PEARL BUCK SELLS RIGHTS TO THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE PUBLICATION OF COMMAND THE MORNING

PEARL S. BUCK (1892-1973). Buck was a prolific, Nobel Prize-winning writer and missionary who spent much of her life in China.

DS. 2pgs. April 23, 1959. N.p. A printed document signed “Pearl S Buck”. It is a contract for Spanish-language publication of Buck’s novel Command the Morning. “MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made and entered into this 23^rd day of April 1959 BETWEEN Pearl S. Buck, c/o. Harold Ober Associates, 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N.Y. (hereinafter called the Proprietor) of the one part and Editorial Draft, Buenos Aires, Argentina, (hereinafter called the Publisher) of the other part WHEREBY it is mutually agreed as follows regarding the work by Pearl S. Buck entitled: COMMAND THE MORNING 1. The Proprietor hereby grants to the Publisher the sole and exclusive license to translate, print, publish and sell the said work in volume form only in the a regular Spanish language subject to the terms and conditions following: trade edition in the for the Spanish-speaking world…”.  A witness signed as well. The document is in fair condition, with tears and losses to three of the fold edges. Some of the typed text is quite blurry, but Buck’s signature is unobstructed.

PEARL BUCK, FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN TO WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE, PRESENTS “A CHINESE RECIPE WHICH I ENJOY”

PEARL BUCK (1892-1973). Buck was an American writer and novelist best known for The Good Earth that won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize and she won a Nobel Prize later.

TLS. 2 pgs. 8” x 10”. March 21, 1969. Perkasie, Pennsylvania. A typed letter signed “Pearl S. Buck” to “Prim Fletcher”: “I have received your letter of March the 14^th, and I am enclosing a Chinese recipe which I enjoy”. The second page of the letter includes an itemized recipe for “SWEET-SOUR SPARE RIBS” with directions, and is also signed by Buck.  Both pages are in very fine condition.

COLLECTION OF LETTERS TO FORMER FIRST DAUGHTER ESTHER CLEVELAND, THE ONLY CHILD BORN IN THE WHITE HOUSE

ESTHER CLEVELAND (1893-1980). Cleveland was the second child of President Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances Folsom Cleveland.

This archive is a collection of correspondence belonging to Esther Cleveland. Cleveland, the second child of President Grover Cleveland, was the recipient of these 23 letters between the years 1910-1919. Most of the letters include the original mailing envelope. The letters reveal the private side of Cleveland, one of the most famous first children, including her social and love lives. Notable letters in the collection include:

1. ALS. 3 pg. 4” x 6”. 1915. Baltimore. An autograph letter signed “Gordon” to “Esther”: “May I get down and crawl around for a while so you can see what I think of myself. I thought I had sent you those pictures from Biddeford Pool until you reminded me about them and found them with a lot of stuff in my desk. Please forgive me. Will you?...When are you coming down to visit us again? Just name the day and Mother will write you…I am going to write a long letter soon. Am very busy at present. My love to your family. Am I forgiven? Please”. Biddeford Pool is a large tidal pool, located off Saco Bay on the south coast of Maine. The small harbor has been popular with vacationers since the middle of the 19^th century.

2. ALS. 5 pg. 4” x 6”. November 3, 1915. Cambridge. An autograph letter signed “Nick” to “Esther”: “It was a welcome sight, that handwriting of yours and the letter was more welcome when I read its contents. I do appreciate your thought of me at this…of fame time and as we get on in years, these thoughts are the ones that count, after all, and they are the ones which make you feel that this world is pretty good after all. In short, dear Esther, ss usual your thoughtfulness has scored heavily. But I shall not be in Princeton this gay week-end. Time is too precious just at this time and besides I rather dislike Princeton when it is throbbing with a big game crowd, unruly because one sees nobody and the quieter more fraternal Princeton is the one I have always liked…Esther, your foot is still troubling you and I can not help feeling quite worried. Please do take care of yourself, for I hate to think of your suffering. I liked your sentiments about self-sufficiency. It is a pleasure to tell that there are those on whom you can rely and that is how I feel concerning you…” This letter provides a window into when Princeton University was a leader in national athletics and the surrounding town on game weekends filled up like a large state school does today.

3. ALS. 1 pg. 4” x 6”. 1916. South Orange, New Jersey. An autograph letter signed “Ray Biglow” to “My dear Miss Cleveland”: “I will be at Mrs. Hastings, 15 West 50^th Dt, at 6 P.M. on Wednesday Feb. 9^th. I will come prepared to go Mrs. Binnell to dinner, absolutely informally, and will bring my skates”. The sender is most likely Lucius Horatio "Ray" Biglow III (1885-1961), a three-time All-American football player at Yale, and later a publisher and decorated World War I soldier. A subsequent letter by Biglow to Cleveland references her “hero worship…I’m afraid I acted towards my visit very much as a debutant does towards her first party after she gets to bed”.

4. ALS. 6 pg. 1916. Harrisburg. An autograph letter signed “Jack” to “Esther”: “I hope you have been able to make up your lost sleep by this time. Do take awfully good care of yourself and don’t get run down before going to Europe. Its {sic} only fair you know. I can hardly wait to know what your mother said but I hope nothing will happen to make things harder for you…I wonder why I can’t write you a letter without telling you I love you. I think I will this time if you’ll take it for granted that I do, Esther, more than I can ever tell you or show you, but I’ll always try and show you in the very biggest and best way I know I can. P.S. I know you’re cynical & I also know you’re not really cynical and I just hate my brain for the thoughts that come into it. I just read this letter over and of course annalized {sic} it and fool ideas came into my head. But I don’t care, because I know my love for you is just one step ahead of anything that my try to bother me”. While many letters in the archive have romantic undertones, this is the most explicitly romantic letter in the collection. Jackson Herr Boyd (1892-1983) wrote seven letters to Cleveland that survive in the archive. A graduate of Princeton University (where he probably met Cleveland), Boyd’s letters to Cleveland are written from Harrisburg, where he was born and resided, or from the North Carolina estate of his brother, the novelist James Boyd (who is referenced in several of the letters). Other letters by Boyd to Cleveland include: “My; but I miss you; how I wish you were here now” (December 24, 1915) and “It may be silly, but I hate the thou8ght of you going through the operation {referenced in the opening of the 1916 letter} while I’m way down here and perfectly comfortable and well” (December 23, 1915). Ultimately, Esther Cleveland married Captain William Sidney Bence Bosanquet (1883-1966) at Westminster Abbey, while Boyd’s second marriage was to Alice Hay Wadsworth, daughter of a U.S. Secretary of State and widow of a U.S. Senator.

All the letters are in fine condition. Many have been folded repeatedly and some have minor tears. The Biglow letter referenced above was for some reason ripped in half, but is still easily legible.

ACTING FIRST LADY ROSE ELIZABETH CLEVELAND INVITES TWO PEOPLE TO VISIT

ROSE ELIZABETH CLEVELAND (1846-1918). The sister of President Grover Cleveland, Rose Elizabeth Cleveland was acting First Lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, when her brother married. Afterwards, she became an educator and intellectual.

ALS. 2pgs. March 27, 1885. Washington. An autograph letter signed “Elizabeth Cleveland” as acting First Lady of the United States. A few weeks after his brother’s Inauguration, Cleveland invited a Mrs. Laughton and her friend to visit her. She wrote on “Executive Mansion, Washington” letterhead. “I shall be delighted to see you and your friend this evening, at any moment after eight oclock. With my great esteem Yours most sincerely Elizabeth Cleveland”. In very good condition with a horizontal fold.

FIRST LADY GRACE COOLIDGE WRITES ABOUT HOPE FOR A VISIT AND HER SICK MOTHER

GRACE COOLIDGE (1879-1957). Coolidge was First Lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929.

ALS. 3pgs. February 28, 1928. The White House. An autograph note signed “Grace Coolidge” as First Lady, on White House letterhead. She wrote about her hopes in seeing the recipient soon, as well as her mother’s poor health. “Dear Mrs. Walker: For a long time I have been looking forwards to a little visit with you and have kept your note tucked into a former of my blotting pad. It has seemed an immeasurably long season. Then, when I had to miss seeing you at the Army and Navy reception it seemed like adding one straw too many – but the camel’s back is still unbroken and the camel is getting its legs under it again. So much so that I hope to make the trip to Northampton to-morrow night to have a few days with my mother who has been in the hospital over eleven weeks. She grows more weak but suffers no pain and her courage is undaunted. Please continue to hold me in loving thought and in your prayers for I love you. Sincerely, Grace Coolidge”.  In fine condition, with a thick horizontal fold and accompanied by the original White House envelope.

FIRST LADY GRACE COOLIDGE PENS A HEARTFELT SYMPATHY LETTER

GRACE COOLIDGE (1879-1957). Coolidge was First Lady.

ALS. 3pgs. November 10, 1920. The White House, Washington. An autograph letter signed “Grace Coolidge” as First Lady. Coolidge writes a lovely and heartfelt note of sympathy to a man who has just lost his wife, mentioning her gratitude in having seen the couple only three weeks prior: “Dear Dr. Barton: How rich a blessing I received in having so recently seen and talked with Mrs. Barton I did not fully realize until your letter came this morning to tell me she had gone Home. Just three weeks ago to-morrow you were here. I would that I might be as sure of some things in this world as I am confident that she of the just heart…beholds her God. To you…my heart felt sympathy goes out but I know you will feel that she is still beside you even though you may not see her with your human eyes nor feel her touch as in the days whose sweet memories will always be a source of great happiness to you. God bless and keep you until that day when you shall go forth to behold the radiant vision made more glorious because you will find her there. Sincerely, Grace Coolidge”.  It is on White House stationery and in fine condition, with the original mailing envelope.