Pair of Typed Letters to Muriel Rukeyser and John Sanford
New York? 1975. Very Good Condition. Item #50006
New York? Both dated May 7, 1975. Pair of typed letters on onion skin, the letter to Rukeyser signed in type (possibly a copy for Raeburn's files), the letter to Sanford also signed in type but with a manuscript postscript signed "Ben." Stock toned and rather brittle with brief splitting to mail folds, second leaf of the Rukeyser letter quite wrinkled. Both letters by the editor and publisher of the Horizon Press composed on the same day, regarding the recipients' contributions to Burt Britten's forthcoming 1976 anthology Self Portrait: Book People Picture Themselves. Letters and contents as follows:
1. One-page letter to the author John Sanford praising him for the sentence he has chosen for the anthology, "I don't know what I look like, and I'm afraid to ask." Raeburn continues somewhat uncomfortably, reminding Sanford that the publication will also need a drawing to accompany the quote. The finished book shows that Sanford chose to draw an empty mirror.
2. Two-page letter to poet Muriel Rukeyser, full of praise for her work, especially her collection Breaking Open. "About your self-drawing (how I look forward to seeing that!) I asked Burt Britton not to call you, as you asked, until after three weeks." Rukeyser's finished drawing is almost Matisse-like, just a few flowing lines, depicting her with her one eye wide open, captioned "Muriel leans on windowsill."
Price: $250.00