Bonhams 1793 : JAMES (HENRY) Autograph letter signed, 1901

Autograph letter signed, to E.S. Goodhue, MD: "Permit me to thank, through you, your Committee, for the honour done me by your making me a Member of your Hawaiian Club... I wish my appreciation could take some active form – as of pilgrimage or participation – but you see how very much on the other side of the globe I am", 2 pages, headed paper, foxed overall, short split at central fold, 4to, Lamb House, Rye, 9 November 1901

Sold for £350 inc. premium

Footnotes

HENRY JAMES AND HAWAII: the Hawaiian Club was formed at Boston in 1866 two years after the James family had moved there 'by a few gentlemen, who having, at different periods during the last forty years, resided at the Hawaiian Islands, felt that strong attachment for them which is so general among those who have once lived there', their object being 'partly to revive pleasant associations by occasional meetings to discuss the past and present condition of Hawaii, and partly to advance the prosperity of the country and the interests in the United States and her citizens there, by calling attention to the great importance of the group, political and commercial, and by collecting and diffusing information in regard to its past history and present condition' (Hawaiian Club Papers, 1868, p. 1). Dr Edward Solon Goodhue, the recipient, was a physician and poet living in Hawaii, where he played host to Jack London. (Incidentally, the great James scholar Leon Edel was to spend his last years there.)

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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