Sale 2461 - Autographs, November 7, 2017

PROTECTINGTHE MAGNA CARTA DURINGTHE 1939 WORLD’S FAIR 253 c   MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD.Typed Letter Signed, as Librarian of Congress, to Justice D. Lawrence Groner (“My dear Mr. Justice”), inviting him to attend a ceremony at which the Magna Carta is to be presented to the Library of Congress. 1 page, small 4to,“Library of Con- gress” stationery, with integral blank; staple holes at upper left, horizontal fold. Washington, 9 November 1939 [100/200] “On the . . . twenty-eighth of November . . . the Magna Carta recently on exhibit in the British Pavilion at the NewYorkWorld’s Fair will be deposited in the Library of Congress by the British Ambassador. Although this deposit is for temporary safekeeping during the present emergency, the Library of Congress will . . . exhibit the Magna Carta in the Main Exhibit Hall . . . opposite the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In view of the great importance of the document . . . there will be a brief and informal ceremony of presentation. It would be an honor . . . if you could be present . . . .” At the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the Lincoln Cathedral’s Magna Carta—one of four surviving original manuscript copies dating from 1215—was exhibited in the British Pavilion.The document was displayed behind bulletproof glass and guarded by unusually tight security, partly because it was a time of political unrest, when extremist groups sought to destroy important targets to publicize their aims. On Independence Day in 1940, a time bomb was discovered at the Pavilion, and although the bomb was removed to an open field nearby, it could not be disarmed before it detonated, killing two detectives. “CAUTION:YOU CAN GET JUST AS DRUNK ONTHIS AS ON A NUMBER OF GIN ANDTONICS” 254 c   MAILER, NORMAN.Typed Letter Signed, to Rod Kennedy, sending recipes for stir-fried broccoli and tonic Presbyterian. 1 page, 4to, personal stationery; horizontal folds. With the original envelope. [Brooklyn], 29 May 1990 [300/400] “. . . Recipe for drink: a gin and tonic Presbyterian; can also be used for vodka and tonic Presbyterian, or Baccardi white rum and tonic ditto. Fill a highball glass with ice cubes; pour in an inch of the spirits being used; fill to within an inch of the top with water and add three-quarters of an inch of tonic . . . . Add a thin slice of lemon. Stir well enough for the ingredients to mix. Club soda can be substituted for the water. Made properly, it tastes like a dry lemonade with a kick and takes away the curse of drinking too many gin and tonics: the sour taste on one’s tongue is notably absent. . . .” The favorite recipes of Norman Mailer and other Brooklynites were published in The Brooklyn Cookbook by Stallworth and Kennedy, NewYork, 1991. 255 c   MENCKEN, H.L. Group of 23 items Signed: 3 brief Autograph Letters, and 20 brief Typed Letters, each to author Carl Glick, almost all rejecting offers to contribute a magazine article.Together 23 pages, oblong 8vo or 4to, “Smart Set” or personal stationery; generally good condition. Baltimore or NewYork, 1918-20 [600/900] 6 December 1918:“. . .At the moment we are printing no war stuff, and so it’s improbable that we’d take ‘Good Manners in the Army’. . . . I am delighted to hear that you are soon to be mustered out.” 17 February 1918:“This leans too heavily upon the ancient poor-working-girl idea, but we’ll probably take the Pastel.”