TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS) on His Breakdown and Turning to Film as a Medium of Expression
[St. Louis, MO]: 15 November 1969. Framed Letter. SIGNED and dated as "10," his intimate signature, on an 8-12" x 9-1/2" sheet of paper, matted and framed with the original mailing envelope and a photo of Williams to an overall size of . To Danny [Stirrup], an old friend in Key West who had worked on Williams's house there, sent from Barnes Hospital where Williams was recovering from a mental breakdown. In part: "The mental fog in which I've been existing the past couple of years has lifted away, but there are still nervous and physical debilities.... The doctors are amazed at my mental rehabilitation which was accomplished without shock treatments. I don't suppose anyone but Bill knows what an awful shape I was in. The last thing I clearly remember about the period in Key West before I came up here was getting up a 2 A.M. and spilling a Silex of boiling water on my shoulder. The rest is practically blank." Williams mentions how he won't be able to travel to New York for the revival of CAMINO REAL and how he dreads his brother Dakin flying to Key West with him: "I can't help associating his with being locked up, especially those three weeks in the acute ward which was a regular snake pit. Oh, I've got lots of material for something, some medium of expression, I think probably a film-script. The stage isn't big enough. The theme will be panic, the history of a man in panic. I have been studying film-technique. My bibliographer Andreas Brown owns the Gotham Book Mart in New York and he has been sending published film-scripts to me. The spacial range and fluidity of film is an exciting thing to consider." Toned and soiled, with a few small holes (not affecting text) and creases. Very Good in an attractive presentation. Item #021008
Price: $1,500.00