Small brag (Ernest Bramah)

I picked up a rather ratty copy of Ernest Bramah's "Kai Lung's Golden Hours"
with an interesting typewritten letter stapled to the ffep.

http://www.ernestbramah.com/bramah_state_letter.jpg

It's from Willys R. Peck, on Department of State letterhead (marked
"Personal"), to Mr. Percy Warner, Aviation Division, Department of State,
dated Nov 20, 1945, thanking him for the loan of the book, with a few
personal observations on the current conditions in China, and the feeling
that China "will emerge in the world as a stable and stabilizing factor."

Peck was, as of 1943, "a former YMCA worker, born in China, and now senior
China-Specialist in the Department of State." He was also John Van Antwerp's
MacMurray's assistant in 1925-1928. That was about all I could find in a
brief Google search.

Not valuable, but a fun find.

---Mike
http://www.ernestbramah.com

Typed Letters Signed play a part in my small brag as well.

About forty minutes after an auction opened, I ended it by using the Buy
It Now feature, which I hardly ever do.

The book, Four Talks for Bibliophiles, Philadelphia, 1958, cost me $25,
but it was the two enclosed typed letters signed from Ellen Shaffer
that I wanted.

Ellen Shaffer was the Rare book Librarian at the Free Library of
Philadelphia (1954-1970). In September, 1958, she gets this book order
from J. C. Dykes of College Park, Maryland. The name rings a bell and
the handwriting looks familiar, so, in the first letter, she asks him if
he used to be a customer at Dawson's Book Shop in Los Angeles, where she
used to work for many years.

Ellen Shaffer had a good memory. J.C. Dykes, author, editor, historian
and Western Americana collector was the very customer from Dawon's Book
Shop:
http://www.tinyurl.com/323wq

Jerry Morris

(Mike=A0Berro)
I picked up a rather ratty copy of Ernest Bramah's "Kai Lung's Golden
Hours" with an interesting typewritten letter stapled to the ffep.
http://www.ernestbramah.com/bramah_state_letter.jpg
It's from Willys R. Peck, on Department of State letterhead (marked
"Personal"), to Mr. Percy Warner, Aviation Division, Department of
State, dated Nov 20, 1945, thanking him for the loan of the book, with a
few personal observations on the current conditions in China, and the
feeling that China "will emerge in the world as a stable and stabilizing
factor."
Peck was, as of 1943, "a former YMCA worker, born in China, and now
senior China-Specialist in the Department of State." He was also John
Van Antwerp's MacMurray's assistant in 1925-1928. That was about all I
could find in a brief Google search.
Not valuable, but a fun find.
---Mike
http://www.ernestbramah.com


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