[Rarebooks] FS: Archive of Theodore Dreiser Letters to Fellow Socialist Oliver Sayler

[Charles Agvent]

DREISER, Theodore. ARCHIVE OF 4 AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED (ALSs). Los 
Angeles, 1920. Four AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED, totaling 9 pages, three of 
them to his good Hoosier friend and fellow socialist, Oliver M. Sayler. 
In the first letter, dated 9 January 1920, Dreiser suggests places 
Sayler could work in New York, mentioning many names including T. R. 
Smith of the Century Company, Henry Harper at Harper's, J. Jefferson 
Jones of the John Lane Company, Herbert Kauffmann at McCLURE'S, and 
Horace Liveright. In the second letter, dated 14 February 1920, Dreiser 
kindly answers Sayler's request for a letter of introduction to a paper 
named THE EVENING POST. He informs Sayler that most likely the letter 
would not do much help as it has "in so far as I can recall been 
anything but condemnatory -- or perhaps I had better say scornful of me 
& my opinions." He urges Sayler to go to other places such as the HERALD 
or TRIBUNE. The third letter, also dated 14 February 1920, is addressed 
to Mr. Scott at THE EVENING POST recommending Sayler for a position as 
dramatic critic there even though Dreiser is "very much aware that in so 
far as THE EVENING POST is concerned any recommendation I may choose to 
offer in behalf of another may prove more of a hindrance than an aid." 
Dreiser goes on to state that Sayler "is one of a very few in America or 
elsewhere who correctly interpret the modern theatre with all its 
delicate threads of experiment and theory." He says that he follows 
Sayler's recommendations "with a security which has not been misplaced. 
Also as an experimenter myself in the possibilities of the stage I have 
found him unusually understanding and sympathetic." In the final letter, 
dated 23 August 1920, Dreiser notes that he saw a piece by Sayler in a 
small Indianapolis paper and wishes it could be reprinted in a paper of 
larger circulation. He ends the letter by asking, "What happened in New 
York?" Creases from mailing. Near Fine.

American theatre critic and writer Oliver Sayler was an authority on 
Russian theatre under the communists who wrote several books on the 
subject, including THE RUSSIAN THEATRE UNDER THE REVOLUTION (1920) and 
MAX REINHARDT AND HIS THEATRE (1924). In the 1920s, Sayler worked as 
theatre critic for THE SATURDAY REVIEW. As the press agent of Russian 
emigrant Morris Gest, Sayler did much to promote cultural exchange with 
Russia. (#019381)        $1,500.00

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