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Lot 206

WODEHOUSE (P.G.)
Typed letter signed ("P.G. Wodehouse"), to his fellow novelist Anthony Powell ("Dear Anthony Powell"), thanking him for sending three inscribed books and expressing his admiration, Remsenburg, Long Island, 24 January 1973

15 June 2016, 14:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

£600 - £800

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WODEHOUSE (P.G.)

Typed letter signed ("P.G. Wodehouse"), to his fellow novelist Anthony Powell ("Dear Anthony Powell"), thanking him for sending three inscribed books ("...I am having a wonderful time with them, more than half way through Books Do Furnish a House [sic]...") and once again expressing his profound admiration ("...As usual I am absolutely stunned by your artistry. I study the stuff under a microscope, and I still can't see how you do it. A Powell book is unique. I have them all now, including the five early ones, and the lovely thing is that I can go on re-reading them indefinitely. And what a comfort that is with good books so hard to come by these days. The only sad thing is that according to the first page there will be only two more of the series..."); and telling Powell that he is "sweating away at a new novel and am within shouting distance of the end", adding that "My trouble, as always, is that it looks as if might [sic] turn out too short"; with one autograph correction, the signature written with a drying felt-tip pen and rewritten by Wodehouse, 1 page, printed heading, small 4to, Remsenburg, Long Island, 24 January 1973

Footnotes

ʻI STUDY THE STUFF UNDER A MICROSCOPE, AND I STILL CAN'T SEE HOW YOU DO IT' – Wodehouse in praise of the artistry of Powell's Dance to the Music of Time. Books Do Furnish a Room had come out in 1971: Temporary Kings, the next and penultimate novel in the sequence, was to appear in June 1973. The ninety-one year old Wodehouse's next novel was to be Bachelors Anonymous, published the following October. This letter is not included in A Life in Letters.



END OF SALE

The next sale of Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts & Historical Photographs will take place on 9 November 2016.

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