H.G. Wells Self-Deprecating ALS Penned In 1935, The Same Year He Was Nominated For 3rd Nobel Prize In Literature

A 2pp autograph letter signed by British writer H.G. Wells (1866-1946), as "H.G. Wells" on the second page at lower right. Wells's distinctive signature is complete with a fanciful mushroom-shaped paraph. June 7, 1935. [London, England.] On watermarked bifold stationery embossed with Wells's London address from 1930-1936 on the letterhead: "47, Chiltern Court, Clarence Gate, N.W. 1. / Telephone, Welbeck 5544." Expected wear including flattened paper folds, a minor closed tear along the vertical hinge at bottom, scattered staple holes and partial pencil erasures, a paper clip impression affecting the last page, and an ink stain on the first page located well outside the text. Else near fine and entirely in Wells's elegant handwriting. 5.5." x 7."

H.G. Wells wrote this letter to Hamilton Holt (1872-1951), an American newspaper editor then serving as president of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. A private, coeducational college in central Florida founded in 1885, Rollins College had gained a reputation by the 1930s for leading national discourse on the philosophy of education. Under Holt's tenure as president from 1925-1949, the college experimented with many novel ideas, such as the insistence on one-on-one student interaction with professors. In the letter, Wells responds to what had probably been an open invitation to visit the campus, and perhaps even a promise to confer an honorary degree upon Wells.

Wells wrote in part:

"My dear Hamilton Holt.

You do me too much honour. I'd like to visit you in Florida some time but I don't see myself with an honorary university degree. I've never had anything of the sort suggested before. I've backed out from the O.M. [the British Order of Merit]. Oxford, Cambridge London, the Royal Society know me not. I think I had better remain plain & unadorned. I shall be delighted to meet Dr. Herman when she comes. I know some of the people at Exeter who would be glad to meet her.

All my best wishes to you & Rollins College

yours,

H.G. Wells."

The tenor of Wells's letter is modest, especially considering that he had just been nominated for his third Nobel Prize in Literature (by Swedish writer Sigfrid Siwertz) a few months before, in early 1935. Nor would this be Wells's last nomination. Wells received nominations four times, in 1921, 1932, 1935, and 1946.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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