[Rarebooks] FS: Two Excellent Thornton Wilder letters w/original envelopes

[Allington Books]

Greetings to All.

We offer today a pair of excellent Thornton Wilder letters -- with quite
interesting content -- as described below.  Each letter is to notable
Psychiatrist Rudyard N. C. Propst.

Subject to prior sale.

Immediate payment is required by PayPal or Credit card.

The letters are* discounted on our site from $1,250 to $550*, plus
shipping, *for the pair*.

*Wilder, Thornton*. *Two Manuscript Letters Signed by Thornton Wilder in
their Original Envelopes* [*Signed -- each to notable Psychiatrist Rudyard
N. C. Propst*]. New Haven and New Jersey: Thornton Wilder, 1952. First
edition. PRESENTLY DISCOUNTED. WAS $1,250.      Two excellent Manuscript
Letters Signed from Thornton Wilder to Rudyard N. C. Propst, each written
entirely in Wilder's hand, each with its original envelope, and with each
envelope being hand-addressed by Wilder; with one of the envelope's having
"T. Wilder" written by Wilder in the envelope's upper left corner as a
return address. The first letter, dated March 17, 1952, fills both the
recto and the verso of a sheet of stationary of the Princeton Inn in
Princeton, New Jersey. Such sheet measures approximately 9 1/2 inches X 6
inches, begins with a note at the top of the recto stating Wilder's return
address (his Hamden, Connecticut address), and is addressed to Propst. In
the letter, Wilder begins by stating "Your letter gave me joy for two
reasons: / one, because of the generous deeply-felt words / about my work ;
and two, because you / tell me that you - who are / so obviously richly
endowed for it - / are entering a lifework in psychiatry." Wilder goes on
to discuss Propst's good fortune in entering the psychiatric field at that
time, describing it as "...a great new enlargement of our / knowledge of
the human creative / heart." Wilder further states that he operates in life
under a "practiced facade" and describes himself as "shy, and "particularly
so when talking about my work" and states that when he ventures talk about
it, his friends "burst out laughing and stop me," telling him that he does
it "badly" and "falls into fits of self-deprecation" and that "I don't know
anything about it! [all but "I" being underscored]. Wilder continues to
discuss writing, mentions his current work, as well as his "rewriting of
the lectures I gave at Harvard last year", states that it is his first
non-fiction work "and is costing me a lot of trouble", stating that writing
essays is "not natural to me", describing this work as "one long hymn of
hope to the specifically American people and their basic characteristics."
Wilder ends his letter stating "Cordially yours, / Thornton Wilder". This
letter no doubt encouraged Propst to continue his correspondence with
Wilder, likely hoping to continue the two men's correspondence
indefinitely. The second letter from Wilder to Propst (dated April 28 .
1952, written on both sides of a single sheet of Wilder's headed stationary
measuring approximately 7 inches X 6 inches, and it its original envelope),
shows that Wilder understood Propst's hopes and dashed them immediately.
The letter begins "Dear Rudyard Propst -" [thus avoiding addressing Propst
by only his first name as one would do with a friend] "I reply promptly.
That promptness is an attempt to mitigate the disappointment that this
letter brings." Wilder goes on to state that he was happy to receive
Propst's letter (presumably Propst's second letter to Wilder to which
Wilder now replies) and that "I understand all that prompts it." He advises
Propst that he, Propst, has misunderstood him (Wilder), states that "Like
so many of New England descent I am unable to express myself in letter
except at the superficial level - even in conversation I can only
communicate one-tenth of my feeling. This is an old stumbling-block and a
frequent one. Perhaps that is why some of us try to make literature. Unable
to express our feelings we invent mouthpieces to convey them." He then
describes himself as "older than my years" and writes that it is "to late
for me to change". He adds that "This inability to express my real self in
letter has a further consequence: I don't like letters. Most letters are
the Evasions from Communication.....If you will stop and think a moment you
will foresee that any extended correspondence with me would be a long
increasing disappointment to you." Kindly, Wilder concludes that he has
"...just returned from 5 days in Chicago; if the matter that took me there
requires another visit by the Lake, I shall ask you to come and see me.
Cordially ever, Thornton Wilder". Note: Rudyard N. C. Propst went on to a
notable career in Psychiatry, serving a pivotal in the worldwide
development of community mental health programs.  A WONDERFUL PAIR OF
LETTERS IN WHICH WILDER NOT ONLY DISCUSSES HIS WORK BUT IN THIS VERY SHY
MAN REVEALS HIMSELF TO IN HIS CORRESPONDENCE TO A MAN WHO LATER BECAME A
NOTED PSYCHIATRIST. (#6387) *$550.00*



Stephen Johnson
Allington Antiquarian Books, LLC
Rare and Collectible Books, both Antiquarian and Modern
www.allingtonbooks.com
336-414-0435