Stewart, Mary.

A SPLENDID ARCHIVE OF A DOZEN FINE SIGNED LETTERS [11 TLS +1 ANS][The Merlin Chronicles].

Edinburgh: 5 October 1964 to 22 May 1970, 1964.

First Edition. Signed by Author. Stewart, Mary (b. Florence Elinor Rainbow, 1916- ). Scottish fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer best known for her Arthurian "Crystal Cave" series now referred to as The Merlin Chronicles which brilliantly blended historical fiction and fantasy. 79 Morningside Park, Edinburgh. 5 October 1964 to 22 May 1970 to James Keddie of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts (Scottish born American editor & publisher, 1907- 1983, known as "Cheetah" by The Speckled Band Of Boston, the Sherlockian society of which he was a lifetime member). FINE COLLECTION OF ELEVEN LETTERS AND ONE INSCRIBED EASTER GREETINGS CARD (12 TLS, 1 TNS], most of which are aerogrammes). The friendship between fellow Scots Stewart and Keddie is revealed in this warm and enthusiastic correspondence (variously signed "Yours Ever" at first, then "Love" and "Affectionately") later on, with letters that contain a good mix of literary content and personal revelation, some discussions of Stewart's emotional states as publication dates approach, her books, her domestic challenges, their shared colleagues, writers she admires. Among her works discussed is WILDFIRE AT MIDNIGHT (1956), MADAM WILL YOU TALK? (1954, her first book), AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND (1965), THE GABRIEL HOUNDS (1967), ending with her plans to meet him as she's just about to embark on her American book tour to promote her 1970 masterpiece THE CRYSTAL CAVE ("And thanks for your good wishes for THE CRYSTAL CAVE. I hope you love it."). Other excerpts include: "This is publication day over here, and I combat my sinking, nervous feeling which gets worse instead of better each time I place my bet with the public and put myself at its mercy." "The reviewers are sharpening their claws for anything that breathes of success and popularity as this MUST mean, they think, that it's BAD." She discusses Rex Stout's "writing, style, and plot," and shares her grief "I was very sorry indeed about Margery Allingham." And she is particularly teasing as she discusses THE CRYSTAL CAVE as a work-in-progress: "This is a historical novel which I have been wanting to do for a very long time [and I'll] tell you a bit more about [it] but at the moment I feel it would kill it to talk about it." The letters have a few minor blemishes, light folds and their like, but generally are in NEAR FINE condition. Substantial content, an excellent archive.

Item #32088    Price: US$2,875.00