“YOU HAVE A GOOD AND ORIGINAL TALENT”

THURBER, James. Typed letter signed. West Cornwall, Connecticut, August 2, 1951. Single sheet of paper, measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches; p. 1. $450.

Engaging typed letter, written and signed by James Thurber to poet and folklorist Addison Barker, offering Thurber's opinion of Barker's poems and inviting him to send more as long as he is willing to wait for a critique.

The letter, typed and signed by James Thurber to poet and folklorist Addison Barker and dated "West Cornwall, Connecticut, August 2, 1951," reads in full: "Dear Mr. Barker: I'm sorry I haven't answered your letter and poems before, but plead a stack of work and letters. I liked all three of the new poems. You have a good and original talent. Right now I face two deadlines and I couldn't promise to read your pieces promptly, but I would enjoy reading them if there is no great urgency, and hope you will send them on. Come to think of it, the urgency has probably waned with my delay. I suppose you are sending them to magazines, too. Sincerely yours, James Thurber." In 1951, Thurber was indeed highly in demand. Nearing the end of his career, his eyesight failing, Thurber contributed his last known drawings, a self-portrait, to Time. He also became involved in a never-completed animated feature based on his collection of New Yorker classics, Men, Women, and Dogs.

A wonderful letter, no doubt treasured by the recipient, in fine condition.