, is unknown but is most likely his home in Cornish, into which he moved in 1953. Jalna possibly refers to the fictional Ontario estate of the Whiteoak family in the Jalna or Whiteoak series, a group of novels written by fellow Little Brown author Mazo de la Roche. Salinger perhaps identified with the lead character of the 1935 film, Jalna, in which a handsome young poet heads to New York, initiating the calamity that would end his life. Retreating to Cornish the way the poet in the film could not, perhaps Salinger backdated the letter to a time before his literary career had changed his life, and before Becky was out of his life as well. an unpublished letter to a woman unmentioned in the salinger biographies. Salinger closes the letter with "I send you a big kiss, Beck. A hearty American handshake to Ake. Someday i'll call you and we'll have a picnic in Central Park. I'll bring the rice chex. Thanks again for the souly Dinesen picture. I'm [d] much prefer a naughty picture of Becky. Love, Jerry." The letter is also filled with other charming Salinger descriptions, including the mention of several literary giants of his time including Arthur Mizener, Kenneth Roberts, actress Deborah Kerr, and Truman Capote. He says of Truman Capote, "Have never met him. I've heard he talks a lot though. . ." Excerpts from the letter appeared in an article entitled "Love, Jerry" in Playboy Magazine, Dec. 2006.ImagesClick on thumbnails to see larger images: 
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