From our latest Internet Catalogue which contains a truly amazing array
of TWENTIETH CENTURY LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS, LETTERS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS, a
total of 90 items, many quite scarce and remarkable as well as revealing
of the creative process and personal lives of the subjects. It includes
a number of archives, some rather substantial, including Sherwood
Anderson, W. H. Auden (SOLD), Robert Lowell, Norman Mailer (SOLD), John
Masefield (SOLD), John O'Hara, Clifford Odets, Maxwell Perkins, E. H.
Shepard, and Philip Whalen, among others. Items are going quickly, so
if you are interested in anything, please contact us soon.
http://www.erols.com/agvent
PS: The letter from Allen Ginsberg to William Burroughs IS available
after all. I received several calls on it, but failed to take phone
numbers since I thought it was a sure sale.
WHALEN, Philip. ARCHIVE of 16 AUTOGRAPHED LETTERS SIGNED, 5 TYPED
LETTERS SIGNED, and 10 AUTOGRAPHED POSTCARDS SIGNED to Diane di
Prima. 1961-1967. Excellent group of letters SIGNED as "Phil Whalen",
"Philip", and "Phil", all to Diane di Prima, with two to her husband
Alan Marlowe of Poets Press. With the letters are 15 holograph
envelopes and two small snapshots of a cat. Filled with details about
travel, writing, editing poems and stories, and the publication of
works, mentioning Gary Snyder, Lew Welch, Allen Ginsberg, and others.
A few excerpts: "My novel is growing, I wasn't able to get an advance
like I hoped, so I am broke and scuffling, but surviving and
continuing to write & am happy to have this book going right now
(also the poems that continue to arrive from the poetical sections of
my head) to hang onto, otherwise I should despair.... I worry
endlessly & starve & fribble & slobber.... Send a postcard to each of
the 200 poets who live in & around this town to ask them for novels &
plays. I'm finished with these folks. 'Squares on both sides, f-ck
'em all'.... Allen {G} says it's [his novel] no good anyway & so I've
committed suicide & have quite all writing & now I'm a 2nd=string
figure skater, a chorus boy in the Ice Follies.... Tokyo! that town
really swings--much more exciting & goofy than NYC.... I don't like
the theater except for Aeschylus and Racine.... The important thing
is, whether the stuff is put out as a book or not, the really hard
part is finished, namely, that I have lived long enough to actually
get this stuff down on paper. Enough said." Whalen was the model for
Warren Coughlin in Jack Kerouac's THE DHARMA BUMS. Near Fine to Fine
$8500.00
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All books subject to prior sale. Cash with order; institutions may be
billed. Postage additional: $9.00 for the first book, $5.00 each
thereafter. Overseas postage billed at approximate cost. Pennsylvania
residents must add 6% sales tax. Mastercard, Visa, American Express and
Discover accepted. Books may be returned within 10 days of receipt for
any reason provided they are in the same condition as sent and prior
notice is given. Please insure returns for their full value. We carry a
diverse stock with major specialties including Modern and 19th Century
Literary First Editions, Autographed Books, and Limited Editions Club
books. We are celebrating our 20th year of business and are proud to be
members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) as well as
the Manuscript Society and the Universal Autograph Collectors Club
(UACC). Please feel free to contact us with any wants or offerings.
Thank you.
CHARLES AGVENT
291 Linden Road
Mertztown, PA 19539-8750
610-682-4750
agvent at erols.com
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