Item #020989 ARCHIVE OF TEN TYPED LETTERS SIGNED (TLSs) with Additional Materials. H. L. MENCKEN.

ARCHIVE OF TEN TYPED LETTERS SIGNED (TLSs) with Additional Materials

Baltimore: 1944 - 1946. Letter. Ten TYPED LETTERS SIGNED on personal stationery, ranging from 1 to 2 pages, addressed to Isaac Edgar Clark, concerning Clark's manuscript, “An Analysis of Ring Lardner's American Language: or Who Learnt You Grammar Bud?” Ring Lardner (1885-1933), American sports journalist and short story author, was known for his satirical style. Over the course of their correspondence, Mencken suggests publishers who might be interested in publishing Clark's work, including Maxwell E. Perkins of Scribner: "Perkins spoke of your thesis in very complimentary terms, but added that it didn't fit into his own scheme." All of the letters are SIGNED in ink, and a few have emendations to the typed text in Mencken's hand. All letters come with their original envelopes. A few examples of Mencken's comments: "I certainly hope you don't abandon your scheme for a grammar of the American vulgate based on Lardner. It would make a really superb book." "So far as I know, there has never been any serious proposal to abandon capitals in Englis. Even the most extreme of the simplified spellers seem to retain them. I am in some doubt that getting rid of them would make for easy reading. I hope to discuss the subject at some length in the second volume of my SUPPLEMENT." "You have not missed much by not reading LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER. It is of such ponderosity and is so solemn that it frequently becomes ridiculous. Lawrence, who originated in the English mining region, was obsessed all his life by a vast ambition to sleep with a lady. I doubt that he ever really managed it." Accompanying the letters are ten copies of letters from Clark to Mencken on 8-1/2" x 11" onion skin paper. There are also two 1955 letters to Clark from Mencken's secretary, Rosalind C. Lohrfinck, requesting Clark's date of birth to update Mencken's records. Normal creases from folding. Near Fine. Item #020989

Price: $2,000.00

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