[Rarebooks] FS: Fine INSCRIBED Association Copy of Helen Keller's LET US HAVE FAITH

[Charles Agvent]

KELLER, Helen. LET US HAVE FAITH. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 
Inc., 1940. First Edition. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author in pencil, 
as customary, on the front free endpaper "To Uncle Walter/for whom we 
give thanks/at the remembrance of his/faith in the 
blind/Affectionately/Helen Keller/Christmas 1940." A superb association 
copy. Walter G. Holmes, referred to as "Uncle Walter" by most who knew 
him, was on the Board of Directors of THE MATILDA ZIEGLER MAGAZINE FOR 
THE BLIND, a philanthropic institution that published a magazine in 
Braille and distributed it monthly to tens of thousands of blind people 
at no cost to them. Holmes managed and edited the magazine. He was also 
on the Board of Directors of The American Foundation for the Blind and 
invented the "Talking Book" published by the foundation, possibly the 
first recorded readings of books. Holmes had a brother who was blind, 
and he devoted his entire life to helping the sight-impaired. He and 
Keller developed a strong relationship. Upon the death of Holmes, Keller 
gave a long tribute which parallels the themes of this book: "The 
passing of one of the tenderest, noblest champions that the blind of 
America and indeed of the world have ever had, has left me benumbed, and 
I am but one of a multitude who grieves for Walter G. Holmes. So far as 
I know he was unique. As a seeing spokesman of those who are both blind 
and poor, an editor of a world girdling Braille magazine, a tireless 
encourager of the dull and the faltering to explore and develop their 
dormant faculties, a fighter for the deaf-blind as human beings to be 
loved and understood, he had no equal in the annals of the sightless. 
God always gives where He takes away, and I am sure He will raise up a 
Gideon to lead the blind on with the irresistible might of the Spirit. 
'Uncle Walter,' as we all affectionately called him, will keep forever 
his place in the hearts of us who have clasped his hand and felt his 
uncountable acts of love enriching our lives. He was a saint of the 
little and forgotten. Many varied, warm tributes have been written and 
spoken during Uncle Walter's life which especially pleased him. The best 
tribute we can pay now is so to live that he will be happy in his 
spiritual return to us. This, I know from his conversations and the 
stories he liked most, immortality was his silent wish. With him it was 
a feeling almost akin to transmigration. His soul seemed hardly to dwell 
in its own body, so constantly did it move into other's existence, 
taking their sorrow as its own and increasing their happiness. His 
whimsical humor, simplicity, enthusiasm for whatever work he was doing, 
and his modesty, his delight in tending flowers when he was able, his 
warm constancy in friendship, his quaint gallantries and his abounding 
good-will towards the blind everywhere, yes, even in enemy nations-- all 
these form an inseparable part of the mental picture we cherish of Uncle 
Walter. Let us then, try to believe more in ourselves, to enrich each 
other's faith and opportunities, to make blindness not a cause for pity, 
but rather for pride in victory over difficulties, and when Uncle Walter 
returns, though unseen to our earth orbit, he will be still happier in 
our gratitude and remembrance." Spine sunned. Near Fine in a Very Good 
dustwrapper. (#020710)        $1,500

https://www.charlesagvent.com/pages/books/020710/helen-keller/let-us-have-faith

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