- 43
W. B. YEATS, AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, TO ERNEST BOYD
Estimate
1,500 - 2,500 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Yeats, W.B. and Lionel Johnson
- Autograph letter signed, to Ernest Boyd
- pen and ink with photograph
- letter: 20 by 12.5cm., 8 by 5in.; photograph: 14 by 10cm., 5½ by 4in.
asking permission to propose him as an associate member of the Irish Academy of Letters ("...I think you will be elected, though there is of course no certainty in such things, especially in this argumentative country..."), 1 page, 8vo, headed stationery of Riversdale, Dublin, 21 March [1932-39], mounted alongside a photographic portrait of the artist
Provenance
The Kenneth W. Rendell Gallery, New York
Condition
The letter appears sound, a horizontal central fold crease, and a few further creases elsewhere. The photograph is in good overall condition. Held in a silver gilt frame under Perspex with a cream mount. Unexamined out of frame. Ready to hang.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
“May I propose to you for one of the two vacancies among the ‘associate members’ of the Irish Academy of Letters’. AE will I think second. I think you will be elected, though there is of course no certainty in such things, especially in this argumentative country. At present I know of only one other candidate Desmond J McCarthy. Please let me have a cable if you consent…” Ernest Boyd was the Irish-American critic and author of Contemporary Drama of Ireland (1917) and Ireland’s Literary Renaissance (1922). The Irish Academy of Letters, which he is here invited to join, was established by Yeats and G.B. Shaw in 1932 to represent Irish writers, and in particular to campaign against censorship in the Irish Free State.
AE, pseudonym of George William Russell, was the poet and mystic who was a leading figure in the Irish literary renaissance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. AE met Yeats when he attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin.
AE, pseudonym of George William Russell, was the poet and mystic who was a leading figure in the Irish literary renaissance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. AE met Yeats when he attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin.