signed
by SAMUEL PUTNAM
SAMUEL PUTNAM (1892-1950). Putnam was an American translator and scholar best known for his memoir, Paris Was Our Mistress, and for his 1949 English translation of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote, the first to use contemporary English. The archive consists of three items, all typed and written between 1928 and 1930. They include: a.TLS. 1 pg. 8 x 10. January 23, 1928. Seine. A typed letter signed Samuel Putnam to Mr. Edward Titus: With reference to the commission I gave you in the Dome the other day, the Smith Rabelais is London, 1893 the publisher I do not know. The Epistolae Obscurorm Virorum, Latin text with English rendering, etc., by Francis Griffin Stokes, was published by Chatto and Windus in 1909 (octavo). I should like very much to have the Smith Rabelais, but if you have not yet actually procured the other work, it might be well, if possible, to get me a price on it first. In any event, I trust to hear from you. Edward Titus (1870-1952) was a Polish-born American expatriate, collector, publisher and book dealer based in Paris after the end of World War I. He was the owner of the important Montparnasse rare bookstore At the Sign of the Black Manikin and the founder of Black Manikin Press. The first work mentioned is most likely William Francis Smiths 1893 translation of Franois Rabelais The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of Gargantua and Pantagruel. b.TLS. 1 pg. 8 x 10. March 26, 1930. Hamburg. A typed letter signed Sam Putnam to Dear Mr. Titus: I am sorry, indeed, to have been so remiss about writing, but life for me is just one enema after another, and in between, one feels too full for utterance by way of mouth, or pen. As a matter of fact, I have written to no one except my wife, having left all my correspondence, social, literary and commercial, to her. I realize that this is a bit ungrateful toward you, after all your very great kindness toward us, and I hope you will accept my apologies, my excuse being the enemasI am sorry to have missed out on my editorial duties, and I want you to feel perfectly free to employ some one else if you find it necessary. I should not blame you, nor feel that there was any breach of either faith or friendship. Of course, I should like to go on if circumstances permit No reference is made to the specific illness afflicting Putnam. c.TDS. 2 pgs. 8 x 10. April 11, 1930. A typed document signed S. Putnam. This is the second and third page of a typed memorandum discussing authors and poets that he feels deserve publication. The first page is not included. The recipient is unknown, though it is likely Titus. Both pages include numerous notations in pencil discussing additional potential submissions. Individuals mentioned in the memorandum include John Rood, Young Noxon, George Seldes, Syd Salt, Samuel Beckett (just listed as Beckett in the memorandum), and William Carlos Williams. All three items are in good condition, though they contain some folds, splits, and tape. (Inventory #: 6241)
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