Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 1
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 2
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 3
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 4
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 5
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 6
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 7
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 8
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 9
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 10
Autograph letter signed and 9 works - photo 11

Autograph letter signed and 9 works

Lot 441
29.09.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 3 528
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
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ID 1029092
Lot 441 | Autograph letter signed and 9 works
Estimate value
£ 2 000 – 3 000
A group of ten, comprising:

WODEHOUSE, P. G. (1881-1975). Autograph letter signed (‘P.G. Wodehouse’) to [Arnold Bennett], 724 Linden Drive, Beverly Hills, 16 August 1930, 1½ pages, 8vo, acknowledging Bennett’s praise of Very Good, Jeeves (‘I would rather have a card from you than a column from anybody else’) and complaining of his struggles with the printers over proof corrections; [and] carbon copy typescript, ‘A Damsel in Distress. Analysis of Characters and Scenario of Story’, 16-17 June 1930, comprising Wodehouse’s suggestions for RKO’s film adaptation of his 1919 novel, released later that year starring Fred Astaire and Joan Fontaine with music and lyrics by the Gershwin brothers (including ‘Nice work if you can get it’), 21 pages, stapled in original pink wrappers stamped ‘please return to RKO story files’ (closed tear to upper cover); [with] Guy Bolton (librettist and frequent Wodehouse collaborator). Portrait photograph (by Rufus Porter Moody), signed and inscribed to the actor Clifton Webb, May 1918.

— Mostly Sally. New York: George H. Doran and Company, 1923.  
First American edition. McIlvaine A29(b). Octavo. (Light marginal spotting to first few leaves.) Original green cloth, spine and upper cover with titles and decoration stamped in red (hinges cracked, spotting to endpapers); original pictorial dust-jacket (extremities rubbed, lower panel with some spotting, some creasing and a few chips or tears, the lower panel with some textual loss of letters). Provenance: James H. Heineman (biographer of Wodehouse; bookplate) — Frits Menschaar (no internal evidence of provenance).  

— Young Men in Spats. London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1936.  
First edition. McIlvaine A55(a). Octavo. Original green cloth, upper cover and spine lettered, spine and lower cover with publisher’s device, all stamped in black , ‘Advance Review Copy’ slip tipped onto title (spine ends sunned); original dust-jacket with illustrations by Gilbert Wilkinson (somewhat rubbed, spine ends and corners chipped, a few closed tears and creases, one tape repair to verso, unobtrusive stain to upper panel). Provenance: James H. Heineman (biographer to Wodehouse; bookplate) — loosely inserted advertisement for Young Men in Spats and publisher’s advance review copy slip.  


— A Prince for Hire. With an introduction by Tony Ring. London: Galahad Books, 2003.  
Limited edition, this being number 7 of 16, specially bound.  Not in McIlvaine. Octavo. Number 7 of limited issue of 16, frontispiece and 16 illustrations. Original full burgundy morocco, titles to spine in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt; housed in cloth slipcase. Provenance: Tony Ring (signature to title).  

— WODEHOUSE, P. G. (1881-1975) and Ferenc MOLNÁR (1878-1952). The Play’s the Thing. New York: Brentano’s, 1927. 
First edition. McIlvaine C2. Octavo. Original tan cloth, spine and upper cover with decorative title stamped in blue and green (faint edge wear); original green dust-jacket (extremities lightly worn, spine slightly tanned, small nicks to spine ends and corners).  

— WODEHOUSE, P. G. (1881-1975). Performing Flea. A self-portrait in letters. London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1953,  
First edition. McIlvaine A76(a). Octavo. Photographic frontispiece of author (very light spotting to first few leaves). Original blue cloth, upper cover with author’s gilt signature in facsimile, spine lettered in gilt, publisher’s device stamped in blind to lower cover (spine ends and edges lightly sunned); original dust-jacket with photograph of Wodehouse on front panel (slightly rubbed and creased, chip and closed tear to lower panel). Provenance: Frits Menschaar (no internal evidence of provenance). 

— Uncle Dynamite. London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1948. 
First edition. McIlvaine A68(a). Octavo. One leaf of ads at end. Original orange cloth, spine and upper cover lettered in black, lower cover and spine with publisher’s device stamped in black; original price-clipped dust-jacket with illustrations by Frank Ford (very lightly marked, tiny nicks to some corners, small red stain in one corner). Provenance: Barrie & Jenkins (price sticker to inside of dust-jacket) — Frits Menschaar (no internal evidence of provenance). 

— The Plot That Thickened. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973. 
First American edition. McIlvaine A95(b). Octavo. Original brown cloth, spine titled and upper cover with decoration in gilt (edges lightly sunned); original dust-jacket with design by Paul Bacon to upper panel and photograph of Wodehouse by Jill Krementz to lower panel (ends of spine panel faintly bumped). 

— A Few Quick Ones. London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1959. 
First English edition. McIlvaine A82(b). Octavo. Original red cloth, spine with title and publisher’s device stamped in black; original dust-jacket (extremities lightly rubbed, a few closed tears and nicks).  

— Pears, Girls and Monty Bodkin. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1972. 
First edition. McIlvaine A95(a). Octavo. Original green boards, spine lettered in gilt; original dust-jacket with design by Abbey (a few short closed tears).
Place of origin:United Kingdom
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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