Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #102278
Cost: $3,100.00

Autograph letter - Signed

Cole Porter

"SAM—IT'S 4 A.M. & I'M SLIGHTLY PLASTERED": WONDERFUL 1943 AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY COLE PORTER, HANDSOMELY FRAMED WITH HIS PORTRAIT

PORTER, Cole. Autograph letter signed. New York: June 9, 1943. Original letterhead leaf (measures 5-3/4 inches by 9-inches) in manuscript on recto only, with tinted photogravure (measures 8 by 10-inches), matted and framed (total measures 19-1/2 by 26-inches). $3100.

Scarce June 9, 1943 autograph letter signed by Porter, entirely penned by him on Waldorf-Astoria letterhead the same year his busy career composing for both Broadway and Hollywood kept him moving between his large apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria and his home in California, with this letter handsomely matted and framed with a superb tinted photographic portrait of a smiling Cole Porter.

In the year Porter penned this wonderful letter on Waldorf-Astoria letterhead, the legendary songwriter was writing for Broadway—composing songs for Something for the Boys (1943)—as well as Hollywood, including Something to Shout About (1943) and the unproduced Mississippi Belle. Porter, pictured smiling in the photographic portrait framed with this letter, "brought such an individuality of style that a genre known as 'the Cole Porter song' became recognized" (New York Times). In 1943, "between Broadway shows and Hollywood films, Cole's career kept him sufficiently busy that he found it necessary to maintain residences on both coasts—a large apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and a luxurious mansion in California. He lived in them alternatively during the year" (Schwartz, Cole Porter, 4). This letter, dated by Porter above the letterhead, "June 9th, 1943," reads: "Sam—It's 4 A.M. & I'm slightly plastered but you must know that my big event of 1943 was The Great Gertzen. As for the gifts, Number One, Number Two and Number Three, they merely make me repeat the fact that Cole Loves Sam! [underlining in original]." He also drew an arrow to the Waldorf-Astoria address and wrote along the margin, possibly referring to a recent address change, "Isn't it curious how quickly one moves." The recipient of Porter's letter is likely Samuel Stark Gertzen, whose extensive collection of theatre memorabilia is housed at Stanford University.

Only faint foldlines to letter. A fine letter and portrait, handsomely framed.

Main Office & Gallery: 1608 Walnut Street, 19th Floor .::. Philadelphia, PA 19103 .::. 215-546-6466 .::. fax 215-546-9064
web: www.baumanrarebooks.com .::. email: [email protected]