“I FEEL YOU’LL UNDERSTAND HOW “BET UP” I’VE BEEN, WHAT WITH “WELDED” AND THE BATTLE OVER “GOD’S CHILLUN”, AND THAT YOU WON’T HOLD IT “AGIN ME”.

O’NEILL, EUGENE.  (1888-1953).  American playwright.  Interesting and revealing Autograph Letter Signed, “Eugene O’Neill”, on his imprinted Brook Farm stationery.  One page, quarto.  “Ridgefield, Connecticut”, March 31, 1924.  Very fine condition.  To “Dear Benjamin de Casseres”.  O’Neill writes:

 

“This is an unpardonably late date for me to be writing to thank you for sending me your book but I feel you’ll understand how ‘bet up’ I’ve been, what with ‘Welded’ and the battle over ‘God’s Chillun’, and that you won’t hold it ‘agin me’.  The times are a bit hectic, to say the least.  I’m damn glad to have the book—and your inscription makes the gift a million-fold grateful.  I owned it once before when it was first published by the Borris—but a hard-hearted landlady on the Square requisitioned it, along with my extra clothes and trunk and other books for a matter of neglected rent.  Although I’ve been prosperous since I’ve never quite had the nerve to go back and release my possessions if still there.  Can’t we get together sometime?  I’m in town quite a bit now and most of the time at the P[rovidence] Playhouse.  Won’t you give me a ring there?  Again, all thanks—and best wishes.  Eugene O’Neill.”

 

In 1924 Eugene O’Neill was nearing the middle of his writing career, having won the Pulitzer Prize twice already, although he’d only recently become well-known in the early 1920s for his darkly realistic plays.  He drew upon the philosophies of Freud and Jung (M.E.E.) to explore his characters’ hidden desires and thoughts, which he crafted into short and long scripts.  From 1914 to 1915 he studied at Harvard under the renowned theatre scholar George Pierce Baker. (M.E.E.)  His first play was produced by the experimental theatre group The Provincetown Players in 1916 when they performed “Bound for East Cardiff”.  In this letter O’Neill writes to his friend Benjamin de Casseres that he spends most of his time at the Playhouse so it is best to try and contact him there.  O’Neill provided the troupe with many more plays in the future, which they were happy to perform—O’Neill singlehandedly supplied them with enough material to keep them busy. (imagi-nation.com Website)  O’Neill apologizes for his late reply, as two of his recent plays are in production and taking up much of his time.  The first, “Welded” (1922), portrays a playwright and his actress wife who are unfaithful to each other due to the strain their different careers puts on their marriage.  “All God’s Chillun Got Wings” (1923) depicts the hardships a couple undergo when their racially mixed marriage is unacceptable to either family. (Little Blue Light Website) O’Neill blames the “battle over ‘God’s Chillun’” for not sending a note of thanks sooner and asks for forgiveness in the dialect used in the play, saying he hopes Mr. de Casseres wouldn’t hold it “agin me”.    

Letters of this quality rarely appear on the market for sale.                                                                                                   

$5750.00