Lot #698

Margaret Mitchell Typed Letter Signed on the Confederacy, Reconstruction, Gone With the Wind, and WWII Shortages

Description

The Gone With the Wind author weighs in on 'The Story of the Confederacy' and WWII shortages: "There was a shortage of technicolor film during the war and afterward. The copies of 'Gone with the Wind' which were printed in 1939 were old, worn and scratched before the war was over, and the sound tracks were bad indeed"

TLS signed “Margaret Mitchell Marsh,” two pages, 8.25 x 10.75, personal letterhead, July 21, 1947. Letter to French historian and translator Pierre Belperron, in part: "I wrote to Robert Henry, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. and told him of your efforts to obtain a copy of his excellent history, 'The Story of the Confederacy.' I received a reply written by his young daughter, which brought me the distressing news that Mr. Henry had just suffered a serious accident and was in a hospital in Washington. He had climbed a ladder to trim away the ivy from above the door of his home and he fell to the ground, breaking the bones of his knee on one leg and shattering his ankle on the other. Evidently he is very badly hurt…He sent word by his daughter for me to tell you that he was so pleased by your interest in his work and that when he was able to do so he would find you a copy of 'The Story of the Confederacy' and send it to you. I have written him not to do this, as I will hunt for one myself. The reason no new copies of Mr. Henry's excellent book are available is that this country, even as European countries, has had a paper shortage due to the war. The condition improves steadily, but publishers used their paper rations to bring out new books rather than to reprint old ones. So Mr. Henry's book is temporarily 'out of print.' I will ask my old book dealer to advertise for a copy and will send it to you.

Mr. Henry and I both had a smile for your friend from Maryland who said, concerning the Confederacy, 'he who is not with me is against me.' We have many such people here in the South and their attitude is so well known that they are called 'un-reconstructed' or 'un-reconstructed Rebels.' This term goes back to the Reconstruction era in the South, when it was applied to such people as Robert Toombs and other former Confederates who never took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and who remained 'Rebels'…

You asked why Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had not brought the film of 'Gone With the Wind' to France after that single showing which took place immediately after the end of the war. I can only hazard a guess, as I have nothing to do with the film. The motion picture of 'Gone With the Wind' appeared in the United States for the first time at the end of 1939, and many printings of it were made. It was a very long film (four hours) and an expensive film to manufacture, as it was in technicolor. During the war most of the raw film produced in this country went first to our Government, so there was a shortage of technicolor film during the war and afterward. The copies of 'Gone with the Wind' which were printed in 1939 were old, worn and scratched before the war was over, and the sound tracks were bad indeed. When technicolor film became available to producers again, they, like the publishers, used the new supply to make new moving pictures rather than to re-make old ones. The situation is much better now and only recently 'Gone With the Wind' has returned to Atlanta for the first time since early in the war. It has been playing to crowded theatres. I understand that it will be released in European theatres in the autumn and will appear first in Scandinavian countries. I hope it will arrive in Paris soon and that you will enjoy it. The first half of the film follows my book in excellent detail. The last half was shortened and incidents omitted or changed in order to bring the film into the required four-hour length. Many of the incidents of the Reconstruction are omitted entirely, and this caused some complaining here in the South where the older people remember the Reconstruction as vividly as French people recall the recent German Occupation.

Thank you for asking about my literary work. I am not writing anything at present. There has been no opportunity. After the war began, all my time was devoted to working at the Red Cross and taking care of my father, whose last illness stretched over most of the war years. Since then I have been occupied with the illness of my husband. I thank you for your good wishes for his health. He improves slowly but surely." Impressively double-matted with two images to an overall size of 22 x 22.75. In fine condition.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts Featuring Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and Civil War
• Dates: June 21, 2024 - July 10, 2024

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