AMHERST, NH-There’s no place for humbugs this holiday season at R&R Enterprises, where Christmas-related letters from three literary giants promise to enliven the December auction with some extra cheer for collectors. To bid in the auction click here.
The Yuletide offerings are highlighted by an 1858 letter from Charles Dickens to William Logan, a missionary and lecturer who shared the author’s active interest in causes related to poverty and social welfare. After thanking Logan for sending some books, Dickens extends an invitation related to one of his most beloved works: As the Christmas Carol is a favourite of ours, may I hope that you will do me the favor to come and hear it tonight.
Dickens’ timeless novel, first published in 1843, was adapted for the stage in the following year by C. Z. Barnett. Since that time, countless incarnations-special illustrated editions of the book, additional stage adaptations, and multiple screen versions-have lent the work an exclusive cachet not only as a perennial holiday favorite, but as one of the most cherished classics in the history of literature.
Warm holiday sentiments infuse an 1887 letter from Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, best known his timeless Alice in Wonderland tales. Dodgson writes to a friend, sending a little book which he thinks clever, and adds a stirring coda: ³That you should have a Christmas free from all trials and shadows, it would be a mockery to hope; but I may at least hope, & pray that Christmas may bring a peace & joy that is not of this world, & in the light of which earthly trials are made more easy to bear.
Half a century later, one of the looming figures in twentieth-century literature would send season’s greetings all the way from sunny Havana to chilly River Forest, Illinois. Writing in 1940 from the Hotel Ambos Mundos, his longtime Cuban haven, Ernest Hemingway sent his mother, Grace Hall Hemingway, a characteristically unadorned holiday message: ³Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Ernie.
Also in keeping with the holiday spirit is a coveted original Peanuts strip from January 1, 1975. The beautifully preserved strip features Charlie Brown and Lucy discussing plans for the new year. In the final panel, a frantic Lucy declares that ³I’m not finished with last year!
R&R’s December auction will also feature outstanding items of unusual interest across the spectrum of collecting categories, including a complete set of presidential signatures from Washington through Truman; a Revolutionary War discharge and Society of the Cincinnati certificate signed by Washington; a handwritten John Adams document with authentication from his biographer-grandson; several Lincoln items, including a promotion for famed general George C. Strong; a rare signed photo of Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen, together with a relic from the fabled airplane in which he met his end; a remarkable J. D. Salinger letter acknowledging the pleasure his fiction has given a fan; an astounding oversized photo of Elvis Presley inscribed to a producer of two of his films; and a superb Humphrey Bogart letter on the production of Casablanca.
R&R Enterprises’ next auction begins on November 26 and ends on December 12. Bids are accepted online or via telephone, fax, or e-mail. For information or to consign to future auctions, visit the R&R web site at www.rrauction.com or contact Elizebeth Otto at elizebeth@rrauction.com.
