TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS). 1 page, dated 24 April 1978, to "Dear Kirby" [McCauley], signed "Manly." On plain letter-size paper with Wellman's Chapel Hill address typed at the top. Wellman says he thinks he has sold a 9000-word story to Gerald W. Page, an old-time fan in Atlanta, for swords-and-sorcery anthology he is putting together. He discusses a couple of points about fencing authenticity criticized by Page and his technical advisor. Wellman writes that he is not going to "fight to the death for them," but defends his position to McCauley, noting that "I was in my time a bonny fencer." Concerning a possible sale of a manuscript to Doubleday, he writes that he doesn't count on anything until the contracts are signed. "Publishers are as obedient to whims as girls, and as untrustworthy on verbal promises as auto mechanics." An enjoyable and charming letter, a bit of actual literature rather than just a functional conveyance of information. Wellman, rising above his pulp roots, was accomplished in nearly all genres of popular fiction, and was noted for bringing a pungent American flavor to his work. Kirby McCauley was probably the most important literary agent of horror, fantasy and sf writers in the boom years of the 1970s and 1980s. Faint mailing folds, light crease at lower right corner, cheap paper tanned at edges, else fine. (#102734).
Price: $125.00
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