A letter written in 1943 by Nobel Prize-winner writer William Faulkner about how he was conned by a Los Angeles literary agent into signing a deal with entertainment giant Warner Bros has been auctioned off for almost US$18,000, a statement by auction house Bonhams & Butterfields said.
The letter, which was signed 'Bill', said, “When I reached (California), I learned to my horror that (the agent) had committed me to a seven-year contract.” It goes on to explain how Faulkner moved from Mississippi for writing screenplays for Warner Bros for US$ 400 per week.
The letter, addressed to a Hollywood partner of his agent, said that the LA agent first told him the writer could withdraw from the contract if he wished later, but reneged and threatened legal action when Faulkner expressed his desire to get out of the deal. Estimated to sell for about US$ 3,500, the typed letter was picked up by an anonymous bidder for US$ 17,925. Two other letters written by Faulkner to his agent H N Swanson were also auctioned for much lower prices.
Among other items auctioned at the occasion were letter written by F Scott Fitzgerald, one of which apologized to his agent for misbehaving under the influence of alcohol. “The typist here the other day told me that I did a lot of swearing and shouting over the phone when I talked to you the other day. In any case my binge is over and I'm going ahead figuring how I can write a novel and let it pay for itself as it's written,” Fitzgerald wrote in the letter dated 1939. The apology letter fetched a price of US$ 4,400.
Faulkner bagged a Nobel Prize for literature in 1949. Some of his best works include
As I Lay Dying,
The Sound and the Fury,
Sanctuary Light in August,
The Old Man and
A Fable among several others.
Under Warner Bros, he wrote the screen adaptations of Ernest Hemingway's
To Have and Have Not and Raymond Chandler's
The Big Sleep, both of which were directed by Howard Hawks.
