New York: 1941-1946.
Price: $600.00
Unbound. Typed Letters Signed. Seven letters and one note: five letters and one note Signed by Marguerite A. Cohn; one Signed by Louis Henry Cohn, and one one unsigned and incomplete typed letter. Each letter is one page on House of Books, Ltd. stationery measuring 7¼" x 10½". Old folds, light wear (one letter with a tiny corner chip) and the occasional very light stain, near fine.
A nice collection of letters from the venerable House of Books, Ltd. of New York City to Miss Dorothy P. Nassau of Philadelphia. According to the letters, Miss Nassau was an avid collector of Robert Frost and Stephen Vincent Benét, and most of the letters involve quoting and discussing material related to these two authors. (The incomplete letter is a list of material sent to Miss Nassau on approval). The single letter from Louis Henry Cohn is of particular interest; he writes to Miss Nassau that Random House had recently discovered 29 sets of sheets from the limited edition of Robert Frost's *Collected Poems* of 1930, from an edition of 1,000 copies Signed by Frost. Random House bound the sheets in polished gray cloth with a leather spine label, different from the first state binding. Cohn writes that "we have control of these copies" and offers them to her at $7.50 (!) a copy. He slyly notes (the letter is dated December 18) that, in addition to improving her collection, the books would make "a vary [sic] suitable Christmas gift." In the letter from 1946, Marguerite writes of a section on Benét in their upcoming catalog; she discusses one piece and then notes cryptically "[t]he other item, the WOLFS HEAD, we do not even dare list as it is such a hush, hush affair."
A charming collection of letters from a pair of highly respected booksellers, friends of Hemingway and Faulkner and pioneers in the sale of modern first editions, to a valued collector. After her husband's death, Margie Cohn was involved in building some of the great 20th Century modern first edition collections, including that of Carter Burden.
Item #539099
