Desirable grouping of three items, including a TLS by Jerome Kern, a signed photo of Richard Rodgers, and a signed photo of Adelaide Hall:
Jerome Kern
TLS, one page, 6.75 x 6.5, personal letterhead, August 3, 1933. Letter to B. W. Findon, in full: "I regret so much not having had an opportunity to reply to your kind note of the 18th before I left London. It is good of you to think of me in the project you outline and I can only repeat my disappointment at not being able to renew our acquaintance after so many years." Double-matted and framed with a portrait of Kern to an overall size of 19 x 13. In fine condition.
Richard Rodgers
Wonderful semi-glossy 7.75 x 9.75 portrait of Rodgers posing next to a piano in a jubilant half-length pose, signed and inscribed in the lower border in black felt tip, "To Marilyn Fischer, Sincerely, Richard Rodgers." Matted and framed to an overall size of 13 x 14.75. In fine condition.
Adelaide Hall
Jazz singer and entertainer (1901-1993) who was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance and recorded with the likes of Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. Lovely vintage matte-finish 10.25 x 13.25 head-and-shoulders portrait of Hall in a patchwork hat, affixed to an original 13.25 x 16.75 mount, signed and inscribed on the mount in fountain pen, "To Miss Hammon, a sincere little Lady friend, Adelaide of Blackbirds, 1928." In very good condition, with several chips and small tears to edges (one just below the signature affecting the date). Hall starred on Broadway with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson in Blackbirds of 1928, which became the most successful all-black show ever staged on Broadway and made her a household name. A wonderful oversized portrait inscribed with the title of her breakthrough performance.
