An Excerpt from "Mary Poppins Opens the Door" in the Author's Hand
ALS.
London, 1987.
London: 1987.
Full Description:
TRAVERS, P.L.. Autograph Letter Signed (P. L. Travers) to Mr. Hedborg., 29 Shawfield Street, London: October 16, 1987.
This item is actually a typed letter signed, with a long excerpt (16 lines, plus signature) from "Mary Poppins Opens the Door" in the authors hand. One page verso only (8 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches; 210 x 147 mm). There are very few examples of manuscripts by Travers of this length. Typed letter on Traver's personal stationary, and manuscript in blue ink to a Mr. Hedborg which reads:
"16 October '87/ Dear Mr. Hedborg,/ Thank you for your letter. I am glad you/ like the Mary Poppins books./ But all my manuscripts, including that of the new book for which I am about to sign a contract,/ are with an agent to be disposed of. I have/ nothing to send you. So I will write part of the/ penultimate paragraph of Mary Poppins Opens the Door."/ I am afraid I can't do more. Here it is:"
(In autograph manuscript in blue ink)
"'The bright shape speeding through the/ air above them would forever keep its secret./ But in the summer days to come and the/ long nights of winter, they would remember/ Mary Poppins & think of all she had/ told them. The rain & the sun would/ remind them of her, & the birds & the/ beasts & the changing seasons. Mary Poppins/ herself had flown away, but the gifts she/ had brought would remain for always./ 'We'll never forget you, Mary Poppins!'/ they breathed, looking up at the sky./ Her bright shape paused in its flight/ for a moment & gave an answering wave./ The darkness folded its wing about her/ and hid her from their eyes.'"
(Then signed in blue ink)
"Yours Sincerely P.L. Travers"
"Pamela Lyndon Travers, OBE (born Helen Lyndon Goff; 9 August 1899 – 23 April 1996), was an Australian novelist, actress and journalist. In 1924, she emigrated to England where she wrote under the pen name P. L. Travers. In 1933, she began writing her series of children's novels about the mystical and magical English nanny Mary Poppins. During the Second World War, while working for the British Ministry of Information, she travelled to New York where Roy Disney first contacted her about selling the Mary Poppins character to the Disney studio for film use. For services to literature, Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen in 1977. Her popular books have been adapted many times, including the 1964 film starring Julie Andrews and the Broadway musical originally produced in London's West End." (Better Reading).
HBS 69741.
$3,000.
Price: $3,000.00
Item #69741