Autograph letter signed, to Carlton F. Wells. Hamden, Conn. 15 November 1961.

Wilder, Thornton.

Price: $1,500.00

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Autograph letter signed, thanking his correspondent, an English professor at the University of Michigan, for sending a copy of a Mark Twain letter, Wilder comments on Arthur Gelb's interview with him in the New York Times, 6 Nov. 1961: "I haven't read my interview. Gertrude Stein taught us to shut ourselves off, as far as possible, from what 'they' say about us. I've now been the greater part of a week without knowing that I was reported to talk with 'Olympian jocularity.' How right Gertrude was! As to 'ain't' and double negatives and 'hell' and 'damn', I have to use 'em, and precisely when I'm in earnest. The words at our disposal for grave matters have been so abused by preachers and editorial writers and platform moralizers that one must find one's accents elsewhere. 'Survival without quality is valueless,' said what's-his-name Vincent Peale. I may be lowering the standard of the New York Times (that is: printed English), but not as badly as the man who wrote 'Olympian jocularity' which will now distress me for 24 hours...." (Item ID: 23592)

$1,500.00

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